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.
