Directed by:
Edward F. ClineCinematography:
Nicholas MusuracaComposer:
Max SteinerCast:
Bert Wheeler, Robert Woolsey, Dorothy Lee, Edna May Oliver, Leni Stengel, Stanley Fields, Boris Karloff, Roscoe Ates, Ben Turpin, Mike Lally, Edward Peil Sr., George Periolat, Bud Geary, Frank LackteenPlots(1)
Determined to prove to his sweetheart's disapproving guardian aunt, Minnie Van Arden, that he is not a stupid do-nothing but a man with a future, Wendell Graham invests his $100,000 inheritance in a revolution that is to take place in the kingdom of El Dorania. Unknown to Wendell, his old friend from Brooklyn, Zander "Zup" Ulysses Parkhurst, runs a casino in El Dorania. While Wendell, his girl friend, Betty Harrington, and Minnie, who owns a sugar plantation in El Dorania, discover each other on board the same ocean liner, Zup is tricked into winning the crown of El Dorania in a crap game. To avoid assassination, the current monarch, King Oscar, informs Zup that whoever owns the crown of El Dorania becomes king. Soon after his coronation, Zup learns from Queen Carlotta, the ambitious widow of all of his many royal predecessors, that he is the country's thirteenth king in as many months. As Wendell nears the beleagured El Dorania, he is told by his fellow "revolutionaries" that he will be made king upon arrival. Zup, however, refuses to give up his crown, even when General Bogardus, the mastermind behind the revolution investment scam, threatens him with his revolutionary army. Although anxious to be crowned so that he can win Minnie's approval and therefore Betty's hand, Wendell balks when Bogardus announces that he must assassinate Zup that afternoon or be killed himself. During Zup's "final luncheon," Wendell confesses his mission and, while drinking heavily with his friend in a wine cellar, tries to concoct a counter plan. Bogardus, however, forces Wendell's hand, but agrees to allow Zup to be killed in modern fashion using bombs dropped from an airplane. On the day of Zup's assassination, which has been declared a festival holiday, Wendell confides in Zup that he had spent the previous night removing the explosive caps from all of the bombs. Unaware that "Cross-Eyed" Ben, his executioner, has replaced the bomb caps, Zup sits confidently on his throne in the middle of the designated "danger zone." As the bombs explode around them, Zup and Wendell begin to panic but are saved when one of the bombs sets off an oil gusher. Zup and Wendell, having made El Dorania a rich country, declare that the kingdom will be a republic and that Zup will be its new president. Then, while Minnie watches in horror, Wendell and Betty marry. (official distributor synopsis)
(more)Cast
Bert Wheeler
USA
Robert Woolsey
USA
Dorothy Lee
USA
Edna May Oliver
USA
Best movies:
The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle (1939)
Little Women (1933)
A Tale of Two Cities (1935)
Leni Stengel
German Empire
Stanley Fields
USA
Best movies:
Show Boat (1936)
Mutiny on the Bounty (1935)
Way Out West (1937)
Boris Karloff
UK
Best movies:
The General (1926)
Scarface (1932)
Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
Roscoe Ates
USA
Best movies:
Gone with the Wind (1939)
City Girl (1930)
Freaks (1932)
Ben Turpin
USA
Best movies:
The Love Parade (1929)
Mike Lally
USA
Best movies:
The Sting (1973)
Singin' in the Rain (1952)
It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
Edward Peil Sr.
USA
Best movies:
Love Crazy (1941)
Captains Courageous (1937)
Storm Warning (1951)
George Periolat
USA
Best movies:
Morning Glory (1933)
What Price Hollywood? (1932)
The Mark of Zorro (1920)
Bud Geary
USA
Best movies:
The Great Dictator (1940)
Citizen Kane (1941)
The Talk of the Town (1942)
Frank Lackteen
Lebanon
Best movies:
Bernadette (1943)
The Sea Hawk (1940)
Reap the Wild Wind (1942)