Il principe e il povero

This is a great classic! With so many brilliant actors in one movie they couldn't go wrong! Charlton Heston as always, is excellent and oliver Reed plays the lead part as no one! A lot of action, some comedy and a great story makes this movie very much worth watching! Don't watch another remake, this one is without a doubt the very best!! A lot of actors from this movie, teamed up several times, and that was for a reason. Oliver Reed and Charlton Heston also stared in The Three musketeers, The Four musketeers, Treasure Island and although they never had so many scenes together, the movies always were GREAT!! Of course Oliver Reed also teamed up with Michael York in a few movies, like the Musketeers movies and in The Lady and the Highwayman.

This story has been filmed several times over the years, but I'm afraid this one comes near the bottom of the list. There are some decent performances, including Oliver Reed (I never thought I'd say that!), but Mark Lester holds back the entire film with his paper thin portrayal in both parts. He delivers his lines as though reading them at rehearsal. He may have had a certain appeal to the teenage girls in the audience, but today he just comes across as a nervous boy actor in a school play. The direction seems more suited to a children's teatime TV serial than a feature film too. I've given it 5, but with a better actor in Lester's place it could have got a 7.

Brought to us by the same producers of "The Three Musketeers" and "The Four Musketeers" of several years earlier, this also brought along some of the same cast - Reed, Welch, and Heston - in an attempt to duplicate the success of those earlier adventures. It doesn't quite reach that level but is a fairly faithful adaptation of the Mark Twain story, with solid entertainment value. This was a final gasp in the child star career of Mark Lester, who gained fame as the title character of "Oliver!" from 9 years earlier. A tall gangly young man by this point, he seems out of place here, as if they waited a couple of years too long to film this. He plays the pivotal dual roles of a poor pauper kid who switches places with his double, Prince Edward of England. Reed is the wandering soldier of fortune who takes pity on and befriends the prince, now mistaken for a peasant who seems mad. Reed basically repeats his 'Athos' role from the Musketeers movies, but that's not really a bad thing - it is Oliver Reed, after all.

The movie also piles on as many big stars as possible, a habit of the producers, though many of these stars had their best roles behind them. Heston is on hand as the blustery King Henry, dying about halfway through. Welch doesn't appear until the 2nd half, playing Reed's old girlfriend, now married to his evil brother (Hemmings). Borgnine hams it up as the mean brutal dad to the pauper, while Scott puts in an appearance as a ruler of thieves or beggars, whatever. Harrison is a royal duke, reminding one of his role as Caesar long ago in "Cleopatra"(63). This benefits from the long experience of most of the actors, who lend a humorous, carefree style to most of the scenes. There's even some poignancy in the later scenes between Lester & Reed, who begins to wonder if this may truly be the new king of England he's trying to protect, and it helps to have a nice score, as usual, from Jarre. Twain knew how to write a good story, complete with suspense as we wait for the finale, and this shows through at the end.

Nice adaptation from Mark Twain's classic also titled ¨Crossed Swords¨ with a top-of-the range cast . It's a Richard Fleischer's gorgeous film plenty of action , costumed adventure , humor , swashbuckling and lots of entertainment . The movie is very amusing and funny , capturing the flavor of the old times . On the same day two boys cross their fates : the pauper Tom and prince Edward (Mark Lester in double tole) . As a street beggar, Tom flees from pursuers and sneaks into the palace garden and meets the King Henry VIII (Charlton Heston) . Later on , the pickpocket Tom meets prince Edward VI , they change clothes with each other but the guards discover them and throw out the prince, since they are almost identical. Nobody believe them when they try to tell the truth and the young prince has trouble reclaiming his crown. Soon after, the old king dies and the prince will inherit the throne. The young prince turned beggar is aided by a swashbuckling soldier-of-fortune ( Oliver Reed who steals the spectacle as intrepid adventurer ) .

The flick deals about the Prince Edward VI ,son of Henry VIII of England, who's replaced by a beggar and vice versa . The film mingles comedy, adventures, humor, tongue-in-check and history. The starring boy is excellent and Oliver Reed as the preceptor is sublime. Also are splendidly, the supporting roles : Rex Harrison , Harry Andrews , Charlton Heston , Ernest Borgnine , David Hemmings , George C Scott , all are magnificent , including Raquel Welch. In the movie appears several historical characters, such as Henry VIII, Edward VI , Duke of Norfolk , and Lady Jane, princess Elizabeth , both of whom will be queens.

Colorful and evocative cinematography by Jack Cardiff . Imaginative score by Maurice Jarre who includes sensible chores . Direction by Richard Fleischer is very good . This is still one of the best versions along with the starred by Errol Flynn. This entertaining movie should satisfy young and old . Other adaptations about this vintage story dealing with mistaken identity between a prince and a child from the London slums are the following : The classic rendition ( 1937) by William Keighley with Errol Flynn , Claude Rains ; Disney version by Don Chaffey with Guy Williams , TV take on ( 2000) by Gilles Foster with Aidan Quinn ; furthermore , several versions on cartoons .

I haven't seen this movie in 20 years, but I remember going to it mostly because of the impressive cast. The lead, playing the dual roles of the prince and the pauper, was Mark Lester, lately of "Oliver". It was too "lately". By the time this movie came out, Lester was FAR too old for the part(s) of street urchin and child king. Charlton Heston (he's Henry VIII here) seems attracted to this phenomenon. He also did Treasure Island with a too old Christian Bale as Jim Hawkins. Anyway, Heston and the rest of the cast did fine jobs, and the picture is good fun if you can fully suspend disbelief in deep voiced Lester as an innocent child.