King's Rhapsody (1955)

Richard, son of the King of Laurentia who has been living in Monte Carlo with Martha Karrillos for several years due to his parents refusal to this unroyal affair, is called to assume his ... See full summary »

Director:

Herbert Wilcox

Writers:

Ivor Novello (play), Pamela Bower (screenplay)

Stars:

Anna Neagle, Errol Flynn, Patrice Wymore

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Anna Neagle	...	Marta Karillos
Errol Flynn	...	Richard, King of Laurentia
Patrice Wymore	...	Princess Cristiane
Martita Hunt	...	Queen Mother
Finlay Currie	...	King Paul
Francis De Wolff	...	The Prime Minister
Joan Benham	...	Countess Astrid
Reginald Tate	...	King Peter
Miles Malleson	...	Jules
Edmund Hockridge	...	The Serenader (voice)
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Brian Franklin	...	Boy King

Storyline

Richard, son of the King of Laurentia who has been living in Monte Carlo with Martha Karrillos for several years due to his parents refusal to this unroyal affair, is called to assume his duties after his father's death. He is expected to marry the princess of an allied country and give an heir to the throne. Will he give up his true love?

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Plot Keywords:

based on play | 

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Genres:

Drama | Romance | Musical

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

7 May 1956 (Sweden)

Also Known As:

Amor de Rei

Filming Locations:

Sitges, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain

Company Credits

Production Co:

Herbert Wilcox Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

93 min

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo (RCA Sound System)

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

A Catalan surprise - this picture was shot in Barcelona and its surroundings. Laurentia's royal palace is in fact the Palau Reial de Pedralbes and you can see in some scenes the statue of Queen Isabel II which is in front of the Palau showing to the people his son King-to-be Alfonso XII in her arms; the big fountain at the palace gardens is in fact farther on, located at the Ciutadella park, and the exterior of the "cathedral" where the royal wedding takes place is in reality Sitges' coastal village humble church of Sant Bartomeu i Santa Tecla.

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Crazy Credits

Opening card: "Guarded by immemorial mountain peaks, gaunt and forbidding, the stronghold of the storm, Laurentia is a country of strange contrasts - the tenderness of romance, the venom of intrigue - and here, beneath these bastions of rock, we lay our story."

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Connections

Version of King's Rhapsody (1957)

User Reviews

A beautiful bore

Ivor Novello's late stage success gets a sumptuous and reasonably faithful filming with this large Herbert Wilcox production, designed to showcase his muse, Anna Neagle. It's probably the last big British film operetta--miscast, and a muddled story, but there are all those pretty Novello melodies and some gorgeous wide-screen location filming, and a lot of haute couture flitting around on screen from Ms. Neagle and Patrice Wymore. They're both in love with Errol Flynn, who's a little old and dissipated to be playing the dashing young playboy prince about to be crowned king of the fictional nation of Laurentia. Neagle's his longtime mistress and Wymore the princess ordered to marry him, which she doesn't mind at all. It's annoying that Flynn is allowed to love two women simultaneously without penalty, and the talk is generally dull, and the supporting cast--Martita Hunt as Flynn's queen mum, Miles Malleson as a servant--not very exciting. The editing is atrocious, careening from dialog to irrelevant song to dream ballet and back again. Watching it is like watching the operetta genre age before your very eyes, but if you like this sort of thing, and I do, you'll have a good time. And even if you don't, you'll appreciate the Cinemascope vistas.