His Royal Slyness

His Royal Slyness, one of the best two-reel comedies Harold Lloyd made at the Hal Roach Studio, takes up a favorite theme in the pop culture of its day: the American who travels to an exotic land and somehow becomes King. He might be a lookalike for the real King, or an unwitting patsy surrounded by plotters, or a castaway believed to command supernatural powers. He may be a blank-faced innocent like Harry Langdon in Soldier Man, or a cheerful if accident-prone regular guy like Charley Chase in Long Fliv the King, each of whom comes to find that he rather enjoys the perks of monarchy but can't handle the palace intrigue. In Lloyd's version the court is corrupt, the peasants are getting angry, and it's time to make the kingdom safe for Democracy.

These stories are usually set in fictional kingdoms, and often employ elements of social and political satire that would likely have been less acceptable to contemporary audiences if set in any recognizable place. The court depicted in His Royal Slyness is an amusingly jumbled patchwork of eras and cultures which mixes bits of Elizabethan, Victorian, and Mittel European costuming and decor, but the angry revolutionaries gathered in the village square are very definitely patterned after the era's Bolsheviks. The Russian Civil War was at its height in 1920, and American audiences were seeing people who looked like this in their newspapers and newsreels on a daily basis. Interestingly, despite the prevailing anti-Red sentiment in the U.S. at the time, the people responsible for this comedy seemed to take the angry protesters seriously, and didn't play them for easy laughs: there are no wild-eyed bomb-throwers, and no fleas in anyone's beard. The courtiers, on the other hand, are useless, decadent and drunk. We can only wonder if the filmmakers intended some sort of political commentary by casting character actor Gus Leonard as both "King Razzamatazz" and an angry, bedraggled orator outside the palace walls.

When the story begins, Harold is a brash door-to-door salesman, a dead ringer for a dissolute Prince who is in America supposedly going to school. The Prince (played by Harold's real life older brother, Gaylord) is actually playing hooky and spending all his time with his vamp-y girlfriend, and doesn't feel like going home when he is summoned. Harold, who happens along at just the right moment, is persuaded, Prisoner of Zenda-style, to assume the Prince's identity and go in his place. Once he arrives in court, Harold tries to ingratiate himself with the chilly nobles, flirts with some cute pages (girls, of course), and then romances the Prince's fiancée. But the real Prince, having been jilted by his American mistress, returns, and Harold is tossed out. Almost immediately, and quite by accident, Harold finds himself leading the mob of rebels storming the palace. The monarchy is overthrown, Harold is installed as President, and, in one last political joke, immediately becomes a despot, and issues orders which are quickly and fearfully obeyed!

Okay, so Jonathan Swift it ain't, but His Royal Slyness is a highly enjoyable comedy with undeniable elements of political satire. While it's not as laugh-packed as Charley Chase's Long Fliv the King (which in my opinion is the funniest of these mythical kingdom shorts), it is nonetheless amusing and surprisingly sharp, and also presents a good sample of Harold Lloyd's evolving comic style. The star himself comes off quite well here: he's young, trim, and decidedly more flirty with the ladies than the later, girl-shy Harold. The supporting cast features such Lloyd stalwarts as Snub Pollard, Noah Young, and Mildred Davis, who would later become Mrs. Harold Lloyd and retire from performing. The film is also interesting as a kind of dry run for the classic Why Worry? of 1923, in which Harold would once more fall afoul of violent plotters in an exotic foreign land.

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.

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.

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.

Just watched this Harold Lloyd comedy short on the Kino DVD called "The Harold Lloyd Collection". His Royal Slyness is sort of Lloyd's version of "The Prince and the Pauper" with brother Gaylord portraying the prince who convinces lookalike Harold to take his place going back to his country so the princess could pick her royal betrothed there. It seems the real prince is infatuated with a rich socialite. Anyway, the princess (Mildred Davis who would eventually become Harold's real life wife) herself prefers the commoners since most of the royal subjects are loutish drunks, especially the other prince played by Lloyd regular Snub Pollard. Starts slow then becomes quite hilarious once Harold puzzles the subjects with his American carefree attitude. And you won't believe the way the whole thing ends! So on that note, I highly recommend His Royal Slyness.