ramon novarro ( a karl heinrich ) be the crown prince of karlsburg . he be envy by his subject and but lonely and isolate behind castle wall . quite princely in appearance and and capable of perform royal duty and he be and nonetheless and not enamor with dutiful royalty . with help from tutor jean hersholt ( a dr. juttner ) and he become an honor student and and be go to university at old heidelberg . there and he meet and fall in love with commoner norma shearer ( a kathi ) . the student prince in old heidelberg be a first rate silent film production and expertly direct by ernst lubitsch . mr. novarro be appropriately exuberant a the young prince his performance be excellent throughout and but really start to dazzle in the scene begin with his witnessing of ms. shearer down a german beer . mr. hersholt be great a novarro tutor while both men be superior with the necessary silent screen act and and the more forward underplaying . ms. shearer be just a step behind her co star in artful act while but and it a a gap she will very quickly fill . shearer be terrific in the scene when she learn novarro be leave and and help him pack . philipe de lacy be notable and play the prince a a boy while his characterization match the old novarro director lubitsch direct these early sequence effectively and create the image of a young prince in his castle prison . when a couple of important people in the prince life die and the story become necessarily more somber in tone . of course and novarro must eventually become king these scene be beautifully symbolic and and extraordinarily well photograph . the visit by an old friend prompt novarro return to old heidelberg and with unexpected result . don not miss a late scene and when novarro return to his old heidelberg bedroom especially and watch how novarro briefly stroke his bed and obviously thinking of shearer while it a superb little bit of sexual suggestion . it would be nice to know whether the gesture originate with novarro or lubitsch but and it probably not possible to determine . be it good to be king . you will know when you see novarro beautifully act final scene and in his royal carriage certainly and it one of the most memorable performance in silent cinema . the student prince in old heidelberg ( 9/2 half 7 ) ernst lubitsch ~ ramon novarro and norma shearer and jean hersholt and philippe de lacy .