Although I managed to pass through childhood
without any exposure to the story, I’ve learned that French author/aviator
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s fantastical novella The Little Prince is one of the most successful and widely read
children’s stories of the 20th century. I mention this by way of stating that I
approached this film adaptation without any feelings toward the source
material, so others can hold forth on whether the picture does justice to de
Saint-Exupéry’s writing. Watching the film of The Little Prince as its own entity, I found little to like despite
the imaginative narrative and worthwhile themes. Director Stanley Donen, a
giant of studio-era musical films whose career was winding down when he made The Little Prince, brings a fair amount
of style in the form of clever fisheye-lens photography and general exuberance,
but the combination of coldly professional acting by the leading players and
distractingly artificial settings for many scenes makes the piece feel
perfunctory rather than passionate.
It’s also not a good sign that when famed
choreographer-director Bob Fosse shows up in a rare acting role, he completely
takes over the film for several minutes with his signature brand of cinematic and
physical movement; although merely credited as choreographer for his own
sequence, Fosse likely had a hand in the design of camera shots and editing, as
well, and his bit is the liveliest stretch of the movie.
Anyway, the story of The Little Prince must lose something in
translation, because as presented onscreen, it’s insipid. When a character
known only as the Pilot (Richard Kiley) lands his plane in the Sahara after
experiencing engine trouble, he meets a strange young boy, the Little Prince
(Steven Warner), who claims to have come from an asteroid in outer space. The
Little Prince regales the Pilot with tales of his encounters with strange
characters, including a friendly Fox (Gene Wilder), a demanding Rose (Donna
McKechnie), and a pernicious Snake (Fosse). Each encounter taught the Little
Prince a lesson, and so does his friendship with the Pilot.
As communicated
through twee songs by the famed duo of Alan Jay Lerner (who also wrote the
screenplay) and Frederick Loewe (who also composed the score), the Little
Prince’s adventure says something about the importance of retaining a child’s
innocence even in adult life. Yet while the content is admirable, the execution
is blah. Exterior daytime scenes in the desert are visually dull, nighttime
exterior scenes shot on a soundstage are phony-looking, and the tricks Donen
uses to simulate outer-space environments are gimmicky. Yet it’s ultimately the
performances that keep The Little Prince
from achieving liftoff. Kiley, a lovely actor with a resonant voice, is too
theatrical, and young Steven Warner comes across as an automaton doing what
he’s told. So, even with Fosse’s dynamic dance sequence and Wilder’s
touchy-feely extended cameo, there’s little heart in what should be a deeply
moving parable.
The
Little Prince: FUNKY
