The Prince and the Showgirl (1957)

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1. 

   ChrisReynolds

   Marilyn Monroe is very good in this, and is suprisingly a far more magnetic presence than Olivier, who gives a rather hammy performance. The film unfortunately is overstretched and becomes very dull at points, and I didn't feel the romance or the humour worked at all, mainly because the Regent is a sleazy oaf who uses his power and status to bed women he takes a fancy to. The first night's dinner practically plays out like a date rape warning film. 11 years 2 months ago
2. 

   Siskoid

   Laurence Olivier is an inventive director, but that side of him is pretty restrained, if not entirely repressed, in The Prince and the Showgirl, in which he plays a Carpathian regent at odds with his royal son and befuddled by an irrepressible Marilyn Munroe as the title showgirl, an American with ideas of her own. That the two characters would ever fall in love is laughable - he's using his position to get one-night stands and she knows it - but it really does work as an anti-romcom, where by turns, the leads use seduction strategies to get what they want, and an anti-fairy tale, with the aristocracy satirized throughout. The showgirl thinks it's all very fancy, but it isn't an ambition of hers. The way the proposed one-night stand is extended is absurd and extremely amusing, and it's interesting to see Munroe in a period piece too. Given its contrary nature, I can see why the film isn't one of Munroe's best-regarded films (though she's great as usual), but it touched my own sensibilities, thank you very much. 4 years 11 months ago
3. 

   Camille Deadpan

   This movie is one of my all-time favourites! I absolutely love it! 10 years 9 months ago

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