A Modern Twain Story: The Prince and the Pauper

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The Prince and the Pauper
A Modern Twain Story - The Prince and the Pauper.jpg
DVD cover art
Directed byJames Quattrochi
Produced byJoseph A. Reilly, Nick Vallelonga,
Starring Dylan Sprouse
Cole Sprouse
Kay Panabaker
Music by Dennis McCarthy
Distributed by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Release date
  • September 15, 2007 (2007-09-15)
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

A Modern Twain Story: The Prince and the Pauper also known as The Prince and the Pauper: The Movie (or simply The Prince and the Pauper) [1] is a 2007 American comedy film directed by James Quattrochi and starring Dylan and Cole Sprouse. The plot is based on the 1881 novel by Mark Twain, adapted by Amanda Moresco. [2]

Contents

Plot

From a young age, Tom Canty has wanted to become an actor, partly due to his neighbor and best friend, former actor Miles. Meanwhile, teen star Eddie Tudor is frustrated with being told what to do all the time and doesn't seem so interested in acting.

While Eddie is making a movie in Palm Beach, Florida, Tom sneaks onto the set and the boys meet. Tom tries on one of Eddie's costumes and Eddie realizes that he and Tom are identical in appearance. Just as Eddie is called to the set, he puts on Tom's clothes and leaves a startled Tom in his place. Eddie meets Tom's dad "Pop," who picks him up from the sidewalk, thinking he is Tom.

The next day, Eddie and Pop go to work at Pop's landscaping business, where Eddie tells him that he's not Tom and explains what happened. Pop starts thinking that "Tom" has gone mad. Meanwhile, after some initial difficulty, the real Tom adjusts to his new life and proves to be a 'better Eddie than Eddie', according to Elizabeth, Eddie's co-star.

When the production moves to Miami, Eddie decides to get to the film set himself. First, he hotwires his boat, then steals Miles' car and drives off in it. Pop and Miles follow him in Pop's truck. At the film set in Miami, Miles and Pop bluff their way in by saying that they are extras. They ask if there has been a kid pretending to be Eddie Tudor trying to sneak in, to which the security guard replies, "No sir, not yet".

Eddie arrives on set, spots Tom, and they have a brawl. Eventually, all calms down and everyone finds out who is who and what has happened. Eddie's mother reunites with Miles, whom she used to date before Eddie was born. The movie ends with Eddie and Miles getting to know each other as father and son and Miles and Eddie's mom hinting to each other about getting back together.

Cast

Soundtrack

The soundtrack features music by Frequency 5 including "So Good So Strange" produced by Taboo from The Black Eyed Peas; it also includes "Life Is Good" performed by Junk, as well as "Beautiful Way", by Live Society, and "Here I Go Again" performed by Jessa. A cover of Skye Sweetnam's "This Is Me" (the opening track to The Barbie Diaries), sung by Kay Panabaker is featured.

Distribution

The film was distributed in the United States in 2007, after its premiere at the 2007 Temecula Valley International Film & Music Festival. [3] It was then internationally distributed, and broadcast on Disney Channel in Germany on 14 December 2008. [4]

Reception

Carrie Wheadon from Common Sense Media gave the film two out of five stars, calling it a "slow story for Zack and Cody fans only." [5] A critic from The Dove Foundation wrote that "This is a fun film with a modern twist to the Mark Twain story, “The Prince and the Pauper”". [6]

Related Research Articles

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The Prince and the Pauper is a novel by American author Mark Twain. It was first published in 1881 in Canada, before its 1882 publication in the United States. The novel represents Twain's first attempt at historical fiction. The plot concerns the ascension of nine-year-old Edward VI of England in 1547 and his interactions with look-alike Tom Canty, a London pauper who lives with his abusive, alcoholic father.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tom Canty</span> Fictional character

Thomas "Tom" Canty is a fictitious character from Mark Twain's 1881 novel The Prince and the Pauper. He was born the same day as Edward Tudor, the Prince of Wales in 1537 and grew up in a life of poverty with his abusive, alcoholic father and grandmother. His mother and his sisters always tried to protect him. He was well educated and learned Latin from Father Andrew, a local priest. One day, while taking a stroll, he meets Edward. They exchange clothes with one another, and then due to a mistake, it is assumed that Tom is the Prince of Wales, not Edward. When King Henry VIII died, Edward was to be crowned King, however Tom is nearly crowned instead.

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<i>The Adventures of Tom Sawyer</i> 1876 novel by Mark Twain

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is an 1876 novel by Mark Twain about a boy, Tom Sawyer, growing up along the Mississippi River. It is set in the 1840s in the town of St. Petersburg, which is based on Hannibal, Missouri, where Twain lived as a boy. In the novel, Sawyer has several adventures, often with his friend Huckleberry Finn. Originally a commercial failure, the book ended up being the best-selling of Twain's works during his lifetime. Though overshadowed by its 1884 sequel, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the book is considered by many to be a masterpiece of American literature. It is alleged by Mark Twain to be one of the first novels to be written on a typewriter.

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The Prince and the Pauper is a British action adventure film of 2000 directed by Giles Foster, based on the 1881 novel The Prince and the Pauper by Mark Twain. It stars Alan Bates, Aidan Quinn, and the twin brothers Jonathan and Robert Timmins as the lookalikes Edward VI of England and Tom Canty.

References

  1. Davis, Hugh H. (2018). "Filmography of The Prince and the Pauper". The Mark Twain Annual. 16 (1): 206. doi:10.5325/marktwaij.16.1.0190. ISSN   1553-0981. JSTOR   10.5325/marktwaij.16.1.0190. Archived from the original on 2023-06-24. Retrieved 2023-06-24.
  2. "AFI|Catalog". catalog.afi.com. Archived from the original on 2023-06-24. Retrieved 2023-06-24.
  3. Ryan, Helen M. (2007-09-24). "Better with Age - Temecula Valley International Film and Music Festival Grows Up". LA's The Place | Los Angeles, Magazine. Archived from the original on 2023-06-24. Retrieved 2023-06-24.
  4. Plötzlich Star! - Eine moderne Mark Twain Story (in German), archived from the original on 2023-06-24, retrieved 2023-06-24
  5. "The Prince and the Pauper - Movie Review". www.commonsensemedia.org. 4 February 2008. Archived from the original on 4 May 2019. Retrieved 6 May 2020.
  6. "The Prince and the Pauper: The Movie". Archived from the original on 2024-01-22. Retrieved 2023-01-03.