Laurence Olivier is the Carpathian prince visiting England for the coronation of George V. Marilyn Monroe is Elsie Marina, an American actress doing a musical review at a nearby theater. When an old flame of the prince's turns out to be Elsie's boss at the theater, their paths cross--and Elsie's determined not to let them .. Read more
| Starring | Marilyn Monroe, Laurence Olivier, Sybil Thorndike, Richard Wattis |
|---|---|
| Director | Laurence Olivier |
| Genres | Comedy |
loading...
Laurence Olivier is the Carpathian prince visiting England for the coronation of George V. Marilyn Monroe is Elsie Marina, an American actress doing a musical review at a nearby theater. When an old flame of the prince's turns out to be Elsie's boss at the theater, their paths cross--and Elsie's determined not to let them uncross. After the prince confirms her worst fear--that he's interested only in a quick seduction--she nonetheless finds herself falling for him. As his mother-in-law takes a shine to Elsie, she finds herself attending every official function of the coronation--to the chagrin of the prince and her jealous boss. The crusty prince must decide whether to let love into his duty-bound life, and Elsie must decide if happily-ever-after ever really comes true. Olivier shines in his dour, bumbling straight-man role, while Monroe is at her charming, luminous, naive best.
| Starring | Marilyn Monroe, Laurence Olivier, Sybil Thorndike, Richard Wattis, Jeremy Spenser, Esmond Knight, Rosamund Greenwood, Maxine Audley |
|---|---|
| Director | Laurence Olivier |
| Studio | WARNER HOME VIDEO |
| Run time | DVD: 1 hr 52 mins |
| Certificate | |
| Genres | Comedy |
| Language | DVD: English |
| Dubbed | French, Italian |
| Hearing-impaired | English, Italian |
| Subtitles | DVD: Arabic, Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Romanian, Spanish |
| Released | DVD: 26 Aug 2002 Production year: 1957 |
| Format | DVD |
What should have been an explosive pairing of Hollywood's golden girl, Marilyn Monroe, and England's greatest theatre actor, Laurence Olivier, doesn't quite come off, largely owing to the vapidity of the vehicle chosen: a tired Terence Rattigan play, The Sleeping Prince, written for the Coronation and already dated before it hit the West End boards. Yet there's much to be thankful for, especially the presence of Monroe, lovingly lit in Technicolor by the great Jack Cardiff. As you would expect, Monroe sparkles, showing a terrific sense of comic timing in a performance of great skill and beauty certainly helped by that figure-hugging white evening dress she wears throughout. Olivier, who also directed, seems overawed, and hampers himself with a Balkan accent that's a cross between Garbo and Bela Lugosi. Richard Wattis is splendid, however, and Marilyn, whose company financed the project, is a dream.
Flimsy Ruritanian whimsy adapted from Terence Rattigan's damp coronation year divertissement, The Sleeping Prince. A... read more on Time Out
Although the making of this film is reported to have been fairly fraught, with Monroe forgetting her lines as usual and Larry getting more than a touch tetchy in consequence, it takes a more perceptive eye than mine to see any of this in the finished product. This is a wonderfully light and frothy confection, utterly inconsequential but none the worse for that, with the stars in fine form and a stalwart supporting cast.
Just a couple of negatives: the scenes in the Abbey, where Monroe is presumably fantasising about the Coronation being her own, do drag a bit; and if the film were made today, would it be quite so acceptable to gloss over the fact that the so-charming Regent (Olivier) runs a police state, routinely locking up his political opponents and suppressing riots by force? I think not.
Worth a look though, even if you?re not a fan of either of the leads (and how can you not be?)
Although the making of this film is reported to have been fairly fraught, with Monroe forgetting her lines as usual and Larry getting more than a touch tetchy in consequence, it takes a more perceptive eye than mine to see any of this in the finished product. This is a wonderfully light and frothy confection, utterly inconsequential but none the worse for that, with the stars in fine form and a stalwart supporting cast.
Just a couple of negatives: the scenes in the Abbey, where Monroe is presumably fantasising about the Coronation being her own, do drag a bit; and if the film were made today, would it be quite so acceptable to gloss over the fact that the so-charming Regent (Olivier) runs a police state, routinely locking up his political opponents and suppressing riots by force? I think not.
Worth a look though, even if you?re not a fan of either of the leads (and how can you not be?)