Twelve year old Mickey Rooney looks so much younger in this mixture of the big wild west show and the then popular genre of films about fictional European royalty. The Mick meets the Mix (Tom) in this enjoyable but sometimes creaky melding of different genres, with Mix seemingly handing over the reins to the next generation of star, even though Mickey had been making movies for at least five years when this was released. He'd go on for another eight decades the business, perhaps one of the longest careers in show business, if not the longest.
As the king of a fictional European country, Mickey doesn't want to be king, and is thrilled when Mix shows up with his wild West show (which includes Jim Thorpe, all American), and confesses to him that he hates being king. It turns out that King Mickey is in danger from regent James Kirkwood who nothing better than to be king and see Mickey dead. But hero Tom shows up to save the day, just like you would in all those silent westerns.
While the later teen Mickey could get on my nerves as he tried to bowl over everyone on screen around him to get all the attention, and then later with the aged Mickey being far too much of a frequently unlikeable ham, in this he is absolutely adorable. A well done action/adventure, not really a western, even if Mix spends it entirely in his cowboy gear on a horse. Kirkwood is a one dimensional villain with no subtlety. If sneering makes one a good king, then his character truly is king of the world. Versions available are the edited prints, and considering what I saw, that's not necessarily a bad thing.
As the king of a fictional European country, Mickey doesn't want to be king, and is thrilled when Mix shows up with his wild West show (which includes Jim Thorpe, all American), and confesses to him that he hates being king. It turns out that King Mickey is in danger from regent James Kirkwood who nothing better than to be king and see Mickey dead. But hero Tom shows up to save the day, just like you would in all those silent westerns.
While the later teen Mickey could get on my nerves as he tried to bowl over everyone on screen around him to get all the attention, and then later with the aged Mickey being far too much of a frequently unlikeable ham, in this he is absolutely adorable. A well done action/adventure, not really a western, even if Mix spends it entirely in his cowboy gear on a horse. Kirkwood is a one dimensional villain with no subtlety. If sneering makes one a good king, then his character truly is king of the world. Versions available are the edited prints, and considering what I saw, that's not necessarily a bad thing.