Professional Soldier is a 1935 adventure film based on a 1931 story by Damon Runyon

Damon Runyon

Alfred Damon Runyon was an American newspaperman and writer.He was best known for his short stories celebrating the world of Broadway in New York City that grew out of the Prohibition era. To New Yorkers of his generation, a "Damon Runyon character" evoked a distinctive social type from the...

, "Gentlemen, the King!" It stars Victor McLaglen

Victor McLaglen

Victor Andrew de Bier Everleigh McLaglen was an English boxer and World War I veteran who became a successful film actor.Towards the end of his life he was naturalised as a U.S. citizen.-Early life:...

, Freddie Bartholomew

Freddie Bartholomew

Frederick Cecil Bartholomew , known for his acting work as Freddie Bartholomew, was an English-American child actor. One of the most famous child actors of all time, he became very popular in 1930s Hollywood films...

, and Gloria Stewart. The film was directed by Tay Garnett

Tay Garnett

Tay Garnett was an American film director and writer.Born in Los Angeles, California, Garnett served as a naval aviator in World War I and entered films as a screenwriter in 1920. He was a gagwriter for Mack Sennett and Hal Roach, then joined Pathé and began to direct films in 1928...

, and produced by Twentieth Century Fox.

The film concerns the kidnapping

Kidnapping

In criminal law, kidnapping is the taking away or transportation of a person against that person's will, usually to hold the person in false imprisonment, a confinement without legal authority...

 of young King Peter (Freddie Bartholomew), the rightful heir

Crown Prince

A crown prince or crown princess is the heir or heiress apparent to the throne in a royal or imperial monarchy. The wife of a crown prince is also titled crown princess....

 to the throne of a small European country. After the deed is done, the hired kidnapper, Donovan (Victor McLaglen) learns that the new king is evil and plans to set up a dictatorship

Dictatorship

A dictatorship is defined as an autocratic form of government in which the government is ruled by an individual, the dictator. It has three possible meanings:...

, and that the young Prince Peter is in danger of being killed. Donovan escapes from prison in order to rescue young Peter and restore him to the throne.

Cast

• Victor McLaglen
  Victor McLaglen
  Victor Andrew de Bier Everleigh McLaglen was an English boxer and World War I veteran who became a successful film actor.Towards the end of his life he was naturalised as a U.S. citizen.-Early life:...
  
   ... Michael Donovan
• Freddie Bartholomew
  Freddie Bartholomew
  Frederick Cecil Bartholomew , known for his acting work as Freddie Bartholomew, was an English-American child actor. One of the most famous child actors of all time, he became very popular in 1930s Hollywood films...
  
   ... King Peter
• Gloria Stuart
  Gloria Stuart
  Gloria Frances Stuart was an American actress, activist, painter, bonsai artist and fine printer. Over a Hollywood career which spanned, with a long break in the middle, from 1932 until 2004, she appeared on stage, television, and film, for which she was best-known...
  
   ... Countess Sonia
• Constance Collier
  Constance Collier
  Constance Collier was an English film actress and acting coach.-Life and career:Born Laura Constance Hardie, in Windsor, Berkshire, Collier made her stage debut at the age of 3, when she played Fairy Peasblossom in A Midsummer's Night Dream...
  
   ... Augusta
• Michael Whalen ... George Foster
• C. Henry Gordon
  C. Henry Gordon
  C. Henry Gordon was an American film actor. He appeared in 79 films between 1930 and 1940. He was a Hollywood villain of the 1930s....
  
   ... Gino
• Lumsden Hare
  Lumsden Hare
  Lumsden Hare was an Irish born film and theatre actor. He was also a theatre director and theatrical producer....
  
   ... Valdis
• Walter Kingsford
  Walter Kingsford
  Walter Kingsford was a British stage, film and television actor born in Redhill, Surrey, England. He was born Walter Pearce and had several sisters...
  
   ... Ledgard
• Lester Matthews
  Lester Matthews
  Lester Matthews was an English actor born in Nottingham, England, UK. In his career, he made more than 180 appearances in film and on television. He was on occasion erroneously credited as Lester Mathews and especially in later years was sometimes known as Les Matthews. He died on the 6 June 1975...
  
   ... Prince Edric

External links

• Professional Soldier at the Internet Movie Database
  Internet Movie Database
  Internet Movie Database is an online database of information related to movies, television shows, actors, production crew personnel, video games and fictional characters featured in visual entertainment media. It is one of the most popular online entertainment destinations, with over 100 million...
  
  
• Professional Soldier at AllMovie
• Professional Soldier at TCM
  Turner Classic Movies
  Turner Classic Movies is a movie-oriented cable television channel, owned by the Turner Broadcasting System subsidiary of Time Warner, featuring commercial-free classic movies, mostly from the Turner Entertainment and MGM, United Artists, RKO and Warner Bros. film libraries...
  
  
• Synopsis (news article)
• New York Times review