Watch The Swan For Free

Clever, believable, and super fun to watch. It totally has replay value.

The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

The plot of "The Swan" isn't very original. However, the idea of it being more of a comedy than drama and romance was a nice twist. But for the character and performance of Alec Guiness as Prince Albert, and some of the wackiness of the family, this would be a dull film indeed. One can't deny that Grace Kelly was a beautiful woman and very good actress. But as Princess Alexandra in this film, she was stiff as a board, cold as an iceberg, and lifeless as a puppet. The only thing that comes close to saving the film is Guiness in his American film debut. At the proding of his mother, Queen Maria Dominika (played by Agnes Moorhead), the prince has been searching all over Europe for the right mate. By the time he comes to the estate of Princess Alexandra and her family, he's tired and worn out. He doesn't dilly-dally, and on the first evening when they are alone, he makes his move – a gentle placing of his hand on that of the princess. When she pulls away abruptly, Albert backs off and for the rest of his stay he will be happy sleeping late, playing soccer with the princes, and doing other manly things. Come what may, the prince will find his mate, sooner or later.He isn't a simpleton, as some may think, but has keen insight and understanding of the ways of royalty. He has wisdom in such matters, but for now, instead of working up a lather about courtship with Alexandra, he wants to unwind and enjoy himself. Some of the humor of the film comes from the Prince. The rest comes from Alexandra's family, especially her mother, Princess Beatrix (Jessie Landis) and uncle, Father Carl Hyacinth (Brian Aherne). Louis Jourdan is the tutor to Alexandra's brothers, and in love with the princess. While his character has some life, the performance of Dr. Nicholas Agi is clumsy at times and just barely better than that of Kelly. The romance between the princess and the tutor is awkward as written and as played by the two, especially Alexandra. Did she really have any feelings for this guy? Except for her intimating such once or twice, how would anyone know because she didn't show it by any of her actions, manners or looks? Remember that at one point, she said she had wanted to be a queen. So, in the end, it all works out as it should. I don't think this film should have been labeled a romance at all, but just a comedy. It is a sort of comedy of manners for nobility in its heyday. That some reviewers lamented the ending or thought this was a big romance film might explain why such folks missed the humor and the spoofing of the past culture of royalty. One of the few very good aspects of this film was its filming location – at the world's largest mansion – the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina. This film had been made, in various versions in the past – all based on a Hungarian play by Ferenc Molnar. The original Broadway play ran in 1923. Kelly had appeared in a TV production of "The Swan" that aired June 9, 1950 on CBS. Kelly had only 30 film credits in her short six-year career – half of those in TV serials. But she made some very good films and played opposite some of the top leading men of Hollywood. This clearly was her least movie – really, the only bad one she made. I wonder if her mind wasn't somewhere else. It wasn't a coincidence that MGM released the film on April 18, 1956 – the very day that Grace Kelly was marrying Monaco's Prince Rainier. She gave up her Hollywood career for a crown. But, even with Princess Grace's seeming fairy-tale romance, wedding, and fan following, MGM wasn't able to salvage this film at the box office. Critics and audiences alike saw it as a glamorous, eye- pleasing production that missed the mark due to a weak script, poor direction and flat performance by a couple of the leads. The box office take was just over $3.7 million worldwide, and but for the larger non-U.S. showings, "The Swan" would have lost more than it did – nearly $800,000. My six stars for this film are generous, but I think Guinness and the other members of the household royalty are deserving for their comedic efforts. Here are some sample lines from the film. For more humorous dialog, see the Quotes section here on the IMDb Web page for the film. Queen Beatrix, "Must you still write with a feather? This is the 20th century." Symphorosa, "I don't like the 20th century." Queen Beatrix, (To Dr. Nicholas Agi) "You're here to give the boys an education, not to fill their heads with a lot of historical gossip."Queen Beatrix, "I noticed the roses are already beginning to bloom." Head Gardener (David Thursby), "They're just at their best, your highness." Queen Beatrix, "I don't want them at their best until the day after tomorrow. Hold them back."

Boring, ridiculous, despicable, annoying.I guess I'm stupid.I don't understand this film.Yeah yeah, duty over desire, but that does not even apply, she doesn't have to marry him??!! The prince surely doesn't seem in love with her, he needs a queen, and towards the end he seems to take pity on her, who turned from a plank to a teenager in love (very unconvincingly). Maybe that what he's supposed to be? Her rescuer?The family schemes to get the prince, so the professor becomes a token, despicably so. Then his advances soften her, but she wants to be a queen, she's so sorry, can he forgive her. No, he says. He gets all angry with everybody and holds socialist speeches, which are somehow connected with his admiration for Napoleon (lol!). She likes that for some reason, or his hurt pride, or whatever. So now she's in love, with a vengeance. I can actually accept that, putting aside the improbability of its sudden appearance. The way she's in love is believable. Then the prince insults the professor, he wants to retort, she stops him with a kiss - that ends it for him---huh??? Says she kissed him out of pity, like she would kiss a dog - huh??? Well I love my dogs! With passion!:-)So then he leaves and everybody manipulates her thoughts and so she is a swan again, who actually are rather aggressive animals on land, while I have found geese to be much gentler! I thought the ending was tragic. Nothing funny or romantic in it. And just for her I say that, as I don't understand the professor beyond the kiss. And I don't care. I guess he just didn't want to bother with her fickleness, or a kiss was all he wanted... You know, I like Alec Guiness, but even the uncle is more dashing than him with his moustache-twirling and his padded chest (or so it looked - ridiculous!) - shudder.All hail to the aunt!So, first hour boredom extraordinaire, then a little one-sided romance and a lot of overacted drama about it, very confusing, at the end back to the ice swan - great. Fantastic. Call that entertainment?But, as I mentioned, I just didn't get it.Just my two cents.

Molnar's stately examination of romance and duty, THE SWAN, made a slightly disappointing "swan song" for Grace Kelly in Hollywood (it and the delightful PHILADELPHIA STORY remake, HIGH SOCIETY with Cole Porter songs, marked her final two studio films before marrying Prince Rainier of Monaco who she met at a photo shoot at the Cannes Film Festival following her filming Alfred Hitchcock's TO CATCH A THIEF in his principality on the Mediterranean - near the borders of France and Italy). The disappointment today is less in the undeniably beautiful film itself than the undeserved reputation for "emptiness" and misconceptions which have grown up around it and served to limit the film's showings and the knowledge of Princess Grace's actual legacy.Even in 1956, the popular taste was shifting to faster paced entertainments with more emphasis on car chases and adventure than language and communication. Ferenc Molnar's original 1923 play (he was also responsible for the 1921 LILIOM which became Rodgers & Hammerstein's CAROUSEL, filmed the same year as THE SWAN) was from a quieter age between the Wars when the popular taste was willing to look within the provinces of mythical royalty for its universal stories of human relationships. It seemed talky to a 1956 audience who saw the trappings of a long passed royalty and stopped listening to the very real emotions and honor at the heart of the story. Who wanted to care about the problems of a girl who happened to be living in luxury - and worse, was being torn between the love of two essentially good men? That failure to care - or care to listen - was the audience's loss (and the studio's - it was obviously a very expensive film), for the problems under examination were hardly trivial and the final scene between Alec Guinness and Princess Grace was as moving and true as any that could have been crafted from more earthy elements. Audiences today who care to listen to what literate people are actually saying rather than wallow in explosions and contrived "action" plots will find much to appreciate.I said the film also perpetuated myths about its star. Seeing Princess Grace in this sumptuously costumed and technically undemanding setting, it's easy to believe she was the "little Philadelphia girl" given the Hollywood treatment and polished there into a "star," but Grace Kelly was far from the a Hollywood naif. She came from one of the wealthiest families in Philadelphia, and a not unconnected one theatrically. Her uncle, George Kelly, was a Pulitzer Prize winning playwright who probably inspired Grace's theatrical ambitions.Before finding an all too brief position in the Hollywood pantheon, Kelly graduated from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York and polished her craft in at least two productions on Broadway, winning a Theatre World Award for her first, a 1949 production of August Strindberg's THE FATHER! In his book "Darling, You Were Wonderful," press agent Harvey Sabinson, who worked on that production, tells of the dedication and generosity of the young actress who he didn't know at the time was so well connected (and when he learned, was not permitted to capitalize upon).While the ending of her story (the far too early death in a car accident at 51 notwithstanding) may be one of seeming fairy tale romance, the true story of Grace Kelly the actress is one of natural ability rewarded through careful preparation and hard work - a tale not unlike the quietly inspiring plot of THE SWAN.

Capitalizing on Grace's intention to marry a prince in Monaco, MGM dusted off Molnar's antique play, a comedy of manners involving a princess torn between the love of two men--ALEC GUINNESS (as her second cousin) and handsome LOUIS JOURDAN (as the tutor of her young brothers). By the time she makes her choice, you won't care.On this painfully dull story, they've spared no expense to give the production a handsome cast adept at assuming royal manners--BRIAN AHERNE, AGNES MOOREHEAD, JESSIE ROYCE LANDIS, ESTELLE WINWOOD and ROBERT COOTE, among others, and Charles Vidor was chosen to direct Kelly's last film at Metro.The ice princess herself is perfectly at home in such material, never once letting a believable expression disturb the beauty of her classic features. She's strictly playing herself in an arch manner and letting others do the real emoting. There's plenty of eye candy aside from Grace, the sets and costumes being beyond reproach.But it's a stuffy affair, talky and full of dull stretches where almost nothing happens to move the story forward. Women will adore watching Grace parade around in a number of fetching costumes and will no doubt enjoy seeing her paired with Jourdan in the more intimate scenes.But overall, it's an awful bore with its chief compensation being a delightful cast.