Winston Churchill was hired to write the script. Every newsreel library in the Empire was ransacked. When The Story of the Reign of His Majesty the King was ready last week it had cost $500,000— cheap enough for a film that was to stir loyal hearts in every part of the Empire during His Majesty’s silver jubilee next spring.
Abruptly came a terse announcement. The Story of the Reign of His Majesty the King was scrapped last week “for purely chemical reasons.”
To millions of British cinemaddicts this explanation sufficed. Evidently some improper fluid had been spilled by accident into The Story of the Reign of His Majesty the King. But cinemen were not satisfied. In any case the jubilee film must have been printed from cinema library footage. Even if chemicals ruined the entire new film, an extremely improbable occurrence, the library footage remains, can be printed off again. Cinemen therefore conjectured last week that the trouble could scarcely be chemical. Asked they: “Are old pictures of the King really so inspiring?” (see cut).
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