His Royal Slyness

Lloyd, a young book salesman is a doppelganger to the prince who wants to stay in the U.S.Now Lloyd becomes the prince in the kingdom of Thermosa.There he meets the cute princess Florelle and the peasants make him the president of the new republic.His Royal Slyness is a Harold Lloyd two reeler from 1920.Hal Roach is its director.Lloyd and Mildred Davis are perfect together.'Snub' Pollard is hilarious as Lloyd's rival, the drunk Prince of Rochquefort.Gus Leonard plays King Razzamatazz/Bolshevik orator.Noah Young is The Prince's Tutor.Harold's brother Gaylord Lloyd is in an uncredited role playing the prince.The movie is funny in many parts.The first time Harold meets the princess is funny.She is crying as the man beats up the horse, so Harold makes the man drop.And when Harold asks for all those phone numbers from the girls.Or when he starts walking towards one of them and runs into a mirror.A little trivia: this movie was the last one Lloyd made before his hand was blown apart by a prop bomb while making The Haunted Spooks.

An American book salesman (Harold Lloyd) is persuaded to go to the kingdom of Thermosa to impersonate the Prince. He is greeted by a peasants' revolt before the real prince shows up to claim his throne and princess (Mildred Davis).

Harold Lloyd has always played second (or third) fiddle to Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton, probably even more today (2015) than in his own time. Few today have probably seen any of his films, and many may never have even heard his name. And among his films, this is not amongst the better known (certainly not as much as "Safety Last" or "The Freshman").

But there are some pretty funny moments in this short (which seems to be inspired by "Prince and the Pauper"), particularly coming from Prince Roquefort and his drinking -- he declares a victory for him will cause so much wine to be drank that the corks will block traffic. Wow! Much like Keaton, Lloyd's best comedy is in his physical action... and we get relatively little of that here.

The film was remade in 1927 as "Long Fliv the King", which featured Oliver Hardy, and may be even less well known.

His Royal Slyness (1920)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Harold Lloyd plays an American boy who is asked by a lookalike Prince to pretend to be him and marry the Princess (Mildred Davis). Lloyd agrees to do this but once in the new place he finds himself under attack by the locals who believe him to be the real Prince. HIS ROYAL SLYNESS has a couple funny scenes, which makes it worth watching to Lloyd fans but there's still no question that this is far from the actor's best work. I think the best scenes actually happen early on when we see the real Prince trying to make the moves on his mistress. The first sequence where the Prince meets the American contained some simple but effective laughs. The second portion of the film isn't nearly as strong as the American finds himself in a new land, trying to impress a girl and then of course coming under attack by the local people. Lloyd at least gets to show off some of his comic timing and especially during a sequence where he pretends to be a hunchback but the only problem is that the hunch keeps moving places. I think the story itself has enough cuteness to it and especially the story dealing with the Prince and the Princess. Again, this is certainly far from great material but it's worth watching.

This Harold Lloyd comedy is good overall, and it has some especially funny moments. It's fun to see Harold and his brother Gaylord on screen together, and their characters are used to create a good story that lends itself to some good comedy. The rest of the cast of comic actors also help out when they have the chance.

Lloyd plays an American salesman with a strong resemblance to a visiting prince (played by Gaylord), who asks the American to appear in his place for some duties at court. Much of the comedy comes from the contrast between the outgoing, aggressive American and the self-indulgent, oafish members of the royal court. It's enjoyable both as comedy and as social satire, and it's also rather interesting as a record of some perceptions that may not have changed all that much. The comedy blends slapstick, sight gags, and other material to make for a good mix.

The revolution sequence brings things to an appropriate climax and ties everything together. Not all of the movie works flawlessly, but most of it is entertaining, and overall it's one of Harold Lloyd's more enjoyable short comedies.

(1920) His Royal Slyness SILENT COMEDY

Clocking in at 27 minutes, it has a prince (Gaylord Lloyd) already romancing with one flame while a salesman (Harold Lloyd) is in another room trying to make a sale selling encyclopedias. And while the prince is romancing, the prince's count (Noah Young) then comes in to inform him he is subjected and ordered to marry the Princess Florelle of Thermosa. And by the time the book salesman was done, he then enters into the room of the prince romancing his current flame to which the prince notices both of them look almost identical. And then instead of him going to marry he then sends (Harold Lloyd) in his place. Some of the gags also includes some guardsmen unknowingly walking into the decoration water fountain; mistaken identity, and when he is chased by the guardsman. The second of 15 movies, Harold Lloyd starred with Mildred Davis. Actor Harry Pollard plays Harold Lloyd's rival for the princess hands.