''A Prince for Christmas'' is a 2015 American

made-for-television A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus, Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by country, around t ...

romantic drama film Romance films or movies involve romantic love stories recorded in visual media for broadcast in theatres or on television that focus on passion (emotion), passion, emotion, and the affectionate romantic involvement of the main characters. Typica ...

produced and directed by

Fred Olen Ray Fred Olen Ray (born September 10, 1954) is an American film producer, director, and screenwriter of more than 200 low-to-medium-budget feature films in many genres, including Horror film, horror, science fiction, action film, action/adventure f ...

and starring

Viva Bianca Viva Bianca (born Viva Skubiszewski; 17 November 1983, ; ) is an Australian actress best known for her role as Ilithyia on the Starz network series '' Spartacus: Blood and Sand'' and '' Spartacus: Vengeance''. Bianca graduated from the Weste ...

Kirk Barker Kirk Barker (born 26 April 1983) is an English actor. Beginning his career in stage productions of pantomime, Shakespeare, and musical theatre, he moved on to television work and finally to leading roles in feature films. Life Barker grew up i ...

and Aaron O'Connell. The film was originally called ''Small Town Prince'' and premiered on

Starz Starz (stylized as STARZ since 2016; pronounced "stars") is an American premium cable and satellite television network owned by Lions Gate Entertainment, and is the flagship property of parent subsidiary Starz Inc. Programming on Starz consist ...

network on November 29, 2015.

Storyline

The king and queen of the European kingdom of Balemont (

Maxwell Caulfield Maxwell Caulfield (né Maxwell P.J. Newby; born 23 November 1959) is a British-American film, stage, and television actor and singer. He has appeared in ''Grease 2'' (1982), '' Electric Dreams'' (1984), '' The Boys Next Door'' (1985), ''The Su ...

and

Kelly Le Brock Kelly LeBrock (born ) is an American actress and model. Her acting debut was in '' The Woman in Red'' (1984), alongside Gene Wilder. She also starred in the John Hughes film '' Weird Science'' (1985), and in ''Hard to Kill'' (1990), opposite Ste ...

) arrange a marriage for their son and heir, Prince Duncan (

) fixing the wedding for Christmas Day, however, Duncan is dismayed and a week before the unhappy day he runs away incognito to the small town of Aurora in the United States, changing his name to David. Arriving there in the snow, he goes for a meal in a diner and literally bumps into Emma (

) a single woman who owns and operates the business, who has just broken up with her intended, Todd ( Aaron O'Connell), Emma is also responsible for looking after her teenage sister, Alice, as their parents have both died. David dates Emma and falls in love, however, after a whirlwind romance, Emma finds out who David really is from a newspaper article about the imminent wedding of Prince Duncan to Isabelle de Montavia and she angrily sends him away. He returns home to Balemont, but persuades his parents to cancel the planned wedding, and on Christmas Eve he returns for Emma. Todd, a car salesman, remains interested in Emma. On discovering that Duncan has wooed her while about to marry Isabelle, Emma has the notable line "Two men in my life, and the honest one turns out to be the used car salesman!"

Reception

''The Movie Scene'' calls the film "another movie which reworks the

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. Th ...

from Europe masquerading as a normal guy in America and meeting a young woman who inevitably works in the small town

diner A diner is a small, inexpensive restaurant found across the United States, as well as in Canada and parts of Western Europe. Diners offer a wide range of foods, mostly American cuisine, a casual atmosphere, and, characteristically, a com ...

." However, its review goes on to welcome embellishments to the storyline, with Emma looking after her sister and not celebrating Christmas, which was when their parents had both died. It also calls the film "visually beautiful", with snow covered streets and wood-panelled interiors, describes Barker and Bianca as having a lot of eye appeal, and applauds Barker's well-spoken but unpompous prince, so that the film "does deliver a picture perfect look of a small town at Christmas with plenty of snow and Christmas decorations."

Cast

as Emma *

as Prince Duncan * Aaron O'Connell as Todd *

as King of Balemont *

Kelly LeBrock Kelly LeBrock (born ) is an American actress and model. Her acting debut was in '' The Woman in Red'' (1984), alongside Gene Wilder. She also starred in the John Hughes film '' Weird Science'' (1985), and in ''Hard to Kill'' (1990), opposite Ste ...

as Queen Ariana *

Mark Lindsay Chapman Mark Lindsay Chapman (born 8 September 1954) is an English actor. He is known for his roles as Chief Officer Henry Wilde in the film ''Titanic'' (1997), as John Lennon in the film '' Chapter 27'' (2007) and as Dr. Anton Arcane on the USA Net ...

as Geoffrey *Brittany Beery as Alice *Wendy Egloff as Wendy *Gregory Nyburg as Skate Attendant *Richard Lounello as Kenny

Allusions

A line in the film spoken by Emma, "Snow melts, lights go down, it's all just an illusion", is used as a chapter heading in Lauren Rosewarne's study ''Analyzing Christmas in Film: Santa to the Supernatural'' (2017).Lauren Rosewarne, ''Analyzing Christmas in Film: Santa to the Supernatural'' (Lexington Books, 2017), p. 453

Notes

External links