Yawn. Poorly Filmed Snooze Fest.

A brilliant film that helped define a genre

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

In other words,this film is a surreal ride.

In this haphazard Technicolor fantasy, a ditzy but dauntless young American woman becomes the heir to the throne of a tiny, insolvent European country named Lampidorra. The bumbling representative of a British cheese company convinces her that the answer to Lampidorra's problem lies in its principal product: schneese, which is cheese crossbred with schnapps. "Penny Princess" is essentially an operetta without the singing. It's all very silly, the satire is heavy-handed, and the leading lady is a bit of a pill, but it's a harmless way to spend an hour and a half. Val Guest, who wrote and directed the film, would go on to better things, particularly in the field of science fiction. He also married the leading lady.

"Penny Princess" is a pleasant little film--and a movie that might be more famous today had there not been a significantly better film with a similar plot that appeared on the scene just a few years later. Both "Penny Princess" and "The Mouse That Roared" have very, very similar plots--so similar that you can't help but compare them. Both are about the supposedly smallest country in Europe (both fictitious) and both are about schemes that are concocted to rescue the country's economic problems and both are comedies. My recommendation is that you see them both, though "Penny Princess" is definitely the lesser of the two films.The film begins by learning that the tiny country of Lampidorra is bankrupt. They have no exports and are heavily in debt to various creditors who are threatening to foreclose. However, an American promises to bail them out...if his family can become the rulers of the country. The Lampidorrans quickly agree but the man dies soon after...and a relative of his now has just become queen! However, sweet Yolande Donlan has no background in finance and she cannot locate the money her uncle promised to the Lampidorrans. So, once there in her new land, she feels a strong responsibility to help them out of their crisis. At the same time, a nice but previously ineffectual man (Dirk Bogarde) is sent to a cheese convention that is around Lampidorra. Together, these two work to save Lampidorra using a secret weapon in the war on financial ruin...'schneese'.While "The Mouse That Roared" is clearly a silly comedy, "Penny Princess" can best be described as cute...and Yolande Donlan made this even more so, as she played one of the most adorable female leads I have ever seen. You can't help but love her--and her sweet and kooky character did a lot to carry this film. As for the plot, it's quite good...though the resolution of the problem and her subsequent actions all seemed a bit rushed. Still, the film is fun and well worth a look.

Cute idea... salesgirl Linda Smith (Yolande Donlan) inherits a teeny tiny little county of Lampidorra. That country, which wasn't even in North America, was made the 49th state... (of course, there were only 48 states at the time, since this was made in 1952...) Linda travels to the country she has inherited, and we follow her along as she tries to figure out what to do with this strange country and its even quirkier people. At one point, she sings a song that she claims is from her people the Navajo, and it gets ever-more sillier from there.... although Yolande Donlan's heavy lipstick and omni-present smile never get ruffled or shmeared. There are other songs scattered through-out as the citizens sing to welcome their new princess. Filmed in a glorious British version of technicolor, or some such equivalent, about the only big name here is Dirk Bogarde as British subject Tony Craig, cheese vendor. Bogarde made a big splash in the UK film industry after serving in the war, and was even knighted by QE II. Craig and "the new princess" keep bumping into each other, and their adventures become more intertwined as Lampidorra's financial problems worsen... Fun little farce....along the lines of Marx Brothers film. Also note that Donlan later married Val Guest, the writer and director of our little project, and stayed married for 50 years! Guest was better known for writing and directing his sci-fi flicks, in both the UK & the US.

I am very sorry that this charming and whimsical film (which I first saw soon after it was first released in the early fifties) has had such a poor reception more recently. In my opinion it has been greatly underrated - but perhaps it appeals more to the European sense of humour than to (for example) the American: maybe we in Europe can understand and appreciate its subtleties and situations more, since we are closer to some of them in real life! Particular mention should be made of the limited but good music - especially the catchy and memorable song "It's a fine, fine night", which was issued separately on an HMV 78rpm record (10 inch plum label, I think!) in the fifties. I would urge anyone interested to give it a try if you get the chance: you may have a pleasant surprise.