O Sapatinho de Cristal

Okay, I admit I have long had a soft spot for Michael Wilding--had a terrific crush on him when I was young and was delighted to see him in this film playing the Prince. He had a nice career going for himself in England before marrying Elizabeth and moving to the US. Hollywood didn't quite know what to do with him and he didn't have that many good or even likely roles here. In England he and Britain's favorite blonde, Anna Neagle, made several films in which she sang and the two of them danced (kind of a poor man's version of Rogers and Astaire), so he did dance in films before this picture, but I'm afraid he wasn't terrifically impressive as a dancer. But, boy, he had charm!

When I first saw this film I thought it was a bit simplistic, but I was won over by Leslie Caron, a favorite of mine. And it was gratifying to see Michael Wilding, though he didn't get to do much here. Loved Estelle Winwood; she too, was always good. Altogether a very pleasant movie, pretty to watch, if just a little slow. (Or maybe it seemed that way because with this story, there are no surprises--you know how it will end!)