The King and the Chorus Girl

Some months back, TCM ran another of those surprisingly new-to-me movies, surprising considering how long I've had TCM and this is one of those movies that should be in the Turner Library so ought to get a few more showings on TCM: The King and the Chorus Girl. I recorded it so that I could watch it later and do a review on it here.

After the opening credits, a camera pans over a series of portraits of kings, from Alfred I through to Alfred VII, who looks quite contemporary. Cut to Alfred's apartment in Paris, although we don't see him at first. Alfred VII is the deposed king of one of those made-up central/eastern European countries that were a big thing in movies made before World War II. A doctor is visiting, and talking to Alfred's last two attendants, Count Humbert (Edward Everett Horton) and Duchess Anna (Mary Nash). Alfred's been on another bender; the benders last three days and sleeping them off lasts another three, with Alfred being in the sleeping it off stage. The doctor informs the Count and Duchess that Alfred has an acute case of apathy.

Alfred (played by Fernand Gravey) finally wakes up, seemingly sober, and we see that he's not exactly a likable character, self-centered and still expecting the trappings of power. He feels like he's done everything there is to do in Paris, and is bored with life. The Count and Duchess suggest some ideas that might lull him back to sleep out of his boredom, and eventually everybody agrees to try another night at the Folies Bergère, even though they've heard all the jokes from the vaudeville-style comedy pair before.

But this night turns out a bit differently. One of the musical numbers has a bunch of chorus girls, and one of the chorus girls, American-born Dorothy Ellis (Joan Blondell) keeps shining her mirror where the light is going to reflect right in Alfred's eyes. Alfred notices this, and decides she's impudent enough that he'd like to invite her over to his apartment for dinner after the show, before getting up and leaving. Not that she knows anything about ex-king Alfred, but she agrees to go, because who wouldn't want to meet a king. And he might even have a tidy sum of money still.

As for the Count and Duchess, they realize that bringing Miss Ellis over isn't such a bad idea, because it might help Alfred deal with that apathy. Unfortunately, Dorothy, the Count, and Duchess return to the apartment to find that Alfred went home and right to sleep, apparently having forgotten that he'd invited a chorus girl over for dinner, or perhaps just joking about the idea of inviting a chorus girl over. Dorothy is unsurprisingly displeased and walks out, not even seeing Alfred.

The Count and Duchess decide that a woman who would walk out on Alfred is just what he needs, so they decide to try to bring the two together. Based on the sort of movie this is, we know that they will mostly likely wind up together in the final reel, although there are going to be quite a few complications along the way.

The King and the Chorus Girl is a bit of an odd movie, for a couple of reasons. One is the casting; although Joan Blondell had played chorus girl types in the early 1930s, but 1937 when this one was made Blondell as an American in Paris feels a bit off. It feels more like the sort of story that MGM would have made with Nelson Eddy and Jeanette MacDonald. That, and the story doesn't feel like a typically Warner Bros. story; instead, it feels like something more suited to MGM as I said, or maybe the Korda brothers over in the UK.

Not that The King and the Chorus Girl is a bad movie. It's definitely formulaic, and something that won't appeal to everybody, but for the people who like 1930s romantic comedies, they'll definitely like it.