Fit for a King (1937) User Reviews

Good One For Brown

[boblipton · 6/10 · 28 March 2024]

Joe E. Brown is a would-be reporter, dubbing himself "Scoops." When he is assigned to cover a back woods kingdom, the news keeps flowing about the newly crowned queen, Helen Mack; Brown is continually outwitted by fellow reporter Paul Kelly.

It's one of the movies produced by David Loew after he lured Brown away, and it's a pretty good one, with Brown being a self-important go-getter who has a lot to learn -- and learns it. Brown offers a lot of his trademark shtick and athleticism, and director Eddie Sedgwick provides some nice gags. Although Miss Mack has little to do except be charming, there are lots of other people who have even less to do, including Harry Davenport, Halliwell Hobbes, Robert Warwick, and Russell Hicks.... although John Qualen has a nice bit as a bicycle repair man called upon to fix the telephone.

Not especially funny...

[planktonrules · 6/10 · 24 June 2010]

While I moderately enjoyed this film, the notion that it was a comedy is a bit perplexing, as it has very few laughs. Much of this is because the films that Joe E. Brown made for David Lowe Productions really lacked the spark of his Warner Brothers film--and Brown himself admitted his signing with Lowe was a mistake. I've seen four of these Lowe films and while none of them were bad, none of them were particularly inspired or funny. They are pleasant diversions but nothing more. One reviewer counted 100 laughs....I counted only one or perhaps two when he appeared in drag.

Brown stars as an up and coming reporter for a New York newspaper. However, the editor won't give him a chance. But, his big break comes when he just happens to be in the right place at the right time. He is able to get a line on a deposed Prime Minister and follows him to Europe trying to get the story. Along the way, he meets a nice young lady who turns out to be a Princess--but Brown is the last to know this. Frankly, this element of the story doesn't work at all, as she falls in love with him yet there is no reason or motivation for this--they hardly know each other. So, Brown's not knowing she fell for him makes sense--since the romance DIDN'T make any sense! Throughout his attempts to get a story, a jerky reporter from a rival paper (Paul Kelly) tricks Brown again and again--making you really hate the guy. But, naturally it's the convention of this sort of a film that by the end Brown will make good and get the girl--so there really isn't a lot of suspense here--even when Brown uncovers a plot to assassinate the Princess.

All in all, a pleasant diversion but nothing more. Brown is good but the material needed to be punched up and given some laughs--something that is sorely lacking. Plus there were too many chase scenes with the usual crappy rear projection and an unconvincing final scene that relied on action and stunts but no laughs. The bottom line is that Brown simply made better films, though this one is decent enough to merit watching.

Only Fit For A Few Laughs

[scottdou · 5/10 · 14 June 2021]

...and the lack of any music during many scenes made the movie older and stiffer than it's 1937 date.

A few comical highlights but more lowlights.

[mark.waltz · 4/10 · 2 February 2023]

There is a lot to laugh at in this farce where Joe E. Brown plays a novice reporter who wants to make it to the top of his profession and ends up investigating the attempted assassination of European royalty and falls in love with a princess (Helen Mack) enroute. He has a rival (Paul Kelly) who goes way out of his way to prevent Brown from getting the scoop, mainly out of jealousy that Brown, being the nephew of the newspaper owner, has much more all the chance of getting the big stories even though Kelly is probably the better reporter. Ending up in Europe, he meets Mack (posing as a commoner) and ends up coming closer to getting the scoop.

I laughed about half a dozen times hysterically, first in the steamship sequence where Brown, kept in the brig, has to deal with rough seas, and keeps being ghost with seawater coming through the portholes. It goes on for several minutes with the set rocking back and forth, causing my stomach to rock back and forth with hysterical giggles. The conclusion of the scene is the frosting on the cake. He has another scene briefly in disguise in a wheelchair that also had me doubling over in laughter. The chase sequence at the end has several great twists, like something you'd see in a Marx Brothers movie, and one of the great comic chase sequences in film history. It's too bad that the film isn't consistently enjoyable, having many moments that drag the film down. But Brown is always fun to watch, and when he's allowed to let loose, it's fabulous.

Fit for Laughter!

[zardoz-13 · 8/10 · 22 March 2009]

Edward Sedgwick's "Fit for a King" doesn't qualify as comedian Joe E. Brown's most hilarious comedy. In other words, "Fit for a King" cannot compare with "Earthworm Tractors." Nevertheless, this lightweight romance between an inexperienced newspaper journalist, Virgil Jones, who redeems himself when he intervenes on behalf of a princess and prevents an assassination attempt on her life in a European country on the eve of World War II is amusing enough to make the grade. Future "Blondie" scenarist Richard Flournoy penned this original screenplay and provides some lively repartee between Brown and his foils that keeps this snappy little laugh fest rollicking along under a full head of steam. Incidentally, Sedgwick directed all of Buster Keaton's comedies at MGM, among them "The Cameraman," so he knows something about comedy and the amiable "Fit for a King" will keep you grinning throughout its 73-minute running time.

"Fit for a King" opens with a montage about the New York Daily Blade and how its reporters cover virtually every news story imaginable during the early 1930s. The fist time that we see natty Virgil Ambrose Jeremiah Christopher 'Scoop' Jones (Joe E. Brown of "Earthworm Tractors") he is exiting a chauffeur-driven limo to deliver a hamburger-on-rye to the managing editor of the New York City Blade, Mr. Hardwick (Russell Hicks of "Devil Dogs of the Air"), who refuses to assign him to any stories. Jones harbors lofty ambitions of becoming a scoop reporter and pleads with Hardwick to give him a chance to prove himself. "Mr. Hardwick, I only want to do what the other reporters do. I wanna got to fires, floods and murders. I wanna got far!" Hardwick replies, "That suits me, providing you leave now." The catch here is that Virgil's Uncle Horace owns the New York Daily Blade, and nitwit Virgil is simply trying to learn the business from the bottom up. Hardwick is intent, however, on keeping Virgil at the bottom. Indeed, Hardwick hates poor Virgil and makes no secret about his antipathy toward him. "You're more than ripe, you're rotten." Hardwick bristles every time that Virgil mentions his uncle and assigns him to cover the Archduke Julio who has survived several assassination attempts on his life. Hardwick's interest in the Archduke rises when he learns that the competing newspaper is covering the story, so he assigns Virgil against the wishes of Spears (veteran character actor Charles Lane) grips that the opposition has their ace reporter on the job while they have a deuce. After a third assassination attempt at the pier where the Archduke was boarding an ocean liner for Europe, Hardwick orders Virgil to get on the ship and get an interview. While on board, our hapless hero runs afoul of his competing newspaper's reporter Briggs (Paul Kelly of "San Antonio") and Briggs gets Virgil thrown in the brig for breaking into the Archduke's room. The brig scene evokes chuckles. Joe gets jammed in the bring during a night of rough seas and the entire set sways back and forth like the turbulent seas in which the ship wallows. Our hero is thrown back and forth in the brig, water breaks through portals and thoroughly drenches him.

In Paris, the gendarmes release him into Marshall's custody. Marshall (Charles Trowbridge of "They Were Expendable"), informs Virgil: "New York says you're to keep after the Archduke until you find why they're trying to kill him. When you find that out, you'll have a story." Virgil learns that the Archduke, who had been in exile since 1918, came to visit his sister at a sanitarium. Briggs is heads off to Vichy, France, and the sanitarium, but Virgil beats him there, flying instead of taking the train. Masquerading as an old man in a wheelchair, Virgil sends Briggs on a wild goose chase and in the process runs into Jane Hamilton (Helen Mack of "Son of Kong") who is from Kansas. Virgil and she are initially attracted to each other before Virgil learn that Jane is really the Queen of a fictional European country. Count Strunsky (Halliwell Hobbes of "Dracula's Daughter") hatches a scheme to stage the Princess' death at the hands of the military so that they can depose the government. Our industrious hero Virgil thwarts the plan after he discovers that the Princess' future husband, Prince Michael, is killed when he refuses to travel in vehicles that are not bullet-proof. Sedgwick stages a funny chase after our hero informs the current government about the plan. Jane doesn't really want to be royalty, she wants to marry Virgil.

Most of Joe E. Brown's scenes will keep you grinning. You'll smile at his antics, especially when he dresses up in drag to pose as a maid at a castle where Jane is living. Paul Kelly makes a good adversary for Brown. The romance is feather weight. During a night in a swing, our hero and heroine kiss only when the moon goes behind the clouds. The final race with Virgil on a hay wagon that gradually comes apart and dumps the killers in the road is funny. "Fit for a King" isn't royal fun, but it has its share of moments and the dialogue is clever. Joe E. Brown is at the top of his game as the slightly muddled but forthright hero and Helen Mack makes a cute heroine. The European conspirators are sinister enough to make suitable adversaries. John Qualen is comical as a bicycle repairman who has the unhappy job of having to repair a phone. He constantly laments that he knows nothing about telephones. Joe E. Brown fans definitely should castch "Fit for a King."

Fit for a Hundred Laughs

[JohnHowardReid · 9/10 · 11 April 2007]

An amusing comedy which commences with a splendid joke on the audience and then gathers pace as it moves with admirable celerity to an ingeniously staged, all-out slapstick action climax.

The screenplay provides plenty of comic opportunities for Joe E. Brown, who even gets a chance to demonstrate both his famous yell and the acrobatic skill he developed in his vaudeville tumbling act. In many scenes Brown is particularly well supported by Paul Kelly, of all people, who here displays an outstanding comic ability as a straight man I'd not even suspected. Helen Mack, as usual, makes a delightful heroine and we enjoyed John Qualen, Halliwell Hobbes and the rest of the welcome faces in the support cast.

Edward Sedgwick handles the whole affair with both acumen and pace, assisted by excellent photography and snappy film editing. Although produced independently, production values are mighty impressive with Brown cavorting to great effect with props galore amidst hordes of extras in eye-catching sets.