The Royal Rodeo
Weird little film, but very entertaining

Half court intrigue, half singing cowboy western, and half Hollywood musical, and half technicolor experiment, this short from 1939 had me laughing throughout its 15 minutes. It baffled any attempt to make sense of it.

A boy king in the fictional European kingdom of Avania (a small nation with the manner of a mighty kingdom) is bored with court life. Much to the chagrin of his court advisors, he prefers reading magazine stories about American cowboys, especially the great Bill Stevens. The courtly dialogue goes something like this:

"Your Majesty, please, if you could just look at this important document!"

"Oh Phooey!" says the king sighing sighingly. Something like that. He's bored, so bored.

Fortunately for the king, the great Bill Stevens and his Wild West Circle happens to be within lasso distance of the castle at that very moment. Singing a song about how great it is to be a cowboy, they come riding into the palace grounds, much to the excitement of the king. What are all the cowboys doing in Avania? Well that's a stupid question. They are there because they're there.

Enthralled and delighted, the king commands a royal performance of the group's Wild West Show, which consists of rodeo acts, cowboys and indians, the whole schmear. But while the show is on, a group of the king's advisors sneak away to hatch a plot to kidnap the king and villainously replace him with someone who, oh, I don't know, will actually do the job.

Learning of the plot, the lead cowboy pursues the kidnappers and rescues the king. Back in the castle, the plotters are sentenced to death, but they are saved, I guess, when Steven's sidekick, Shorty, breaks into a rousing song about "The American Way" and about how what Avania really needs is Fireside Chats and such. The Avanians enthusiastically agree, and everyone — cowboys, Indians and Avanians alike — join in on the celebratory song and dance and the movie is over.

The film is very well produced. The songs and score are excellent and lively, the costumes are colorful and the sets are probably leftover from another production but well appointed. And Technicolor wasn't cheap. I can only assume the film was made to test a few songs for a longer movie, or test some new equipment, or train more studio technicians in the use of Technicolor, or see how certain fabrics appeared on the screen.

Or, it could be that its sole purpose is to just entertain an audience, a task it succeeds at admirably, even though the film itself doesn't make much sense.

John Payne, one of those reliably professional yet largely unsung leading men from the studio days, is in fine voice and heroic form as the great cowboy, Bill Stevens; Cliff Edwards, who a year later would perfectly sing the awesomely immortal song When You Wish Upon a Star and provide the voice of Jiminy Cricket in Walt Disney's Pinocchio is the comic relief sidekick, Shorty, not that comic relief was necessary.

And adorably cute Scotty Beckett — probably 9 years old when this was filmed and already an old pro in Hollywood — is genuinely and totally charming as the king. It's depressing to try and picture him in the years to come living out one of the most horrifying tales of child star burnout that I've ever read. He would not live to see his 40th birthday.