The Prisoner of Swing (1938)

User Rating:

6.0/10   

Director:

Roy Mack

Writers:

Eddie Forman (writer) &
Cyrus Wood (writer)

Release Date:

11 June 1938 (USA)

Genre:

Short | Adventure | Comedy | Musical

Plot:

Musical satire based on Anthony Hope's Ruritanian novel "The Prisoner of Zenda" in which a commoner takes the place of a lookalike king.

Plot Keywords:

King | Swing Music | Satire | Look Alike | Fictitious Country

Cast

Hal Le Roy	...	Rudolph, King of Sulvania / Mr. Razzenstill
Eddie Foy Jr.	...	Dantsau
June Allyson	...	Princess
Al Fields	...	Colonel
Percy Helton	...	Messenger
Bruce Evans
Ruth Dryden	...	Antoinette
Lester Cole	...	Palace Singers (as Lester Cole Singers)
Gae Foster Girls	...	Palace Dancers (as The Gae Foster Girls)

Also Known As:

Broadway Brevities: The Prisoner of Swing (USA) (series title)

Runtime:

22 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:Approved

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

Vitaphone production reels B108-B109.

Quotes:

Rudolph, King of Sulvania: Pardon me, my good woman. I'm here for the saxophone season. Can you tell me if there's any swinging going on here?

Movie Connections:

Spoofs The Prisoner of Zenda (1937)

Soundtrack:

Gschichten aus dem Wienerwald (Tales from the Vienna Woods), Op. 325

Watchable mainly for glimpse of June Allyson before stardom...

The most surprising thing about this Vitaphone short from Warner Bros. is that JUNE ALLYSON appears in it in a supporting role as a princess. I'd always assumed she made her debut at MGM in BEST FOOT FORWARD ('43), but instead, this was her seventh appearance on film, mostly in musical shorts for Warner Bros.

Taking its storyline from THE PRISONER OF ZENDA's tale of dual identities in a royal kingdom, this one has HAL LeROY as the commoner who is the lookalike of a king, a saxophonist in a swing band while His Highness is a man allergic to swing. The plot vaguely follows the Zenda business of switching identities, crossing the moat where the prisoner is, and the final duel, all done in painfully obvious fashion with an attempt at humor.

HAL LeROY is fine as long as he's just tap dancing, but his screen charisma is nearly zero and he looks rather uncomfortable throughout. Can't say that I blame him. JUNE ALLYSON is almost unrecognizable in a blonde wig (supposed to look like Madeleine Carroll, I suppose), and gets a brief song duet that is instantly forgettable. No wonder it took her several more years before she had her big break.

Pretty bad with a tinny soundtrack that only makes things worse. As musical shorts go, this is one of the worst.