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The Prince and the Pauper
(1909) United States of America
B&W : One reel / 1065 feet
Directed by J. Searle Dawley
Cast: Cecil Spooner [The Prince; and Tom Canty], Charles Ogle, William Sorelle, Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain), Mabel Trunnelle
Edison Manufacturing Company production; distributed by Edison Manufacturing Company. / Scenario by J. Searle Dawley, from the novel The Prince and the Pauper: A Tale for Young People of All Ages by Mark Twain (Samuel Langhorne Clemens). / © 3 August 1909 by Edison Manufacturing Company [J130507, J130508, J130509, J130510, J130511, J130512, J130513]. Released 3 August 1909. / Standard 35mm spherical 1.33:1 format. / The novel was subsequently filmed as The Prince and the Pauper (1915).
Drama.
Synopsis: [?] [From The Moving Picture World]? Tom Canty, an intelligent and partly educated pauper boy, a beggar, the son of a ruffianly father, bore the strongest resemblance to the Prince of Wales. One day Tom wandered near the palace gates. Too near, thought the guard on duty, for he cuffed him away, and Tom cried aloud under the sting of his blows. Edward the prince, was in the palace grounds near the gate, and, hearing the outcries, made inquiry as to the cause. A courtier brought the answer. Edward had a gentle heart. There was misery in the cries of the lad outside. He ordered him brought within to console him. The prince’s word was law. The pauper boy was brought before him. Never having conversed with a boy of the streets before, Edward retired with him to a secluded room and there both noticed the resemblance between them through an accidental joint glance in a mirror. The prince suggested the boyish prank that they change clothes tor the moment. No sooner said than done. Tom pranced about in the prince’s royal raiment and truly royal he looked, while the prince masqueraded as the pauper boy and looked Tom Canty to the life. At this moment Tom spoke of the unnecessary brutality of the guard. In a flash, forgetting his attire, the prince was off to chastise the guard. Alone and with one whom he thought the pauper boy, the guard was not gentle. He pitched the prince in beggar’s rags into the street. Wildly the prince proclaimed himself, but a jeering crowd drove him away. Before he could return he encountered the elder Canty and was hauled off, despite his protests, to their hovel. Here he was beaten because he had begged no money, and later was dragged off to join a band of roving rogues. From these he was rescued by a poor knight, Miles Herndon, and the two became fast friends, though the knight laughed at the supposed beggar’s pretensions to royalty. Meanwhile Tom had been having many strange adventures at the palace, where he was supposed to be the prince. His singular conduct caused an impression among the couriers that he was demented. King Henry VIII, Edward’s father, died at this juncture, and here truly was a fateful circumstance; for the pauper hoy was hailed king of England, and, though in agony of mind over it, was about to be crowned. The ceremony was in actual occurrence in Westminster Abbey when the prince succeeded in gaining admittance. Loudly he proclaimed himself and would have been struck down by the soldiery as a traitor had it not been for Tom himself. He was the first to acknowledge his rightful king, and it was through his aid that Edward was enabled to step to the throne and receive the crown that in a few moments more would have been placed on the pauper boy’s head.
Reviews: [The Moving Picture World, 14 August 1909, page ?] Perhaps the best work the Edison Company has ever done was shown this week in “The Prince and the Pauper,” a beautiful adaptation of Mark Twain’s well known story. The dual role was assumed by Miss Cecil Spooner especially for this production and it is needless to say that little was left to be done to make the dramatic quality perfect. Indeed, one can scarcely offer a criticism of any kind. The whole picture, including its photographic and tonal qualities, seems to be unusually good, rivalling most of the foreign work in this respect and far surpassing practically all that the same firm has offered heretofore. The title was especially posed by Mr. Clemens and shows that the picture was made with his full consent. To undertake to criticize a film of this character is not an easy task. The illustration of the story, or the pictured story, as it might be called, follows the text of the original as closely as possible. Of course it is never possible to make the story complete, but in this instance the scenes have been selected with more than usual fidelity to the spirit of the original and everyone who has read the story will be even more interested to read it again now that it has been seen actually moving upon the screen. From the scene where the prince takes the pauper into the palace and changes clothes with him there is not a moment that the thread of the story is lost, nor is there a scene which is in any degree obscure. The real prince, even in his pauper rags, is always the prince, while the few glimpses of the pauper, even though in the palace, surrounded by courtiers and clothed in ermine and purple, is still the pauper. Their origin cannot be disguised by what they wear. Perhaps this truthful interpretation is the best feature of the dramatic work. The designation by action is never so easy as designation by dress, and to carry this successfully through several scenes is an achievement of importance and one which may well be considered carefully by motion picture players. Perhaps in work of this sort lies the germ of all successful motion picture making. If it is possible to make characters speak, or show their real selves by action alone in one drama, it can surely be done in others, and that, after all, is the essential feature of motion pictures. Actions must speak. The word is not there to make explanations for weakness or failure of any kind. In speaking of the technical qualities of the film one must needs be liberal in praise. The staging has been done with a liberality which adds immensely to the richness and attractiveness of the picture and which makes it possible to realize the difference between the environment of a prince and a pauper. The changes in the toning of the film, from a warm brown to a cold blue, where the spirit of the picture seems to warrant it, is a pleasing relief from monotony, pleasing because it is well done, not because it is a change in color alone. The photographer did his work well. The development of the film must have been carefully done to retain the soft graduations of tone which add materially to the pictorial effect, and the printer took full advantage of all the opportunities that had been given him. The result is a picture which is rounded and complete and deserves something besides a run of a day and then relegation to the scrap heap before one-fourth of the theatergoers have seen it and before many have had the opportunity.
Survival status: (unknown)
Current rights holder: Public domain [USA].
Keywords: Authors: Mark Twain (Samuel Langhorne Clemens) (1835-1910) - Weapons: Swords
Listing updated: 11 June 2024.
References: AFI-F1 n. F1.3553; Blum-Silent p. 14 : Website-AFI; Website-IMDb.
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