King Kelly of the U.S.A.

Screen grab of Franklin Pangborn and Joyce Compton in King Kelly of the U.S.A. Franklin and Joyce have supporting roles in this chintzy, at times incomprehensible musical made by the z-budget Monogram studio. Forgotten tenor Guy Robertson stars as a cocky showman who meets the woman of his dreams on a transatlantic cruise. As it turns out, the woman is the princess of a country known for its fine mops (??) and Robertson must find a way too win both her heart and her kingdom. Joyce plays a bubbly chorine, improbably paired with Franklin Pangborn as a romantic duo. Both actors display their usual reliable comic timing in their few scenes together, inadvertently highlighting the lead actors’ blandness (Robertson seems like Jimmy Cagney’s less charismatic older brother). Strangely, they both vanish halfway through the movie without explanation. In this film’s bizarre universe, that move actually makes sense.
King Kelly of the U.S.A. is available here from Amazon.com.