By Curt Schleier

There is no way to write about THE PRINCESS BRIDE and make it sound cool.  Ostensibly, THE PRINCESS BRIDE is a fairy tale that a grandfather (Peter Falk) reads to his sick grandson (Fred Savage). You think you’re skeptical?  Even the grandson is turned off when the story begins with lots of kissing.  “Hold it, hold it,” he says. “Are you trying to trick me?  Where’s the sports?  Is this a kissing book?”

No, it isn’t.   What it really is is an excuse for William Goldman, who wrote the screenplay from his novel, and director Rob Reiner to offer verbal and physical gymnastics that combines the best of Errol Flynn with the best of Mel Brooks – often at once.

The Princess Buttercup (Robin Wright) believes her true love Westley (Carey Elwes) is dead, so she becomes engaged to the cruel Prince Humperdink (Chris Sarandon).  How evil is Humperdink?  He has a henchman, Count Rugen (Christopher Guest), who prides himself on “a deep and abiding interest in pain.”  That’s how evil.

At the behest of the prince, Buttercup is kidnapped by a gang led by Vizzini (Wallace Shawn) and includes a giant (Andre the Giant) and an expert swordsman with a really bad Spanish accent, Inigo Montoya (Mandy Patinkin).

It is a plot that is difficult to make sense of in print, but suffice it to say that eventually Buttercup ends up trapped in Humperdink’s castle.  Against his fiancé’s wishes, Humperdink intends to proceed with the nuptials, kill her on his wedding night and blame others.  Westley, Inigo and Andre team up to attempt to free Buttercup.  But can they do it in time?


First they stop at the home of Miracle Max (Billy Crystal) and his nagging wife Valerie (Carole Kane) for help.  As they leave, Max yells after them with a heavy Yiddish accent: “Have fun storming the castle.”  Again, out of context, that may not seem as funny as it is on the screen.  But the film is replete with great lines.

Another is: “Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die.”  It’s the mantra repeated by Inigo as he battles the six-fingered man who murdered his dad.  (That one is on the American Film Institute’s list of 100 Greatest Move Lines.)
The film is filled with that kind of silliness and is a sheer joy from beginning to end.  It is perfectly if surprisingly cast.  I never would have thought of the intense Patinkin for a comedy role, but he is perfect -- as is the rest of the cast. Even the music (composed by Mark Knopfler) is on target.

Look, don’t take my word for it.  All fairy tales have endings of course; in this one Westley and
Buttercup are re-united.  And, as Grandpa explains: “Since the invention of the kiss there have been five kisses that were rated the most passionate, the most pure. This one left them all behind. The End.”


Is the kid upset?  Hardly.  In fact, he asks, “Grandpa, maybe you could come over and read it again to me tomorrow?”

You’ll have the same reaction.  The film was originally released 20 years ago, so many of not most of you probably never heard of it.  It’s a great reminder of how much fun films used to be.  I recommend it to all – at least those of you pure of heart!