Sorry, this movie sucks

If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

Totally wonderful Monroe-Olivier vehicle proving that Olivier could do comedy besides Shakespeare and Monroe showed many of the characteristics she would display with Tony Curtis two years later in "Some Like it Hot."As the queen dowager, or mother-in-law, Sybil Thorndike is a scene stealer in every sense of the word.There is some political intrigue in this dandy film and club actress Monroe is able to cope with it and even advise Olivier.The set decorations are marvelous really depicting 1911 England among the royalty.I enjoyed the way Monroe made a mess of addressing the various British royalty and her knowledge of German sure came in handy.The regent, Olivier, has a well-polished but rebellious son who challenges his father, despite the fact that within 18 months, he shall become king. It's the old story of the father not showing love for his son which Monroe is adept at fixing.How Monroe stays on the scene by being a lady-in-waiting to Thorndike, who takes a like to her, and subsequently attending the coronation of George V1 and attending the coronation ball is a wonder in itself.The couple come far from their chance meeting at the place Monroe is acting in, to a disastrous night of folly together, to love and the ultimate ending of that they were still living in two separate worlds.

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.

The Prince and the Showgirl (1957) ** 1/2 (out of 4) The Regent of Carpathia (Laurence Olivier) arrives in London and requests the company of an American showgirl (Marilyn Monroe) thinking that he can get his way with her but soon he realizes that she's more than you might think. THE PRINCE AND THE SHOWGIRL isn't a good film by any stretch of the imagination but it's making of is probably more entertaining than the actual film. With that said, it's certainly quite charming in spots but there are just way too many flaws for it to work as a whole. To some shock, the best thing that can be said about the movie is the performance of Monroe. I thought the actress did a very good job with her character and I think it's probably one of the most likable I've seen from the actress. She brings a certain warmth to the part and she really does make you like her character. Everyone knows the troubled history with the production (see the wonderful MY WEEK WITH MARILYN) but I must say that director Olivier did good getting what he did from the actress. As for Olivier, I really don't want to call his performance bad but it's certainly stiff and over-the-top at times. I'm guessing this was done on purpose so that's why I can't call it a bad performance but it's certainly not something you'd expect to see from one of the greatest actors in history. It also seems that he's quite mad in certain scenes and this here really doesn't seem like a performance. Again, I do wonder if the trouble going on behind the scenes had something to do with this. Sybil Thorndike is also extremely good in her supporting part. As I said, there are several flaws in the movie including the fact that it goes on at least twenty-minutes too long. I thought there were several scenes in the movie that should have been trimmed or cut out all together. Another problem is that for a comedy there simply aren't any laughs to be found. The dry, slow moving pace also doesn't help. THE PRINCE AND THE SHOWGIRL features some wonderful cinematography by Jack Cardiff and it really captures Monroe at one of her most beautiful periods and add this in with the performance and it makes the film worth sitting through.