"What happens when a king is free to love as he pleases?" teases a trailer that only slightly predates the epochal affair between Wallis Simpson and Edward, Prince of Wales. British actor George Arliss has the perfect combination of patrician authenticity and comic aggrievance to play the frustrated monarch in this romantic comedy. King Phillip (Arliss) is fed up with the personal sacrifices he's made in order to become nothing more than a figurehead. Disenchanted with royal life, he steps down from the throne in order to remarry his true love, Helen (Marjorie Gateson). However, Helen's lifestyle has become grander in recent years. Can the king find the humble life he yearns for? Or should he return to his queen (Florence Arliss, his real life wife)? Co-screenwriter Arliss, who had a great deal of creative control over his movies, praised screenwriter Ernest Pascal for performing the rare feat of remaining his friend after collaborating on a film together. (The two conjured up the plot during long strolls together at Arliss's vacation cottage.) After its speedy premiere at Radio City a mere two months after the script was completed, Arliss moved on to starring versus Bette Davis in The Working Man (1933).

By Violet LeVoit