The Prince and the Showgirl (1957)

Just perfect...

hyped garbage

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

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.

Curvaceous American showgirl Marilyn Monroe (as Elsie Marina) is in London as the UK prepares to crown a new King. Arriving for the 1911 coronation is pompous Laurence Olivier (as Charles), the Prince of Carpathia. For amusement, he goes out to see "The Coconut Girl" and meets Ms. Monroe backstage. She is invited to a late night supper party with Mr. Olivier. He hopes sex is on the desert menu, but Monroe prefers romance. On the sidelines are Olivier's formidable but near deaf mother-in-law Sybil Thorndike, his duplicitous teenage son Jeremy Spenser and their British guide Richard Wattis...Olivier and Monroe go together like oil and water. Off screen, it was reportedly more like oil and vinegar. Olivier had he unenviable task of being both co-star and director for the undeniably upstaging actress. Credit Olivier for not getting in the way. Monroe spends most of her screen time poured into a skin-tight dress, looking her absolute best for the beautiful photography provided by Jack Cardiff. Despite pronouncements about serious "method" acting, Monroe relies on her keenly comic "sex symbol" persona. She is more 1957 than 1911, but remains the otherwise lacking and too long story's main asset.***** The Prince and the Showgirl (6/13/57) Laurence Olivier ~ Marilyn Monroe, Laurence Olivier, Sybil Thorndike, Richard Wattis

Marilyn Monroe stars as Elsie, a London chorus girl who catches the eye of a visiting Prince (Laurence Olivier). He's in town to attend King George's coronation along with his teenage son, the King of Carpathia, with whom he is at odds, politically. Elsie comes to share a midnight supper with the Prince and ends up resolving all the problems between father and son, thus insuring world peace.Yes, the movie really is that dumb. And annoying. I didn't care about any of the characters and, in fact, found the leads quite unlikable. Elsie is the stereotypical dumb blonde who is (of course) the smartest one in the story, Olivier's Prince is a pompous, lascivious bully, and the son is unpleasant, as well. I couldn't root for any of them and thought the plot was predictable, ridiculous, and most of all, tedious.

If you are a Monroe fan you are in for an hour-and-a-half of sheer enjoyment watching the ingenuous, irrepressible, sexy/innocent personality that Marilyn played so well. It's hard to take your eyes off her as feelings,thoughts,and reactions to events flow over her features in a feast of method acting, if that's what it is. The little story is entertaining in a shallow sort of way - there's something going on with mitteleuropa politics and family tensions but it hardly matters as the engine of the story is the wide-eyed little commoner dumped into an aristocratic environment, and everything that transpires in the short time-frame of her visit. The joke there is that she is always being farewelled but doesn't quite go, and reappears, always in the same dress. There's a fairly familiar thread contrasting sophisticated and corrupt Europe with the honest, down-to-earth representative of the New World. However the European side does provide the excuse for some great costumes and sumptuous interiors, making the film glamorous to watch. Laurence Olivier is reptilian and repulsive as the Grand Duke, which is fine except that we are supposed to believe that the Monroe character has fallen for him. This is not too credible! The direction is tight and effective, so kudos to Olivier for that. Sybil Thorndike is great fun as the Dowager Queen. It's Monroe's film however. I'd happily watch it any number of times.