When people speak of “films that they don’t make any more”, they can do it with visible sadness or with a sigh of relief. The 1970s, arguably the most interesting decade in the history of US cinema, provided reasons for both. The Little Prince, the 1974 musical film directed by Stanley Donen, belongs to the latter category.
The plot is based on the famous eponymous novella by French aviator Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. The protagonist is the Pilot (played by Richard Kiley) who is forced to make an emergency landing in the Sahara Desert. There he meets and befriends the Little Prince (played by Steven Warner), a boy who claims that he came from Asteroid B-612 and who entertains him with tales about his journeys through the Solar System.
Donen’s adaptation of The Little Prince looked like a good idea on paper. One of the most beloved pieces of world literature was directed by a film-maker famous for some of the most successful musical films of all time, while the music and lyrics were written by Frederick Loewe and Alan Jay Lerner, the duo responsible for some of the most popular Broadway musicals. Yet, all that talent somehow failed to deliver anything of quality on the screen. The musical numbers are simply forgettable, while Donen’s direction is inept and in some scenes even laughably lacking elementary film magic. This might be explained by the whole project being more suitable for a Broadway stage musical rather than a feature film; the absence of proper film stars (with the exception of Gene Wilder in the role of The Fox) suggests that. The only interesting detail in the film is the dance number performed by famous dancer and choreographer Bob Fosse in the role of The Snake, often cited as an inspiration for Michael Jackson for his famous Billie Jean music video and “Moonwalk” dance moves. But this is hardly enough to justify regular viewers being exposed to an hour and a half of near-complete failure.
RATING: 2/10 (-)
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