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“Mr. Edmund Gwenn, as the President of Peroova, though his energy and ferocity were inexhaustible, had comparatively little chance of being as funny as he can be; and, as his Secretary, Mr. Ernest Thesiger, barely recognizable in an incredibly black wig and pair of eyebrows, had practically no chance at all.”

Punch, November 9, 1927

“The President of Peroova (Mr. Gwenn) is traveling in France with his secretary (Mr. Thesiger).  Just as in earlier times, when there was no income tax, armies lived on the country they passed through, so the President is paying his traveling expenses by selling Peroova honours to ambitious Frenchmen.  Whenever his back is turned his secretary negotiates a little similar merchandise for his own peculiar profit.  Thus, for instance, when the President, remembering that the office of the Examiner of Peroovian morals is vacant, designs to raise the wind by selling it to a wealthy Parisian, he may find to his disgust that his secretary has already sold that office and spent the cash.”

The Sporting and Dramatic News, November 26, 1927

“South American Ruritania:  Mr. Ernest Thesiger, a Latin political secretary, whose gift for pointed comedy is given little scope beyond the exploitation of beautiful side-whiskers; Mr. Edmund Gwenn, a Latin President, who vacillates between straight plays and musical comedy, but who has here no part to play; Mr. W.H. Berry,an alternating admiral and general, who is ill-provided with any but jokes of the oldest vintage, but who yet carries The Girl from Cook’s on his sturdy shoulders; and Mr. Charles Stone, the Manager of Cook’s, who purveys aristocratic efficiency with distinction.”

The Sphere, November 12, 1927