The Little Prince (1974)

User Rating:

6.1/10   

Director:

Stanley Donen

Writers:

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (story)
Alan Jay Lerner (writer) ...

Release Date:

7 November 1974 (USA)

Genre:

Musical | Sci-Fi | Family

Plot:

A pilot, stranded in the desert, meets a little boy who is a prince on a planet.

Plot Keywords:

Pilot | Prince | Planet | Desert | King

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 1 win & 3 nominations

Cast

Steven Warner	...	The Little Prince
Joss Ackland	...	The King
Clive Revill	...	The Business Man
Victor Spinetti	...	The Historian
Graham Crowden	...	The General
Richard Kiley	...	The Pilot
Donna McKechnie	...	The Rose
Bob Fosse	...	The Snake
Gene Wilder	...	The Fox

Runtime:

88 min

Country:

UK | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo

Certification:

Iceland:L | Sweden:Btl | Singapore:PG | Portugal:M/6 | USA:G | UK:U

Filming Locations:

Elstree Film and TV Studios, Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, England, UK

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

Richard Burton was actively pursued for the role of the pilot. Burton had had a huge success, on Broadway, with Lerner & Lowe's "Camelot", but had turned down the film role (Camelot (1967)), as he did "The Little Prince".

Quotes:

[the pilot has drawn him a picture]
The little prince: Oh no, I don't want an elephant inside a boa constrictor. Boa constrictors are dangerous and an elephant is very cumbersome. Where I come from, everything is very small. Will you draw me a sheep?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in FLCL (2000) (V)

Soundtrack:

Why Is The Desert

A neglected gem

This film, a musical version of the classic Antoine de St. Exupery fable, containing the last score written by Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe (CAMELOT, MY FAIR LADY, GIGI), is a neglected gem of a film musical. Witty, inventive, melodic (the title song alone is as good as anything they ever wrote), and quite moving, it features uniformly superb performances, particularly from the then six-year old Steven Warner in the title role and Bob Fosse, in his final screen performance, as the death-dealing Snake.

Only caveat is Stanley Donen's excessive use of a fish-eye lens, to suggest the curvature of the earth and to relate that to scenes taking place on the Little Prince's asteroid or other asteroids he visits. It grows tiresome. But the on location shooting in the Sahara desert is breathtaking.

This film was cut prior to release by Paramount, excising an entire musical number, "Matters of Consequence," as well as shortening other musical numbers with damaging interior cuts, and removing Donna McKechnie's dance as the vain Rose. It is a prime candidate for restoration on DVD. Good as the film is, the cut material rounds out the story and characters, makes the musical numbers more effective, and would enhance the film.

The uncut version was previewed in NYC, but has never been seen since. Paramount, who dumped the film after only two weeks of release, must have thought they were making a children's movie, but anyone who knows the original knows it is a fable meant primarily for adults.

Donen has given interviews suggesting that he prefers the longer version. Anybody at Paramount listening?