The King’s Thief
(1955) is a colorful swashbuckler movie, entertaining and continuing in the vein
of last week’s discussion of
The Golden
Horde (1951) as another Saturday matinee adventure story.
The King’sThief might be easier for us to relate to simply because it is less foreign
and exotic. We don’t really know how the
Mongol tribes of Genghis Khan’s gang spoke or interacted with each other, and
our uncomfortable ignorance is what makes us guess it’s all pretty phoney. But
The King’s Thief is set in the restored reign of England’s Charles II, which,
being that much closer in time to our own, we stand on firmer ground when it
comes to accepting Walter Plunkett’s elaborate costumes, the crisp speech, the
elegant salons, and the grimy prison as coin of the realm, so to speak.
Both films are quite short, just over an hour, which lends a
fast-paced adventure. No over-burdened
Cecile B. DeMille epics here, just grab your sword, tell the story, and get
out. It's filmed in CinemaScope, and looks well in this process.
Ann Blyth is reunited with Edmund Purdom, who starred with
her in her previous film,
The Student Prince (1954), which we discussed here.
He infamously lip-synched to tenor Mario Lanza in that film, but here
Mr. Purdom happily climbs out from the shadow of that star and shines on his
own. He is quite capable, quite handsome
in his Van Dyke beard, and seems to be a worthy successor to Errol Flynn. His career never reached those heights,
however.
His best buddy in this movie, Roger Moore, would climb to
greater heights, and Mr. Moore is one of the pleasures of this film. It’s a small role, but he demonstrates the
dashing presence that will one day lead him to fame as James Bond.
Two Hollywood greats liven things up considerably, even if
this little movie might not seem much in their careers: David Niven, who plays
the villain, and George Sanders, so delightfully foppish as King Charles II (he
had played this role as well in
ForeverAmber (1947).
I love Mr. Sanders’ teasing, “Brr-r-rampton!” when he spies
a small black notebook Niven has dropped, thinking it is a bachelor’s “little
black book.” “Some tasty names, I’ll
wager?”
That little notebook is the real star of the show. Niven is the king’s trusted advisor, a
nobleman who has, unknown to the king, skimmed off quite a bit of spoils from
the recent English Civil War. I confess,
my own interest in this historical time period is because the ultimate losers of
the war – those stuffy, self-righteous, stubborn Puritans—came to settle my
neck of the woods in the 1630s and 1640s.
Had they remained in power in England, the settlement, governance, and
culture of New England might have been rather different.
We might not be so stuffy, self-righteous, and
stubborn. (Bah-ha-ha-ha.) No, we probably would be. It’s the climate.
David Niven, in the aftermath of the restoration of Charles
II, that hedonistic, “Merry Monarch,” has taken to discrediting noblemen who
fought on the king’s behalf, accusing them of treason, putting them on trial
and hanging them, and then skimming a good part of their fortunes for
himself. Boo! Hiss!
Ann Blyth plays the daughter of one such discredited
nobleman, who has lived in exile in France.
Now that the war is done, she’s eager to return to England, but is shocked
and heartbroken when her father’s friend comes to tell her the news that David
Niven has put her father to death. Though told
she must never return to England now, nevertheless, Ann is a feisty gentlewoman. She’s heading back to find out what happened
to her father, and confront this David Niven fellow.
The black book, mentioned above, has the names of other
noblemen on Niven’s blacklist, as well as an accounting of all their fortunes
and land he hopes to take. Edmund
Purdom, one of the soldiers of the king who, after the war, was not paid for
his services, has become a highwayman.
He robs Niven, and takes the book, not really knowing what it is, but he
soon learns that it is worth far more than the all the jewels he’s taken so
far.
That book will change hands a lot in a lusty game of
keep-away that involves elegant gambling salons, fast chases on horseback
through the MGM backlot, assumed identities, subterfuge, sword fighting, and
not a little flirting.
A few favorite scenes:
Ann makes another one of those walking down a grand staircase entrances,
so effective for establishing credibility in society, making a statement, and
building suspense. And it's just pretty. Ooh! Ahhh!
Edmund Purdom escorting her home at night by walking beside
her sedan chair, which is carried by stone-faced servants.
John Dehner as Niven’s captain of the guard. He gets thrown out of a coach, and roundly
tricked by Ann in a cute scene where she, being taken into custody, fakes heart
trouble. She has set up a plan where
Dehner must take her to an apothecary shop, that happens to be run by the son-in-law
and daughter of her faithful servant played by Tudor Owen. His daughter, played by Queenie Leonard,
refuses to let Dehner into the room where they are putting Ann to lie down during her "illness", “Please
sir, I’ll have to remove her bodice,” she admonishes him. Then, door closed, she allows Ann and her
father to tie her up, and reminds them to gag her so it will look like Ann had
no help in her escape.
By the way, favorite go-to man Ian Wolfe is among the familiar faces.
Ann and Purdom are a handsome pair, but there is little
lovemaking when the plot is a constant chase for escape. Ann wants to use the book as evidence against Niven,
but Mr. Purdom wants to sell the information.
There are swordfights, and when Purdom and Moore are
imprisoned, Ann is forced by Niven to visit them to get information on the whereabouts of their gang. If she does not agree work for Niven as a double
agent, he will ship her off in indentured servitude to the New World. “A grim and so far unsuccessful effort to
populate the colonies.” America,
ewww! Who wants to go there? She’d probably end up in Massachusetts,
currently overrun with those stuffy, self-righteous, and stubborn sore loser Puritans,
scrubbing floors for a humorless magistrate until, a few decades hence, she is
hanged for a witch.
Instead, in a brave attempt to avoid all that, she slips
Purdom a stiletto to pick the lock on his iron chains. There is a painstaking and nail-biting escape
from the prison.
The final hat trick is using Niven’s own coach, which Purdom
had previously stolen, to gain entrance to the castle where the crown jewels
are kept. Purdom and Ann, pretending to
be relatives of Niven’s, are allowed a private tour to see the crown jewels,
which Purdom will attempt to steal and ransom back to the king, thereby demanding
an audience with him so they can rat on David Niven.
But…ZOUNDS! The king
arrives unexpectedly just as Edmund Purdom is pummeling a Beefeater over the
crown jewels! Ann is desperately trying
to stall Sir Isaac Newton in the next room by pretending to know more about astronomy than he
does! How will it
end?!!
Our pal Bosley Crowther of The New York Times called it “…one of the most thorough banalities
of the year.”
I think it deserves better, as a fun and rollicking
adventure, a sumptuous costume drama with a lot to look at, not the least of
which lovely Ann Blyth in her period clothes.
I would suggest the movie could have been made more memorable by a scene
with her singing at a pianoforte. No
such luck.
The King's Thief has been shown on TCM, and is available on DVD.
By the end of 1955, Ann would be expecting her second child,
a baby daughter born in December. In
October, Modern Screen, gushing over
the news of her latest pregnancy, ran a rather long article recounting the
major events of her life: her career start in radio as a child, her terrible
spine injury as a teen, the loss of her mother, and a look back at her dating
years that must have been with a certain degree of self-serving nostalgia for a
magazine that must now satisfy itself with the less juicy news of her steady marriage
and respectable motherhood.
Since her marriage, her babies, and her 30th
birthday only a few years away, Ann’s place in the hearts of the movie-going
public may not have changed, but the magazines, after having rabidly pursued
her since her teen years, were beginning to turn their voracious attention to
younger, single stars where there was a greater opportunity for them to write
about scandal. It was attention Ann
apparently was happy to do without:
Speaking of the period
when she was being tagged, her soft voice takes on an edge of firmness. “This is a phase of your life—even if you’re in
pictures—that’s quite private and special.
Not that you’re unwilling to share a certain amount, but only so much.”
Come back next Thursday when we discuss Ann’s teen years as a
Hollywood actress during World War II, during years that were personally challenging,
heartbreaking, anxious, and uplifting.
She made friends she kept for life, and films that would live forever.
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Modern Screen,
October 1955, article by Ida Zeitlin.
The New York Times,
August 13, 1955, review by Bosley Crowther, p. 7.
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THANK YOU....to the following folks whose aid in gathering material for this series has been invaluable: EBH; Kevin Deany of Kevin's Movie Corner; Gerry Szymski of Westmont Movie Classics, Westmont, Illinois; and Ivan G. Shreve, Jr. of Thrilling Days of Yesteryear.
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TRIVIA QUESTION: I've recently been contacted by someone who wants to know if the piano player in Dillinger (1945-see post here) is the boogie-woogie artist Albert Ammons. Please leave comment or drop me a line if you know.
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UPDATE: This series on Ann Blyth is now a book - ANN BLYTH: ACTRESS. SINGER. STAR. -
Also available in eBook at:
"Lynch’s book is organized and well-written – and has plenty of amusing observations – but when it comes to describing Blyth’s movies, Lynch’s writing sparkles." - Ruth Kerr, Silver Screenings
"Jacqueline T. Lynch creates a poignant and thoroughly-researched mosaic of memories of a fine, upstanding human being who also happens to be a legendary entertainer." - Deborah Thomas, Java's Journey
"One of the great strengths of Ann Blyth: Actress. Singer. Star. is that Lynch not only gives an excellent overview of Blyth's career -- she offers detailed analyses of each of Blyth's roles -- but she puts them in the context of the larger issues of the day."- Amanda Garrett, Old Hollywood Films
"Jacqueline's book will hopefully cause many more people to take a look at this multitalented woman whose career encompassed just about every possible aspect of 20th Century entertainment." - Laura Grieve, Laura's Miscellaneous Musings''
"Jacqueline T. Lynch’s Ann Blyth: Actress. Singer. Star. is an extremely well researched undertaking that is a must for all Blyth fans." - Annette Bochenek, Hometowns to Hollywood
Ann Blyth: Actress. Singer. Star.
by Jacqueline T. Lynch
The first book on the career of actress Ann Blyth. Multitalented and remarkably versatile, Blyth began on radio as a child, appeared on Broadway at the age of twelve in Lillian Hellman's Watch on the Rhine, and enjoyed a long and diverse career in films, theatre, television, and concerts. A sensitive dramatic actress, the youngest at the time to be nominated for her role in Mildred Pierce (1945), she also displayed a gift for comedy, and was especially endeared to fans for her expressive and exquisite lyric soprano, which was showcased in many film and stage musicals. Still a popular guest at film festivals, lovely Ms. Blyth remains a treasure of the Hollywood's golden age.
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A new collection of essays, some old, some new, from this blog titled
Movies in Our Time: Hollywood Mimics and Mirrors the 20th Century is now
out in eBook, and in
paperback here.
