My Friend the King is a 1932

1932 in film

-Events:*Cary Grant's film career begins*Katharine Hepburn's film career begins*Shirley Temple's film career begins*Disney released Flowers and Trees, the first cartoon in three-strip Technicolor film.*Santa, first sound film made in Mexico released....

 British comedy film, directed by Michael Powell

Michael Powell (director)

Michael Latham Powell was a renowned English film director, celebrated for his partnership with Emeric Pressburger...

 and starring Jerry Verno

Jerry Verno

Jerry Verno was a British film actor. He appeared in 39 films between 1931 and 1966, including five films directed by Michael Powell.He was born in London.-Selected filmography:* Two Crowded Hours...

. The film was a follow-up to Two Crowded Hours

Two Crowded Hours

Two Crowded Hours is a 1931 British comedy drama film directed by Michael Powell. It was made as a Quota quickie and is the first film where Powell is credited as the director.-Plot:...

, Powell's unexpectedly popular directiorial debut of the previous year, with comedian Verno reprising his role as a chirpy Cockney taxi driver who gets mixed up in shady doings. This film however was less well-received, with Powell recalling it as "a complete failure", also noting that he worked on six films during 1932 and that "they couldn't all be good...and they weren't".

My Friend the King is one of eleven quota quickies directed by Powell between 1931 and 1936 of which no print is known to survive. The film is not held in the BFI National Archive

BFI National Archive

The BFI National Archive is a department of the British Film Institute, and one of the largest film archives in the world. It was originally set up as the National Film Library in 1935; its first curator was Ernest Lindgren. In 1955 its name became the National Film Archive, and in 1992, the...

, and is classed as "missing, believed lost".

Plot

Taxi driver Jim (Verno) befriends Ruritania

Ruritania

Ruritania is a fictional country in central Europe which forms the setting for three books by Anthony Hope: The Prisoner of Zenda , The Heart of Princess Osra , and Rupert of Hentzau...

n child King Ludwig while the latter is on a visit to London. A plot is afoot by sinister forces to kidnap Ludwig, and Jim becomes caught up in the drama. After the child is abducted Jim uses all his ingenuity, including cross-dressing as a Countess and becoming involved in a car chase, to rescue him from his captors.

Cast

• Jerry Verno
  Jerry Verno
  Jerry Verno was a British film actor. He appeared in 39 films between 1931 and 1966, including five films directed by Michael Powell.He was born in London.-Selected filmography:* Two Crowded Hours...
  
  as Jim
• Robert Holmes as Captain Felz
• Tracy Holmes as Count Huelin
• Eric Pavitt as King Ludwig
• Phyllis Loring and Princess Helma
• Luli Deste as Countess Zena
• H. Saxon Snell as Karl
• Vicotor Fairley as Josef

Reception

Contemporary reviewers enjoyed Verno's performance but felt he was let down by the feeble material with which he had to work, with Bioscope commenting "a better vehicle really should have been devised for a comedian of such ability as Verno." Picturegoer Weekly found: "There is not much subtlety about the burlesque, but it is presented with plenty of action...not great stuff this, but helps pass three-quarters of an hour quite pleasantly."

External links

• My Friend the King at BritMovie