My Pal, the King

My Pal, the King is a 1932 American Pre-Code Western film directed by Kurt Neumann, starring Tom Mix, and featuring Mickey Rooney and James Kirkwood. The screenplay concerns a rodeo cowboy who helps a child king.

Plot
Tom Reed's (Tom Mix) famous traveling Wild West show performs in Alvonia, a small European country, where the child king, ten year old Charles V (Mickey Rooney), neglects his duties because of his interest in the show. After a discussion with Tom, Charles decides that he should treat his subjects fairly, which does not please Count De Mar (James Kirkwood) who has been in control of the country and wants to tax the people heavily. He plots with the Dowager Queen (Clarissa Selwynne) to kidnap Charles and his tutor, Dr. Lorenz (Wallis Clark), and throws them in a dungeon, and suggests to Lorenz that he kill Charles and then kill himself. Tom learns from Charles' aunt, Princess Elsa (Noel Francis) that the king is missing, and Tom manages to track him to the fortress where the king is imprisoned. Tom's cowboys and the count's men fight, and the count ends up drowning to death. Tom then rescues the king and his tutor, and Charles promises to always treat his people well.

Cast

 * Tom Mix as Tom Reed
 * Mickey Rooney as King Charles V
 * James Kirkwood as Count De Mar
 * Wallis Clark as Dr. Lorenz
 * Noel Francis as Princess Elsa
 * Finis Barton as Gretchen
 * Paul Hurst as Red
 * Stuart Holmes as Count Kluckstein
 * Jim Thorpe as Black Cloud
 * Christian J. Frank as Jailer Etzel
 * Clarissa Selwynne as Dowager Queen
 * Ferdinand Schumann-Heink as General Wiedeman (uncredited)
 * Tony Jr. as Tom's horse
 * Harry Cording as Palace Guard (uncredited)