The king and queen of a troubled European country part ways when he decides to abdicate to find his first wife and be reunited with the daughter he hasn't seen in years. The gracious queen sends the king on his way. Will he like what he finds in revisiting the past, or will he learn that what he had already was what he really needed?
In this hour long Warner Brothers film, George and Florence Arliss play king and queen, with sophisticated Marjorie Gateson as the first wife who is anxiously awaiting his return. But Arliss finds that his ex-wife isn't the sweet thing he left behind, keeping his daughter and the man she loves (a non-singing Dick Powell) apart. When former king and queen are briefly reunited, Arliss questions his future with Gateson.
Speeding by with all the lavishness of an Ernst Lubitsch operetta, this is delightfully old fashioned and sweet. Many films of this nature came out in the 1930's, but they didn't have the life lesson that this one presents. I love finding an actor like Arliss who can explore a character's soul in such a short period of time, perfectly dramatized in one scene where the resigning king pardons an anarchist who tried to assassinate him.
In this hour long Warner Brothers film, George and Florence Arliss play king and queen, with sophisticated Marjorie Gateson as the first wife who is anxiously awaiting his return. But Arliss finds that his ex-wife isn't the sweet thing he left behind, keeping his daughter and the man she loves (a non-singing Dick Powell) apart. When former king and queen are briefly reunited, Arliss questions his future with Gateson.
Speeding by with all the lavishness of an Ernst Lubitsch operetta, this is delightfully old fashioned and sweet. Many films of this nature came out in the 1930's, but they didn't have the life lesson that this one presents. I love finding an actor like Arliss who can explore a character's soul in such a short period of time, perfectly dramatized in one scene where the resigning king pardons an anarchist who tried to assassinate him.