Stars: Marilyn Monroe, Laurence Olivier, Sybil Thorndike, Richard Wattis, Jeremy Spenser, Esmond Knight, Rosamund Greenwood, Maxine Audley

Director: Laurence Olivier

Summary: A foreign prince is in London as a Coronation guest. While he is there he befriends a young chorus girl to whom he takes a strong fancy.

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.

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The Prince and the Showgirl(1957) was Marilyn Monroe's only British-made film and scores highly for curiosity value. There's something rather outrageous about this iconic American star playing a second-rate hoofer living in a theatrical boarding house in Brixton. Monroe herself is predictably good and touching as Elsie Marina, plucked from the chorus to entertain the Regent of Carpathia for the evening and ultimately smoothing his rough edges. There is, however, a rather uphill feeling all the way.

The making of the movie was by all accounts a troubled experience for everybody concerned. Monroe, increasingly unreliable and exasperating, had an unsympathetic director in Laurence Olivier, also playing the Regent Charles, who hardly had the patience for a star of her mercurial talents with her own ideas of professional behaviour. His own performance as the Balkan royal is hammy and mannered and there isn't even a damp squib of sexual chemistry between them. Terence Rattigan's script, based on his successful play, is far too wordy and stage-bound. But somehow Monroe effervesces through all this adversity, aided considerably by British character actor Richard Wattis and the great Sybil Thorndyke, who became her ally during the difficult filming. Not vintage Marilyn but fascinating all the same, and she looks fantastic.

On the DVD:The Prince and the Showgirlis presented in 4:3 with an occasionally muffled, apparently mono, soundtrack, giving this DVD a rather dusty quality which is in keeping with the vintage British 1950s production values. Extras include a cast list, original trailer and newsreel footage of the announcement that Marilyn was to make the film with Olivier, referred to at that stage as The Sleeping Prince. --Piers Ford

Aspect Ratio:	1.85 Wide Screen
Main Language:	English
Region:	Region 2
Special Features:	Announcement Newsreel, Interactive Menus, Scene Access, Trailer
Subtitles:	Arabic, Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Romanian, Spanish
Year:	1957
Release Date:	August 26, 2002
Runtime:	112 minutes
Certification:
Catalogue Number:	D 011154
Keywords:	Comedy, Off, General, Prince, Showgirl, Schedule
Genre:	Comedy