When the Kingdom of Casanario goes broke, the Queen and ministers offer to marry Princess Renee Saint-Cyr to billionaire Max Dearly. He demands a complete reorganization of the Kingdom with himself in charge, to which they agree. However, when he gets clunked on the head, he goes goofy and orders all hats thrown into the sea, everyone to wear short pants, and the ministers to run around on all fours, barking like dogs. To top things off, the Princess is in love with Jose Noguero, the leader of the palace band.
Rene Clair's silly comedy might be viewed as a variation on DUCK SOUP, with a liberal amount of satire on absolute monarchy and fascism thrown in. I suspect that Woody Allen might have taken it as a model when he was writing TAKE THE MONEY AND RUN, with its mixture of fake documentary and zaniness. Although it lacks the sympathetic charm of his other early sound films like SOUS LES TOITS DE PARIS and A NOUS LA LIBERTE, his handling of a straight farce is, as always, impeccable.
Rene Clair's silly comedy might be viewed as a variation on DUCK SOUP, with a liberal amount of satire on absolute monarchy and fascism thrown in. I suspect that Woody Allen might have taken it as a model when he was writing TAKE THE MONEY AND RUN, with its mixture of fake documentary and zaniness. Although it lacks the sympathetic charm of his other early sound films like SOUS LES TOITS DE PARIS and A NOUS LA LIBERTE, his handling of a straight farce is, as always, impeccable.