The Princess Bride **** (1987, Cary Elwes, Robin Wright, Chris Sarandon, Mandy Patinkin, Peter Falk, Fred Savage, Wallace Shawn, Billy Crystal) – Classic Movie Review 1537

Director Rob Reiner’s 1987 fairy tale movie is a perennial pleasure. The story is narrated by Peter Falk’s kindly grandfather, who reads his sick grandson (Fred Savage) a classic fairy tale, with heroes and villains, a poor stable boy, a beautiful princess, an evil prince, giants, wizards, swordplay and true love.

Oscar-winning writer William Goldman comes up with a lovely screenplay from his own fantasy adventure novel about a stable boy called Westley (Cary Elwes) who falls for his lovely mistress, the beautiful Buttercup (Robin Wright). She thinks he’s lost at sea and gets engaged to the hateful, wicked Prince Humperdinck (Chris Sarandon), who kidnaps her to start a war. So Westley must rescue her with the help of  super-strong giant Fezzik (André the Giant) and an accomplished swordsman, Spanish fighter Inigo Montoya (Mandy Patinkin) ‘You killed my father, prepare to die.’

Both the screenplay and the performances are splendidly tongue in cheek and deliciously campy, producing a movie that’s a magical delight. The cast is absolutely ideal. Elwes and Wright are very sweet as the young romantic couple, though Patinkin is easily the movie’s show-stopping hit turn, and, after him, villains Sarandon and Wallace Shawn (as Vizzini) enjoy the best roles and have the best time.

There is some great swordplay action too, and it’s packed with diverting acting cameos, especially from funny Falk, Carol Kane, Christopher Guest and Billy Crystal, but also from Peter Cook, Mel Smith, Anne Dyson, Margery Mason and Fred Savage.

The Princess Bride is a superlative fairy tale movie that thoroughly charms, captivates and amuses.

Two-time Academy Award winner Goldman (born August 12 1931) is the esteemed author of the Hollywood dictum that nobody knows anything, but he knows more about scriptwriting than almost anyone else there. He won Best Original Screenplay for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) and Best Adapted Screenplay for All the President’s Men (1976).

Ben Barnes based his accent for The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (2008) on Inigo Montoya: ‘They said “Please prepare with a Spanish accent,” and I rummaged in my DVD collection and went, “I gotta have something with Antonio Banderas in it, surely!” I started watching Desperado – he doesn’t talk! I suddenly thought, “Princess Bride! Inigo Montoya. ‘You killed my father, prepare to die.'” And then, I get on set and I’ve got my first scene with Miraz, my uncle, and I’ve got my sword at his throat and it’s “Why did you kill my father?” and I’m thinking, “This sounds familiar.”‘

© Derek Winnert 2014 Classic Movie Review 1537

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