A Prince There Was on AllMovie

Before it reached the screen, this story already had a long history -originally a novel by Darragh Aldrich called Enchanted Hearts, it was adapted to the stage as A Prince There Was by the illustrious George M. Cohan. Unfortunately it was not really screen material and made a poor vehicle for Thomas Meighan, who had little to do in it. This picture was also a comedown for Mildred Harris -- after the failure of her marriage to Charles Chaplin, she was summarily bumped down to co-starring and supporting roles. Although Charles Edward Martin (Meighan) has loads of money, he has little to keep him occupied, and his pal, Jack Carruthers (Nigel Barrie), urges him to do something with his life. When Martin encounters Katherine Woods (Harris), who is forced to eke out a living as a writer after her father's suicide, he believes he has a cause. He takes a job as assistant editor on Carruthers' magazine, calling himself Mr. Prince, and moves into the boarding hous! e where Katherine lives. He buys the story that Carruthers rejected, and when he refuses to run it, buys the whole magazine and publishes it. When Katherine uncovers the whole tale, it causes a rift in their romance, but they make up soon enough.