The Prince and the Showgirl

Grand Duke Charles (Laurence Olivier) is the prince-regent of Carpathia, a fictional Balkan country which could be the cause of a worldwide war. He's in London with his pro-German minor son and the Dowager Queen to attend the coronation of King George V in 1911. British foreign officer Northbrook (Richard Wattis) is tasked with getting him whatever he wants. The Prince is completely taken by the actress Elsie Marina (Marilyn Monroe) at the Coconut Girl Club. Northbrook brings her to a supper for two.

Laurence Olivier is very stiff which is his character. He's a tiresome old geezer. He is utterly overshadowed by Marilyn Monroe in every scene. This is a very unlikeable romance. The two characters and actors have no chemistry whatsoever. When it comes, the romance feels forced and uncomfortable. Monroe is great when she's drunk acting. She's magical and the screen loves her. The difference between the two can't be any greater. She is fun and hilarious. The movie grinds down whenever she's not on the screen.

I've seen enough of Laurence Olivier's work for the cinema to understand why, previous generations, considered him the greatest actor that ever lived. I was introduced to him in "The Boys From Brazil" so I didn't quite get it. Then in "Marathon Man" he was chilling. Only recently I've seen "Wuthering Heights" "Rebecca" "Hamlet" "Henry V" and "The Entertainer". He was unquestionably great. "The Prince and the Showgirl" presents an interesting picture of that famous "test of time" thing. The greatest actor that ever lived is, this time, not only acting with Marilyn Monroe but he's also directing her. Apparently they didn't get along. Olivier was, naturally, fed up with her lateness and her moods. He wasn't a model of diplomacy. He complained that her teeth looked yellow on the screen. That alone put her out of business for a couple of days. But now in 2005 we look at the film, forgetting all those amusing bit of nonsense and what do we see? The greatest living actor, acting, yes, acting up a storm. Doing justice to Rattingan's words and rhythms in the most respectful theatrical tradition. His performance, amusing as it is, seems completely embedded in 1957. Marilyn Monroe on the other hand travels with the times and her performance is as fresh and natural today as his is stuffy and calculated. She is glorious. Isn't funny, how time does what it does? I call it justice.

Just saw this again the other day after many years, and was impressed by Monroe's effortless upstaging of Olivier, who gives the most hammy, artificial performance of his career, unsurprising as he is directing himself.

If you want to see what star quality means, just watch their scenes together. He is desperately trying to ACT and eclipse her. All she has to do is just BE there in shot.

Whenever they are on screen, it is always her that one's eyes are drawn to and she gives such a natural performance throughout it almost seems as if she isn't acting at all. She also copes with some extremely tricky dialogue, giving the lie to her inability to remember lines. These are often done in a single take - one scene in particular, early in the film as she is leaving the house before Olivier arrives home, talking rapidly to Richard Wattis as they walk down the long staircase, is outstanding.

So, the film is worthwhile in showing Monroe as the great star she was - and revealing Olivier to only be capable of mere caricature (that fake German accent is so awful) without a strong director to rein him in.

The Prince and the Showgirl is a film worth watching, even with its imperfections. I did think it was overlong by about 5-10 minutes, but my main flaw with the film was the performance of Laurence Olivier. I just think he did a better job directing than acting here.

I am not knocking his ability as an actor, on the contrary, in fact I think Olivier is a very gifted actor. But, his acting complete with a rather patchy accent is somewhat hammy and I don't think it helped that the character he plays here is one of the more artificial ones he has played in his career in terms of development and arc.

Even with its faults, The Prince and the Showgirls has a lot to recommend it. The photography is just lovely, while the costumes and interiors are just splendid. I also liked the melodious waltz-like score, the sparkling dialogue and sweet story while Olivier does direct quite well.

However, the scene-stealer is the lovely, infectious Marilyn Monroe. She manages to outshine Olivier not just in her acting and comic timing, but she looks amazing especially in that figure-hugging, scene-stealing white dress she wears throughout. Sybil Thorndike also steals scenes as the Queen Dowager.

Overall, a nice film and worth seeing for Monroe and dress alone. 8/10 Bethany Cox

The title of this film might well be "Watch Marilyn seduce Laurence Olivier". Marilyn had an amazing, nearly unique, quality of "sex appeal". Not that other actresses aren't beautiful or sexy, but Marilyn stands alone, as the greatest screen goddess. The way she moved, the way she talked, it's almost unbelievable how appealing she was. This movie seems designed to show off her abilities in this regard. As such, it is a movie that is worth watching, assuming that you are interested in watching a woman seducing a man.

In other respects, the movie is not a great film. The plot has almost no drama to it. The comedy is so "genteel" as to hardly merit a polite chuckle. Sir Laurence is fine as the stiff, un-romantic prince who tries to avoid falling for Marilyn's charms but there is little "fire" to his performance.

Ultimately the movie rests on Marilyn's remarkable talent for being "desirable". I rate this film just behind "The Seven Year Itch" but it does feature more screen time for Marilyn.

BTW: I see some real resemblance between MM in this film and Jessica Lange (circa "Tootsie").