''His Royal Highness'' is a 1932 Australian

musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, but in some cases, they serve merely as breaks ...

directed by

F. W. Thring Francis William Thring (2 December 1882 – 1 July 1936), better known as F. W. Thring, was an Australian film director, film producer, producer, and film exhibitor, exhibitor. He has been credited with the invention of the clapperboard. Early ...

, also known as ''His Loyal Highness'' (Australia alternative title and title in the United Kingdom), starring

George Wallace George Corley Wallace Jr. (August 25, 1919 – September 13, 1998) was an American politician who served as the 45th governor of Alabama for four terms. A member of the Democratic Party, he is best remembered for his staunch segregationist and ...

in his feature film debut. It was the first Australian film musical.

Plot

Tommy Dodds (George Wallace) is a stage hand who has a crush on Molly. He is knocked unconscious and dreams he is the King of Betonia. He scandalises the court by gambling with footmen and teaching his Prime Minister to roller skate, and uncovers a conspiracy by Torano and Yoiben. The rightful heir to the throne is discovered and Tommy is no longer king. He wakes up from his dream and sees that Molly is interested in someone else.

Cast

Original Play

The film was based on a stage show of two acts and seven scenes which Wallace had written and appeared in the 1920s. It was one of a series of "revusicals" written by Wallace during this period.

Plot

Tommy Dodd is discovered working at a New York pie stall by Alfam and Torano from the European kingdom of Betonia. They are looking for the missing heir to the throne and decide Tommy is it. They ship him off to Betonia, which is located on the Adriatic, where he is acclaimed heir. He is placed under the control of Yioben, an elderly female charged with training him in the royal ways. Tommy eventually discovers that he is not the true heir and another member of court is. He leaves Betonia, but with enough money to buy his own pie stall.

Production

Wallace collaborated on the script with

C. J. Dennis Clarence Michael James Stanislaus Dennis (7 September 1876 – 22 June 1938), better known as C. J. Dennis, was an Australian poet and journalist known for his best-selling verse novel ''The Songs of a Sentimental Bloke'' (1915). Alongside ...

. Filming began in February 1932. It was shot at Efftee's studio at His Majesty's Theatre in Melbourne. The set of the royal palace in Betonia cost £7,000. Donalda Warne was an emerging stage star, who soon afterwards went to Britain to seek fame. Composer Alaric Howitt was from Melbourne but had recently spent two years working in America.

Raymond Longford Raymond Longford (born John Walter Hollis Longford, 23 September 18782 April 1959) was a prolific Australian film director, writer, producer and actor during the silent era. Longford was a major director of the silent film era of the Australian ...

later claimed he worked on the movie."Raymond Longford", ''Cinema Papers'', January 1974 p51

Reception

Despite some unenthusiastic reviews the film was a popular success at the box office, launching

as a film star. Thring sold the film to Britain along with ''

Diggers The Diggers were a group of religious and political dissidents in England, associated with agrarian socialism. Gerrard Winstanley and William Everard, amongst many others, were known as True Levellers in 1649, in reference to their split from ...

'' (1931) and ''

The Sentimental Bloke ''The Sentimental Bloke'' is a 1918 Australian silent film based on the 1915 verse novel ''The Songs of a Sentimental Bloke'' by C. J. Dennis. Produced and directed by Raymond Longford, the film stars Arthur Tauchert, Gilbert Emery, and Lottie L ...

'' (1932) and some shorts for £100,000. Of these, ''His Royal Highness'' proved the most popular in Britain, where it was widely screened, in reportedly over 1000 cinemas. It also received good reviews from the English trade papers, which had previously been critical of ''

On Our Selection ''On Our Selection'' (1899) is a series of stories written by Australian author Steele Rudd, the pen name of Arthur Hoey Davis, in the late 1890s, featuring the characters Dad and Dave Rudd. The original edition of the book was illustrated by ...

''. It also enjoyed more popularity at the box office. After World War II

Pat Hanna George Patrick "Pat" Hanna (born 18 March 1888 in Whitianga, New Zealand – 24 October 1973 in Ampthill, Bedfordshire, England) was a New Zealand-born film producer, he was a soldier of the First World War who entertained post-war audience ...

bought the rights to distribute this and some other Efftee films and enjoyed some success. ''Filmink'' magazine later said "it's a movie of its time and the musical numbers are fairly ropey but Wallace's tremendous talent remains evident."

References

*Fitzpatrick, Peter, ''The Two Frank Thrings'', Monash University, 2012

External links

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''His Royal Highness''
at

National Film and Sound Archive The National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (NFSA), known as ScreenSound Australia from 1999 to 2004, is Australia's audiovisual archive, responsible for developing, preserving, maintaining, promoting and providing access to a national co ...

''His Royal Highness''
at Oz Movies
''His Royal Highness''
at

Australian Screen Online The National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (NFSA), known as ScreenSound Australia from 1999 to 2004, is Australia's audiovisual archive, responsible for developing, preserving, maintaining, promoting and providing access to a national co ...

''His Royal Highness''
at

AustLit AustLit: The Australian Literature Resource (also known as AustLit: Australian Literature Gateway; and AustLit: The Resource for Australian Literature), usually referred to simply as AustLit, is an internet-based, non-profit collaboration betwee ...

''His Royal Highness''
at Australian Variety Theatre Archive
Complete script
at

National Archives of Australia The National Archives of Australia (NAA), formerly known as the Commonwealth Archives Office and Australian Archives, is an Australian Government agency that serves as the national archives of the nation. It collects, preserves and encourages ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:His Royal Highness 1932 films Australian black-and-white films Australian musical comedy films 1932 musical comedy films Films directed by F. W. Thring Films set in Australia Australian films based on plays Films set in Europe 1930s Australian films 1930s English-language films