His Royal Slyness

This Harold Lloyd comedy is good overall, and it has some especially funny moments. It's fun to see Harold and his brother Gaylord on screen together, and their characters are used to create a good story that lends itself to some good comedy. The rest of the cast of comic actors also help out when they have the chance.

Lloyd plays an American salesman with a strong resemblance to a visiting prince (played by Gaylord), who asks the American to appear in his place for some duties at court. Much of the comedy comes from the contrast between the outgoing, aggressive American and the self-indulgent, oafish members of the royal court. It's enjoyable both as comedy and as social satire, and it's also rather interesting as a record of some perceptions that may not have changed all that much. The comedy blends slapstick, sight gags, and other material to make for a good mix.

The revolution sequence brings things to an appropriate climax and ties everything together. Not all of the movie works flawlessly, but most of it is entertaining, and overall it's one of Harold Lloyd's more enjoyable short comedies.

The little Kingdom of Thermosa is the Isle of Roquefort on the coast of Razzamatazz. The Prince of Razzamatazz (Gaylord Lloyd) is being educated in America. He is called back to the Thermosa court along with the rival Prince of Roquefort (Snub Pollard). Both are supposed to be pursuing the hand of Princess Florelle of Thermosa (Mildred Davis). On the ship over, he meets doppelganger The American Boy (Harold Lloyd) and comes up with an idea to avoid going home.

Harold Lloyd does a doppelganger story. I don't like the prince coming home which is a bit of a logistic muddle. The Prince's girlfriend should be back in America when he tells her about losing his inheritance. In that way, the Prince would have to make three crossings before coming home. The peasant revolt could be funnier or not be there at all. This is mostly fine.

Lloyd, a young book salesman is a doppelganger to the prince who wants to stay in the U.S.Now Lloyd becomes the prince in the kingdom of Thermosa.There he meets the cute princess Florelle and the peasants make him the president of the new republic.His Royal Slyness is a Harold Lloyd two reeler from 1920.Hal Roach is its director.Lloyd and Mildred Davis are perfect together.'Snub' Pollard is hilarious as Lloyd's rival, the drunk Prince of Rochquefort.Gus Leonard plays King Razzamatazz/Bolshevik orator.Noah Young is The Prince's Tutor.Harold's brother Gaylord Lloyd is in an uncredited role playing the prince.The movie is funny in many parts.The first time Harold meets the princess is funny.She is crying as the man beats up the horse, so Harold makes the man drop.And when Harold asks for all those phone numbers from the girls.Or when he starts walking towards one of them and runs into a mirror.A little trivia: this movie was the last one Lloyd made before his hand was blown apart by a prop bomb while making The Haunted Spooks.

Probably the most famous political satire from the inter-war era is the Marx Brothers' "Duck Soup". However, Harold Lloyd had starred in one a decade earlier. "His Royal Slyness" casts him as an ordinary guy who just happens to resemble the visiting prince of a foreign country. When the prince doesn't want to return home, Lloyd's character goes in his stead. Because the country has an incompetent, self-serving government, and the peasants are rising up against it, that doesn't make things any easier for poor Harold!

This movie doesn't go for the jugular the way that "Duck Soup" did, but still sympathizes with the peasants (who wouldn't after seeing the worthless people who dominate the government?). It's no masterpiece but still a fun look at politics and the people's discontents therewith (which continue to this day).

His Royal Slyness (1920)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Harold Lloyd plays an American boy who is asked by a lookalike Prince to pretend to be him and marry the Princess (Mildred Davis). Lloyd agrees to do this but once in the new place he finds himself under attack by the locals who believe him to be the real Prince. HIS ROYAL SLYNESS has a couple funny scenes, which makes it worth watching to Lloyd fans but there's still no question that this is far from the actor's best work. I think the best scenes actually happen early on when we see the real Prince trying to make the moves on his mistress. The first sequence where the Prince meets the American contained some simple but effective laughs. The second portion of the film isn't nearly as strong as the American finds himself in a new land, trying to impress a girl and then of course coming under attack by the local people. Lloyd at least gets to show off some of his comic timing and especially during a sequence where he pretends to be a hunchback but the only problem is that the hunch keeps moving places. I think the story itself has enough cuteness to it and especially the story dealing with the Prince and the Princess. Again, this is certainly far from great material but it's worth watching.