Princess Charming

A first rate cast - lead by the lovely Evelyn Laye (the heroine of Evergreen as the Princess who weds in haste to avert assassination in a revolution) and George Grossmith (son of the great Gilbert & Sullivan comedian repeating the role of the know-nothing king the princess is betrothed to which he had created in London and on Broadway [56p. at the Imperial Theatre, 13 Oct.-29 Nov. 1930]) and filled up with players not normally associated with musicals, Henry Wilcoxin (Anthony to Claudette Colbert's Cleopatra, here the princess' emergency groom), Frances L. Sullivan (the original stage Sir Wilfred in Agatha Christie's Witness for the Prosecution and Pothinus in the film of Shaw's Caesar & Cleopatra here as a revolutionary) and the great British actress Yvonne Arnaud (as the fumbling king's real long-time love), SHOULD have spelled a sure fire mini-classic of its genre, but edited from a full evening's musical entertainment to a bare hour and a quarter, the piece never really has a chance to show off its most pleasant virtues.

The British made film is as elaborately set as one could wish for the era, solidly acted and while lack of familiarity leaves the music (the original score was thrown out in favor of some acceptable Ray Nobel tunes) feeling rather minor (it is beautifully, if briefly sung), and the blending into the mix the farcical (music hall) characters of the inappropriately brash (note the intentionally obnoxious insurance salesman - a bit of genuinely classic business) which were a staple of the period humor will mystify some modern juvenile audiences, the real problem with Princess Charming is the break-neck editing which crams what seems like all the plot and a good solid third of the score into a time frame too short to absorb it all.

Well worth seeking out for the genuine student of musical theatre, but perhaps a bit too special for those who don't appreciate theatrical history or movies that don't blow things up or get their leads naked.