THE PRINCE AND THE SHOWGIRL (1957) C 118m dir: Laurence Olivier

w/Marilyn Monroe, Laurence Olivier, Sybil Thorndike, Richard Wattis, Jeremy Spenser, Esmond Knight, Paul Hardwick, Rosamund Greenwood, Aubrey Dexter, Maxine Audley

Romantic story of a Balkan prince (Olivier) and an American chorus girl (Monroe) in London at the time of the coronation of King George V (1912).

From The Movie Guide: "By combining the light comic skills of Monroe and the grand acting ability of Olivier, THE PRINCE AND THE SHOWGIRL manages to succeed not only as pleasant entertainment but also as a wonderful mixture of two very different screen personalities. ...

"Produced and directed by Olivier and financed by Monroe's newly formed production company (she reportedly was to receive a phenomenal 75 percent of the profits), THE PRINCE AND THE SHOWGIRL shows both actors in fine form. Monroe --- in this, her 25th picture --- had turned 30 and was as beautiful as ever, delivering a comic performance which is among her very finest. Olivier had already familiarized himself with the role on the British stage in the [Terence] Rattigan play 'The Sleeping Prince,' which starred his miscast wife, Vivien Leigh. Initially Rattigan [who also wrote the screenplay] had expressed reservations about having an actor of Olivier's stature playing a character the author had envisioned as a mundane bureaucrat. But Rattigan needn't have worried; after much ballyhoo in the press, the play opened to rave reviews. What's more, the casting of Monroe in place of Leigh brought the film a remarkable balance between two of film's most arresting screen personalities."