DM set sail from New York on the French ocean liner Paris, bound for Southampton on November 23, 1933, to make his first British picture Luck of A Sailor. Also on board the ship were actors Cary Grant and Randolph Scott, sharing a lavish first-class suite that was furnished by Paramount Pictures. The studio had installed a grand piano for Grant's use, and Manners later recalled spending much of the voyage harmonizing with Grant and Scott; the three film stars formed an enthusiastic ­ albeit unpolished ­ baritone trio. Upon his arrival in London, DM was enthusiastically greeted by the British press, who hailed him as "Hollywood's handsomest man."

A romantic drama in which an impoverished British commoner (Greta Nissen) marries an exiled Ruritanian monarch (Hugh Wakefield) living in England, Luck of A Sailor is based on Horton Giddy's play, "Contraband." Called home to reclaim his throne, the King and his bride set sail on a battleship commandeered by an English sea captain (DM). The Captain and the new Queen fall in love during the voyage. Happily, at journey's end, the Queen is asked to abdicate the throne by the Ruritanian people so that the King may marry an aristocratic heiress from his own country. The Queen gladly agrees to have the marriage annulled, leaving her free to pursue the love of the Captain.

It is entirely possible that the finished film was never shown theatrically in the United States. It is not listed among the 29,168 films catalogued by Film Daily as having been released to American cinemas between 1915 and 1959, nor does it appear in any contemporary American references to the motion picture credits of either Greta Nissen or David Manners. Nevertheless, a print appears to have made its way to the states for exhibition on television; the title has been located in a few early 1960's local editions of TV Guide magazine, and was presumably shown as advertised.

According to Motion Picture Guide, "This is one of the movies where complications like marriage are easily smoothed out by unlikely endings. The rest of the film is as unbelievable as the ending in this routine, low-budget romance."

Luck of A Sailor information courtesy of J. Michael Click