All the King's Horses (1934)

User Rating:

5.3/10   

Director:

Frank Tuttle

Writers:

Laurence Clark (play) and
Max Giersberg (play) ...

Release Date:

13 February 1934 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Musical | Romance

Tagline:

ROMANTIC MUSICAL DRAMA! (original poster)

Plot:

Movie star changes places with a king who looks exactly like him, causing complications for all concerned.

Plot Keywords:

King | Queen | Actor | Vienna | Palace

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar.

Cast

Carl Brisson	...	King Rudolf XIV / Carlo Rocco
Mary Ellis	...	Elaine, the Queen of Langenstein
Edward Everett Horton	...	Count Josef von Schlapstaat aka Peppi
Katherine DeMille	...	Fraülein Mimi
Eugene Pallette	...	Con Conley
Arnold Korff	...	Baron Kraemer, Lord Chamberlain
Marina Koshetz	...	Steffi (as Marina Schubert)
Rosita	...	Ilonka
Stanley Andrews	...	Count Batthy

Runtime:

87 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:Passed (National Board of Review)

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

One of over 700 Paramount Productions, filmed between 1929 and 1949, which were sold to MCA/Universal in 1958 for television distribution, and have been owned and controlled by Universal ever since.

Soundtrack:

Play a Little

Slow moving but charming musical curio with Oscar nominated Choreography

ALL THE KING'S HORSES is indeed a musical curio. It was the first film of Mary Ellis who has a lovely singing voice and a charming comedic touch - she was only to make eight films. For leading man, Carl Brisson, it was one of twelve films he made - his career did not last beyond 1935. The pair almost seem like husband and wife in real life and the plot is one of those charming trifles (like THE GUARDSMAN and its musical equivalent, THE CHOCOLATE SOLDIER) geared for such pairings. King Rudolf is in love with his wife but neglects her for affairs of state, so she leaves him. Enter King Rudolf look-alike, popular singer Carlo Rocco, who befriends the king and offers to change places with him while he goes out on the town to learn how to spice up his love life with the queen. Meanwhile Queen Elaine returns and is attracted to this "new" husband. He too is attracted to the Queen and is now in a desperate situation - what will win out - his love or his duty to his king? The special effects with Brisson playing both roles at once are seamless and beautifully timed. There's bits of plots of THE PRINCE AND THE PAUPER, THE GUARDSMAN and even COSI FAN TUTTI. Oddly, the screenplay was amalgamated from two separate and unrelated plays. The score is a delight (BE CAREFUL; A KING CAN DO NO WRONG; WHEN PRINCE CHARMING COMES ALONG; SLEEP BABY SLEEP; GYPSY SONG; and the two best - A LITTLE WHITE GARDENIA and DANCING THE VIENNESE. The latter is a pretense for the film's only dance number, effective with mirrors and special effects where dancing couples whirl behind pillars and emerge seamlessly in different period costumes. This bit of choreography and design was nominated for a Choreography (Dance Direction)Oscar. The film deserved equal nods for Original Score and Art Direction.

Although the direction is sluggish and the plot slow-moving (microphone placement was still more important than dramaturgy in 1934), it is still a delight and quite enjoyable.