''King Kelly of the U.S.A.'' is a 1934 American

romantic musical film Romance films or movies involve romantic love stories recorded in visual media for broadcast in theatres or on television that focus on passion, emotion, and the affectionate romantic involvement of the main characters. Typically their journey ...

directed by Leonard Fields. The film stars then popular singer Guy Robertson in his only

feature film A feature film or feature-length film is a narrative film (motion picture or "movie") with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation in a commercial entertainment program. The term ''feature film'' originall ...

appearance.https://earlysoundguy.com/2018/07/22/where-did-you-go-guy-robertson/ Guy Robertson at earlysoundguy.com

Plot

James W. Kelly (Guy Robertson) and his pal Happy Moran (

Edgar Kennedy Edgar Livingston Kennedy (April 26, 1890 – November 9, 1948) was an American comedic character actor who appeared in at least 500 films during the silent and sound eras. Professionally, he was known as "Slow Burn", owing to his ability to por ...

) are taking their all-girl-dancing troupe "Kelly's Affairs" across the ocean on the

SS Île de France SS ''Île de France'' was a French ocean liner that was built in Saint-Nazaire for the Compagnie Générale Transatlantique (or CGT, also known as the "French Line"). The ship was named after the region around Paris known as " L'Ile de France", ...

to tour Europe. Despite warning his troupe not to fall in love, Kelly and the mysterious Catherine Bell (

Irene Ware Irene Ware (born Irene Catherine Ahlberg; November 6, 1910 – March 11, 1993) was an American actress. She was a beauty queen and showgirl before appearing in 29 films between 1932 and 1940, and is mostly remembered for her roles as Princess Na ...

), fall for each other, literally. Maxine sets her

gold-digging Gold digger is a term for a person, typically a woman, who engages in a type of transactional relationship for money rather than love. If it turns into marriage, it is a type of marriage of convenience. Etymology and usage The term "gold ...

sights on wealthy J. Ashton Brockton (

Franklin Pangborn Franklin Pangborn (January 23, 1889 – July 20, 1958) was an American comedic character actor famous for playing small but memorable roles with comic flair. He appeared in many Preston Sturges movies as well as the W. C. Fields films '' Interna ...

). Brockton sends his secretary to buy Maxine out of Kelly's Affairs, but Kelly refuses to break up the act. When their backers pull out, Happy and Kelly are unable to manage to scrounge enough

dough Dough is a thick, malleable, sometimes elastic paste made from grains or from leguminous or chestnut crops. Dough is typically made by mixing flour with a small amount of water or other liquid and sometimes includes yeast or other leavening ag ...

to get the girls back home. Brockton has also been informed of bad news; his high paid contract as an efficiency expert to the Kingdom of Belgardia is a bad move as the nation is broke. The scheming Brockton sees his chance to kill two birds with one stone; he swaps management of the entire troupe of Kelly's Affairs to get his girlfriend and for exchange gives Kelly his position in Belgardia where Kelly and Happy believe they will "live like kings". Belgardia in a tiny Kingdom of 50,012 where the

GDP Gross domestic product (GDP) is a monetary measure of the market value of all the final goods and services produced and sold (not resold) in a specific time period by countries. Due to its complex and subjective nature this measure is often ...

is measured in

mop A mop (such as a floor mop) is a mass or bundle of coarse strings or yarn, etc., or a piece of cloth, sponge or other absorbent material, attached to a pole or stick. It is used to soak up liquid, for cleaning floors and other surfaces, to mop ...

s. When King Maxmilian leaves his royal palace for a bicycle ride, he has his bicycle destroyed in a country ditch. He hitches a ride with Kelly and Happy who believe him a tramp, and make him act as their servant to impress the King. With the incognito King carrying their bags, the gates of the Royal Palace are opened to them. The pair discover that Belgardia is broke, especially hard hit by the fact that no one is buying mops as they now use

vacuum cleaner A vacuum cleaner, also known simply as a vacuum or a hoover, is a device that causes suction in order to remove dirt from floors, upholstery, draperies, and other surfaces. It is generally electrically driven. The dirt is collected by either a ...

s instead. Spying a pair of tourists offering to pay money to get inside the castle, Kelly has a brainstorm to open the nation to tourism and charge fees for touring, then opens the palace as an amusement park with mops as prizes. As a

crooner Crooner is a term used to describe primarily male singers who performed using a smooth style made possible by better microphones which picked up quieter sounds and a wider range of frequencies, allowing the singer to access a more dynamic range ...

, Kelly tries to sell mops by appealing to women's vanity, using a radio show to pull the kingdom out of bankruptcy, and win Catherine Bell, who is actually Princess Tania, from their shipboard romance. Time is running out, as Prince Alexis, (

William Orlamond William Anderson Orlamond (1 August 1867 – 23 April 1957) was a Danish-American film actor. Orlamond appeared in more than 80 films between 1912 and 1938. Partial filmography * ''A Rogue's Romance'' (1919) * ''Elmo the Mighty'' (1919) ...

), invades, from the neighbouring country of Moronia, to seize the castle and marry the Princess. Their only defence, as the army has quit for not being paid, are the women tourist customers and their “Personality Mops”.

Cast

*Guy Robertson as James W. Kelly *

as Happy Moran *

as Princess Tania aka Catherine Bell *

Ferdinand Gottschalk Ferdinand Gottschalk (28 February 1858 – 10 November 1944) was an English theatre and film actor. He appeared in 76 films between 1917 and 1938. He was born and died in London, England. He made his first appearance on the stage in Toronto ...

as King Maxmilian of Belgardia *

as J. Ashton Brockton *

Joyce Compton Olivia Joyce Compton (January 27, 1907 – October 13, 1997) was an American actress. Biography Compton was born in Lexington, Kentucky, the daughter of Henry and Golden Compton. (Despite frequent reports to the contrary, her name was not ...

as Maxine Latour *

Wilhelm von Brincken Wilhelm von Brincken (May 27, 1881 – January 18, 1946), also known as Wilhelm L. von Brincken, William Vaughn, William von Brinken, and William Vaughan, was a German diplomat and spy during World War I, who went on to become an American charac ...

as Stranger *

Otis Harlan Otis Harlan (December 29, 1865 – January 21, 1940) was an American actor and comedian. He voiced Happy, one of the Seven Dwarfs in the Disney animated film ''Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs''. Early years Harlan was born in Zanesville, Ohio ...

as Prime Minister *

as Prince Alexis *

Bodil Rosing Bodil Rosing (born Bodil Frederikke Hammerich; December 27, 1877 December 31, 1941) was a Danish-American film actress in the silent and sound eras. Early years Bodil Hammerich was born in Copenhagen, the daughter of music dean Angel Hammeri ...

as Tania's Maid *

Dick Curtis Richard Dye (May 11, 1902January 3, 1952), known professionally as Dick Curtis, was an American actor who made over 230 film and television appearances during his career. Early years Curtis was born in Newport, Kentucky, the son of Frank Dye ...

as Otto the Palace Guard *

Hattie McDaniel Hattie McDaniel (June 10, 1893October 26, 1952) was an American actress, singer-songwriter, and comedian. For her role as Mammy in ''Gone with the Wind'' (1939), she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, becoming the first African ...

as the Black Narcissus Mop Buyer

Soundtrack

*Guy Robertson - "Right Next Door to Love" (Music by

Joe Sanders Joseph L. Sanders (October 26, 1896, Thayer, Kansas - May 14, 1965, Kansas City, Missouri) was an American jazz pianist, singer, and band leader associated with Kansas City jazz for most of his career. Sanders was best known for co-leading the ...

, lyrics by

Bernie Grossman Bernie may refer to: Places in the United States * Bernie, Missouri, a city * Griffithsville, West Virginia, also called Bernie People * Bernie (given name) ** Bernie Sanders, United States senator and 2016 and 2020 Democratic presidential candid ...

) *Guy Robertson - "Believe Me" (Music by Joe Sanders, lyrics by Bernie Grossman) *Guy Robertson and the marching mop ladies - "There's a Love Song in the Air" (Music by Joe Sanders, lyrics by Bernie Grossman)

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:King Kelly Of The U.S.A. 1934 films 1934 musical comedy films 1934 romantic comedy films American musical comedy films American romantic comedy films American romantic musical films American black-and-white films Monogram Pictures films Films set in Europe Films directed by Leonard Fields 1930s American films