''My Pal, the King'' is a 1932 American
Pre-Code Western film directed by
Kurt Neumann, starring
Tom Mix, and featuring
Mickey Rooney
Mickey Rooney (born Joseph Yule Jr.; other pseudonym Mickey Maguire; September 23, 1920 – April 6, 2014) was an American actor. In a career spanning nine decades, he appeared in more than 300 films and was among the last surviving stars of the ...
and
James Kirkwood.
[Quinlan, David (1997) ''The Film Lover's Companion: An A to Z Guide to 2,000 Stars and the Movies They Made''. Carol Publishing Group, p.411] The screenplay concerns a
rodeo
Rodeo () is a competitive equestrian sport that arose out of the working practices of cattle herding in Spain and Mexico, expanding throughout the Americas and to other nations. It was originally based on the skills required of the working va ...
cowboy who helps a child king.
Plot
Tom Reed's (
Tom Mix) famous traveling
Wild West show performs in Alvonia, a small European country, where the child king, ten year old Charles V (
Mickey Rooney
Mickey Rooney (born Joseph Yule Jr.; other pseudonym Mickey Maguire; September 23, 1920 – April 6, 2014) was an American actor. In a career spanning nine decades, he appeared in more than 300 films and was among the last surviving stars of the ...
), neglects his duties because of his interest in the show. After a discussion with Tom, Charles decides that he should treat his subjects fairly, which does not please Count De Mar (
James Kirkwood) who has been in control of the country and wants to tax the people heavily. He plots with the Dowager Queen (
Clarissa Selwynne) to kidnap Charles and his tutor, Dr. Lorenz (
Wallis Clark), and throws them in a dungeon, and suggests to Lorenz that he kill Charles and then kill himself. Tom learns from Charles' aunt, Princess Elsa (
Noel Francis) that the king is missing, and Tom manages to track him to the fortress where the king is imprisoned. Tom's cowboys and the count's men fight, and the count ends up drowning to death. Tom then rescues the king and his tutor, and Charles promises to always treat his people well.
Cast
*
Tom Mix as Tom Reed
*
Mickey Rooney
Mickey Rooney (born Joseph Yule Jr.; other pseudonym Mickey Maguire; September 23, 1920 – April 6, 2014) was an American actor. In a career spanning nine decades, he appeared in more than 300 films and was among the last surviving stars of the ...
as King Charles V
*
James Kirkwood as Count De Mar
*
Wallis Clark as Dr. Lorenz
*
Noel Francis as Princess Elsa
* Finis Barton as Gretchen
*
Paul Hurst as Red
*
Stuart Holmes as Count Kluckstein
*
Jim Thorpe as Black Cloud
*
Christian J. Frank as Jailer Etzel
*
Clarissa Selwynne as Dowager Queen
*
Ferdinand Schumann-Heink as General Wiedeman ''(uncredited)''
* Tony Jr. as Tom's horse
*
Harry Cording as Palace Guard (uncredited)
References
External links
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{{Kurt Neumann
1932 films
1932 Western (genre) films
American Western (genre) films
Films directed by Kurt Neumann
Universal Pictures films
American black-and-white films
Films set in Europe
Films set in a fictional country
1930s English-language films
1930s American films
Films with screenplays by Richard Schayer
Films about kings