''The Prince and the Surfer'' is a 1999

comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...

direct-to-videoTV Guide listing
Volume 50, 2002. film about a prince who switches places with a Southern California surfer and skateboarder. It was directed by

Arye Gross Arye Gross (; born March 17, 1960) is an American actor, who has appeared on a variety of television shows in numerous roles, most notably Adam Greene in the ABC sitcom ''Ellen''. Personal life Gross was born on March 17, 1960, in Los Angeles ...

and Gregory Gieras, and stars Sean Kellman,

Robert Englund Robert Barton Englund (born June 6, 1947) is an American actor and director. He is best known for playing the supernatural serial killer Freddy Krueger in the ''A Nightmare on Elm Street (franchise), Nightmare on Elm Street'' film series. Class ...

, and

Vincent Schiavelli Vincent Andrew Schiavelli (; November 11, 1948 – December 26, 2005) was an American character actor noted for his work on stage, screen, and television. Described as an "instantly recognizable sad-faced actor", he was diagnosed with Marfan s ...

Synopsis

The film is an updated adaptation of the 1881 novel ''

The Prince and the Pauper ''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. Set in 1547, ...

'' by

Mark Twain Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has p ...

set in Southern California beach culture, featuring a prince and, instead of a pauper, the skateboarding surfer Cash, who wants to be rich and escape his boring life. The Queen of Gelfland brings her son, prince Edward, to the United States, seeking a trade treaty; the young prince wants to escape his life, to spend time among the common people. During Edward's one permitted limousine ride near the beach, Cash skitches with the limo on its way back to the hotel, and meets Edward in his suite; the two hatch their plan to trade places, and separate. Unbeknownst to them, the evil Minister Kratski plots to undermine the Queen's efforts, and instead convert Gelfland into Golfland. While pursuing princess Galina, Cash learns of the minister's plan. Meanwhile, Edward pursues Cash's friend Melissa, enjoying and enduring life in the suburbs. In the end, Cash and Edward reunite to save the day.

Cast

*Sean Kellman as Cash Canty / Prince Edward of Gelfland *

as Kratski *

as Baumgarten *

Jennifer O'Neill Jennifer O'Neill (born February 20, 1948) is a Brazilian-born American actress, model, author, and activist. She is known for her modeling and spokesperson work for CoverGirl cosmetics starting in 1963, and her starring role in the Oscar-winnin ...

as Queen Albertina *Jason Strickland as CT *

Linda Cardellini Linda Edna Cardellini (born June 25, 1975) is an American actress. In television, she is known for her leading roles in the teen drama ''Freaks and Geeks'' (1999–2000), the medical drama '' ER'' (2003–09), the drama thriller ''Bloodline'' (2 ...

as Melissa *Shepard Koster as Peter *

as Vince *

C. Thomas Howell Christopher Thomas Howell (born December 7, 1966) is an American actor. He has starred in the films '' Soul Man'', '' The Hitcher'', '' Grandview U.S.A.'', ''Red Dawn'', ''Secret Admirer'' and '' The Outsiders''. He has also appeared in '' Gett ...

as Dean *Katie Johnston as Galina *

Allyce Beasley Allyce Beasley ( Tannenberg) is an American actress. She is best known for her role as rhyming, love-struck receptionist Agnes DiPesto in the television series ''Moonlighting''. From 2001 to 2007, she was the announcer on Playhouse Disney, a mor ...

as Constance *Gregory Poppen as Bodybuilder *Steven Green as Bodyguard *Lawrence DiBlasio as Bodyguard *Alyse Mandel as Maid The film also featured uncredited performances by

Timothy Bottoms Timothy James Bottoms (born August 30, 1951) is an American actor and film producer. He is best known for playing the lead in ''Johnny Got His Gun'' (1971); Sonny Crawford in ''The Last Picture Show'' (1971), where he and his fellow co-stars, Cy ...

as Johnny Canty, Phil Bowers, Jason Reid as Riff,

Jon Voight Jonathan Vincent Voight (; born December 29, 1938) is an American actor. He came to prominence in the late 1960s with his Academy Award–nominated performance as Joe Buck, a would-be gigolo, in ''Midnight Cowboy'' (1969). During the 1970s, he ...

as the film's presenter, and Denise Wilson as Tattooed Woman.

Production and release

The film marked the directorial debut of actor

.Deming, Mar
''The Prince and the Surfer''
review. AllRovi.com. (All Movie Guide). Filming locations included

Agoura Hills Agoura Hills () is a city in the Santa Monica Mountains region of Los Angeles County, California, United States. Its population was 20,330 at the 2010 census, which decreased to 20,299 in 2020. It is in the eastern Conejo Valley between the S ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, and

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, USA. It was released directly to video in 1999, DVD in 2000 and 2004, rated PG for "brief mild language".

Reception

Reviews of the film were mildly positive. Brian Webster of online Apollo Guide gave the film a score of 69 percent, calling the film "decent, but unspectacular family entertainment, with plenty of minor thrills and laughs for the eight to 12-year-old set." Though he found it to be predictable, with nothing to particularly recommend, he also found "no major failings". He granted that secondary characters were mere "stereotypes (including those played by the screenwriter and one of the co-directors)", but that the young stars had "energy and just enough acting talent to pull it off." He found Cardellini to be "a decently spunky Melissa". The Pound Shop movie review site relates that it is "fairly clear that this is a movie for the kiddies", but that it was "pretty unreasonable" to not have "one single instance of surfing". The reviewer found that the "stand out elements of this movie" include "Erik Lundmark’s Casio keyboard score. While clearly made with a very limited amount of time, and money, I feel it is one of the few movie soundtracks that really help move the film along." Also, the "banter between the incompetent security guards at the resort actually finds its mark every now and again as well," and overall, the acting was satisfactory. Summarizing, the review stated the film is "worth a pound."''The Prince and the Surfer''
''Mudwig reviews'', Pound Shop Movies. Ian. November 13, 2005 AllRovi.com reviewer Mark Deming gave the film two (of five) stars.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Prince And The Surfer 1999 films 1999 comedy films Films based on The Prince and the Pauper American comedy films Films set in California Direct-to-video comedy films 1990s English-language films 1990s American films