Colin Firth, who should have won a Best Actor Oscar last year for “A Single Man,” will very likely claim the prize this year for “The King’s Speech,” a beautifully crafted, sturdily constructed, sublimely written story shimmering with robust humanity and impish wit.

“The King’s Speech” is the story of King George VI (Colin Firth), though when the film opens, he is merely Prince Albert, second in line to the throne and afflicted with a crippling speech impediment.

When his father dies and his older brother abdicates, Albert reluctantly dons the crown.

All too cognizant of the fact that her husband is terrified of public speaking, Albert’s wife, Elizabeth (Helena Bonham Carter), hires an Australian actor and unconventional speech therapist by the name of Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush).

As Lionel teaches Bertie (as the king is known to his immediate family and Lionel insists on calling him) how to speak confidently, the two men forge an unconventional and unlikely bond, a bond that will empower the reluctant king to shepherd his country through the menace of Nazism.

Emmy Award-winning director Tom Hooper (“John Adams”) and screenwriter David Seidler (“Tucker: A Man and His Dreams”) have made a simply marvelous film, dripping with lavish settings, sumptuous cinematography, clever montages, and a richly rewarding script.

In many ways, “The King’s Speech” is “My Fair Lady” without the songs.

Firth is magnificent as the beleaguered sovereign, every inch a modern king, yet equally hobbled by a disability seemingly beyond his outsized power to vanquish. Rush, with whom we get to spend equal time, is as much a psychiatrist as a speech therapist, not just a teacher but, against all odds, a genuine healer and friend. His is a naturally optimistic and infectiously sanguine nature, unclouded by artificial (if ancient) social constructs — while his deference to rank is clear, the fact that he can see the wounded man beneath the imperious crown is what makes him succeed where others so often failed.

Note: The MPAA has given “The King’s Speech” an R rating. In a film without even a whiff of sex, violence or other mature themes, the straight-laced drama incurred the MPAA’s wrath by including a brief scene of profanity. If you are the sort of viewer who shuns R-rated films on principle, may I suggest you make an exception? When the MPAA gives the exact same rating to a film with one, brief burst of profanity and a slasher film like “Saw VI” with “grisly bloody violence and torture,” the system is no longer operating as intended.

THE KING’S SPEECH

Cast: Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush, Helena Bonham Carter, Derek Jacobi, Timothy Spall, Michael Gambon, Guy Piece, Jennifer Ehle

Director: Tom Hooper

Rated: R (for some language)

Running time: 1 hour, 58 minutes

Photo by TMS