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Overrated and overhyped

i must have seen a different film!!

A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

I must say, Pinewood Studios in the UK often does some interesting back drop scenes in films, and this one is no exception. The Coronation Scene and the stained glass sequences in the Abbey are top notch visuals. In fact the camera work of the scenic 1911 period film is really excellent kind of. This is the kind of film that has lots of scenery to watch and the images are worth seeing.Lawrence Olivier is credited as Director and Producer here. There are scenes stocked with 100's if not 1000's of extras in the background. Monroe owned the production company but it is obvious that Pinewood let the company use their resources ca rte blanch.Whatever you have to say about Olivier's Direction, the images on the film are extraordinary. Noteworthy for Monroe fans are the advantages taken of getting her figure into the film frames too. While she is in one of her not skinny periods, her image on camera does not suffer when she has on great clothes and jewels for sure.The story is not badly done, and Monroe plays dumb and smart in different scenes. Her and Lawrence do quite a few scenes together in this one. The coronation has little or no dialogue which is not just effective but takes advantage of a Monroe who was very difficult to work with.This is not a film for intellect, or even plot, and some of the comedy is amusing but only works somewhat effectively. Monroes camera angles work very very well. It is worth trying to see a big talent Olivier try to star, direct, and produce the vehicle and bring it out of a shipwrecked state into a good film. They almost succeed.

Laurence Olivier's fourth film as a director and his first such non- Shakespearean film, it is based on the play "The Sleeping Prince" by Terence Rattigan. Olivier reprises his role as Prince Charles, Regent of Carpathia from the stage version while his then wife Vivien Leigh was replaced in the role of the actress Elsie Marina by Marilyn Monroe.While the prince grows more fond of the showgirl as the film goes on, the same could hardly be said of the actors off-screen. As is well known, Olivier had an extremely poor working relationship with Marilyn Monroe, who according to Jean Kent often arrived on set very late and "appeared dirty and dishevelled." Olivier himself allegedly described her as a "professional amateur." Kent also claimed that Wattis took "to drink because takes had to be done so many times" and the whole experience aged Olivier by 15 years. It is also rumoured to be the reason that Olivier practically gave up film directing, making only "Three Sisters" after this.Olivier is excellent as the stiff, pompous regent, who starts out as the archetypal German or Eastern European leader of the early 20th Century before gradually softening because of his relationship with Elsie. Let's be honest, Marilyn Monroe was a great film star but not a great actress. She is quite good but she thoroughly outacted by Olivier, Sybil Thorndike and Richard Wattis. I thought that she was miscast, frankly. She and Olivier are hardly a natural fit, are they? Perhaps reflecting the behind the scenes turmoil, her chemistry with Olivier is variable, occasionally excellent - particularly in the final scene - but mostly isn't up to scratch. The rest of the cast is very good, especially Sybil Thorndike (whose brother Russell appeared in all three of Olivier's Shakespearean films), Richard Wattis (as in the "St. Trinian's" films, playing a put-upon civil servant to perfection but in a completely different way), Esmond Knight (who likewise appeared in "Henry V", "Hamlet" and "Richard III"), Jeremy Spenser and Maxine Audley.While neither his acting nor directing are on the same level as in "Henry V" and "Hamlet", I thought that he did much better in both capacities here than in "Richard III". I think that the major problem with the film, however, is the pacing of the script. It moves far too slowly, particularly in the first hour. It doesn't translate from stage to screen as well as it could. I think that this was due to the fact that the screenplay was written by Rattigan himself. In his Shakespearean films, Olivier demonstrated that he was not afraid to trim and cut scenes or even excise major characters for the benefit of the film and I think that he should have been allowed to use his scissors on this one. It's about 20 to 25 minutes longer than it needs to be.In spite of these criticisms, however, it's a charming and often very witty film which looks beautiful and has great characterisation for the Regent. It also has some nice social commentary on early 20th Century politics, some of which is still applicable today.

I picked this movie to find a late Marilyn's movie as well as British flavor. On those two points, it's OK : Marilyn is convincing with her tough character to play and the movie is rich in royal pump and London places. It's funny to see how special effects were done 60 years ago. Sure, they are not transparent but they are as poetic and as useful as today ! As it's the first time i watch him, Olivier seems to be a competent actor and a honest filmmaker as the movie scratches the so- pure and divine royals : in fact, the regent wants escort girls, the queen is close to being senile. However, as a director, he fails to give a soul, a rhythm to this movie. Yes it was hard as the original material is a play but unlike « 7 years itch », this one doesn't take off the boards : the scenes are long, endless, the speeches are long, endless, the stages are poorly limited as it happens mainly inside the embassy. So it's really like a filmed play whose story is rather poor and unidimensional and i recall only two scenes that shows what a movie is about: 1) Marilyn's wake-up with the British grenadiers (the same that was in « Empire of the sun ») and Marilyn's dream in the church during the coronation !

Curvaceous American showgirl Marilyn Monroe (as Elsie Marina) is in London as the UK prepares to crown a new King. Arriving for the 1911 coronation is pompous Laurence Olivier (as Charles), the Prince of Carpathia. For amusement, he goes out to see "The Coconut Girl" and meets Ms. Monroe backstage. She is invited to a late night supper party with Mr. Olivier. He hopes sex is on the desert menu, but Monroe prefers romance. On the sidelines are Olivier's formidable but near deaf mother-in-law Sybil Thorndike, his duplicitous teenage son Jeremy Spenser and their British guide Richard Wattis...Olivier and Monroe go together like oil and water. Off screen, it was reportedly more like oil and vinegar. Olivier had he unenviable task of being both co-star and director for the undeniably upstaging actress. Credit Olivier for not getting in the way. Monroe spends most of her screen time poured into a skin-tight dress, looking her absolute best for the beautiful photography provided by Jack Cardiff. Despite pronouncements about serious "method" acting, Monroe relies on her keenly comic "sex symbol" persona. She is more 1957 than 1911, but remains the otherwise lacking and too long story's main asset.***** The Prince and the Showgirl (6/13/57) Laurence Olivier ~ Marilyn Monroe, Laurence Olivier, Sybil Thorndike, Richard Wattis