King Guillaume

In France ,the idea was not much new ;in Roger Richebé's "Monseigneur"(1949) ,a historian claimed that a modest locksmith was the descendant of the kings of France,Louis XVII 's great grand-son.He had found documents which proved it.

In Buena Vista produced "King Guillaume " ,it's much more modest : the kingdom of Guerreland (= Warland) ,a tiny island in the Channel would return to England ,shouldn't a male apparent heir show up .Fortunately ,they discover that ,after a cock and bull adventure , a French who drives a toy train for tourists through the streets of his town is the man they look for ;his wife ,who plays the bass tuba in a brass band,is looking forward to becoming queen.

The prologue is appealing :a teacher ,in an old English school ,gives a class on Guerreland ,and his pupils asks pertinent questions ,often funny.

Afterward ,it's downhill : Pierre Richard should have turned down this part ;the funny moments are few and far between ;the screenplay had potential ,but the gags are heavy-handed ,repetitive ;Florence Foresti overplays ,trying to hog the stage ,to no avail .

The island is frog-shaped (because the French are supposed to eat frog legs at every lunch?) ;the heir on the boat screams "I'm the king!" a la Di Caprio on Titanic.And how can Buena Vista grant such a lousy budget to a movie?