Recognize sets from Frankenstein films and Hunchback
"My Pal, the King" is one of only 9 films the huge silent film star Tom Mix made...out of his 291 movies. But even in the sound era, Mix was a bankable star and the film did extremely well at the box office for Universal Studios. However, he didn't like making films and decided to devote himself to a new passion...performing in and eventually owning his own circus. It's a shame, as it's a pretty decent film and his foray into circuses was, sadly, a big financial blunder.
In the film, Mix essentially plays himself. He's touring Europe when a young king (Mickey Rooney) disappears from the palace. After all, the kid wants to have fun and being a king isn't all that fun. Soon he and Mix develop quite the friendship and spend time together. However, as they talked, the king says he wants his country run differently...more like a republic and for the good of the people. Tom tells the boy he CAN do this if he wants and he doesn't have to listen to his advisors. So, the boy tells his advisors of his plans...and soon finds himself spirited away to a secret prison! Obviously, the boy isn't the real power in the country and the coup plans on placing his evil mother on the throne. Can Tom discover this plot and restore the king to his rightful position?
The plot is quite a bit like "The Prisoner of Zenda"...with cowboys. This is a strange mix, but it somehow works. The film is well made and enjoyable and its only deficit is Mix's acting. He's good in the action sequences but is amazingly soft-spoken and says little during the movie. He wasn't bad as much as he was a bit disappointing. But his stuntwork (which he claimed to do himself) was terrific and the film well worth seeing...especially in the final minutes of the story.
By the way, IMDB says the film is 73 minutes long, but the copy I found on YouTube is only 61. IMDB's runtimes are occasionally wrong, but it's also possible the copy I saw was trimmed by someone.
