The Prince and the Showgirl

Starring: Marilyn Monroe, Laurence Olivier, Sybil Thorndike, Richard Wattis, Esmond Knight
Directed by: Laurence Olivier
Rating: Not rated
Genre: Romance, Comedy
1957

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A prince (Laurence Olivier) meets and falls for a pretty showgirl (Marilyn Monroe). However, she proves to be far more difficult to handle than he expected, and their relationship creates unforseeen consequences.

Review:

Tim: The Prince and the Showgirl is a pretty fascinating movie, although not exactly for the reasons you might expect. The film is directed by actor Laurence Olivier (his fourth effort behind the camera, and first not directing a movie based on a Shakespeare play), and starred two of the biggest movie stars in the whole world- Olivier himself, and Marilyn Monroe. The film was notorious for being a difficult, challenged production. It's an interesting film.

However, it's not one that I particularly like. I feel like it's a flawed movie, whose production troubles show up in the finished product. There was a lot going for this movie, but the end result fell short of where it needed to be. This is a strange movie in some ways. It doesn't feature a lot that actually happens, and plods along a bit too slow for my taste. After the first half hour, the movie seems to stand still for the next hour. The film's conclusion is a bit weaker than I would have expected. At 115 minutes, the whole film feels too long because of the multiple times the movie drags. This was not a movie I particularly enjoyed watching.

It also feels a bit strange that there was not more star power here. You had the biggest actor in England in Laurence Olivier and the biggest actress in America in Marilyn Monroe. You would think these two stars would just shine together. They did not. I'm sure this had to do with their contentious relationship behind the scenes, but there just wasn't enough sparkle on screen. This hurts the movie.

I was actually surprised that I enjoyed Marilyn Monroe more than I liked Laurence Olivier. Oliver is certainly a strong, talented, experienced actor, but this was not the right role for him. I did not believe his accent and his character was just too unlikable. I truly believe that his directing duties affected his ability in front of the camera. He gave a distracted performance, instead of putting everything he had into the role. That shows up on screen.

I'm still a bit surprised by how much I liked Monroe in this film. I still do not believe she was a great actress, but she had more screen presence than perhaps anyone in Hollywood history. She just glowed on screen, and you couldn't help but have your eyes drawn to her. She is fine here, as Olivier's direction covered up some of her acting limitations. She has a few moments that have become true classics (her dance number, for one), and she was fun to watch on screen. We all know Olivier was very frustrated with Monroe's unprofessional behavior on the film, so it must have angered him to no end that she actually comes across better than he does on screen (although this speaks volumes about his directing ability).

I really felt like the story was a bit weak. It really seems like the story probably came across much better on the stage (and I bet Olivier's performance there was better also). There was obviously something lost in the translation to the big screen. The story just didn't hold my attention very well. The characters were interesting, but they mostly just walk around, talk, and drink champagne. This is not the most compelling of movies. I do think this could have been a more engaging film, but in this regard, Olivier's direction failed.

While The Prince and the Showgirl is an interesting film, it's not exactly a classic. It does not do enough to connect with the audience, and its slow, plodding movement makes the 2 hour movie feel much longer. I thought that with the difficulties Olivier faced on the production, he still managed to do a decent job pulling the film together. There are certainly aspects of the film I enjoyed, but these were just too few overall. This is a decent film, but I can't help but feel it was a disappointment in many ways.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 6.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Three Sisters, Richard III, Hamlet