The Star Prince

1918 DramaFamily 59 minutes Directed by Madeline Brandeis

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About The Star Prince

A woodcutter sees a star fall and finds a baby, the Star Prince. He raises the child with his own. At seven the boy is a bully. He and the other children set on an old beggar woman until the woodcutter stops them. For that cruelty the prince is turned into a misshapen pauper and sent to find his mother. He meets a witch and a princess, and he loves the princess. A dwarf tries to force her to marry him. The prince saves her, is given his own form back, and marries her. The opening title uses the line of "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star."

Cast & crew

More about The Star Prince

Madeline Brandeis wrote and directed. Courtland J. Van Deusen produced. Wholesome Films distributed it. Wikipedia gives a June 1918 release and a running time of 59 minutes. Zoe Rae plays the Star Prince. Dorphia Brown plays the princess, John Dorland the dwarf, Edith Rothschild the beggar, Marjorie Claire Bowden the witch, and Gulnar Kheiralla the fairy godmother. The film was also called Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.

Themes

  • A star that lands as a baby
  • Cruelty to a beggar
  • A dwarf's forced marriage
  • The old face restored at the wedding
  • Star Prince
  • woodcutter
  • beggar
  • witch
  • dwarf
  • princess
  • Zoe Rae

Making

Brandeis built the fantasy with a company named for child players. The prince is a girl, Zoe Rae, and the transformation into a pauper is the punishment for the attack on the beggar, played by Edith Rothschild.

Preservation

A print survives on Wikimedia Commons. Wikipedia's embedded copy is timed at 57 minutes 32 seconds.

Notes

  • Shown the film in her nineties, Zoe Rae looked at her own performance and said, "What a ham!
  • Rae plays the prince. The princess is Dorphia Brown, not Rae.
  • AllMovie lists a run of 61 minutes and a date of 17 June 1918. Wikipedia says 59 minutes and June 1918.
  • A Wikimedia file of the picture runs about 57 and a half minutes.

Scenes

  • The woodcutter finds the infant where the star fell.
  • The children attack the beggar, and the prince is changed into a pauper.
  • He takes the princess from the dwarf, is restored, and marries her.

Influenced by

  • The lullaby Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star, used as the opening title

Also available

  • Wikimedia Commons (The Star Prince (1918).webm)