The Magic Flame

Based on King Harlequin, a novel and play by Rudolph Lothar, the film casts Colman as a travelling circus clown who happens to bear a startling resemblance to the no-good King of a mythical European principality. The King (also played by Colman, of course), develops a yen for the Clown's sweetheart, trapeze artist Vilma Banky. While trying to rescue the girl from the royal castle, the Clown is forced to kill the King. As inevitably as night follows day, the Clown is then obliged to take the King's place on the throne. As gentle and generous as his "predecessor" was cruel and corrupt, the Clown becomes immensely popular with his subjects, who are more willing to allow him to marry a "commoner" like Banky.