The Prince and the Showgirl

Flimsy Ruritanian whimsy adapted from Terence Rattigan's damp coronation year divertissement, The Sleeping Prince. A rather condescending vehicle for Monroe, who had demonstrated astonishing range and skill the previous year in Bus Stop, with Olivier's leaden direction constantly conveying the impression that real actors are graciously propping up the pretty novice. Few sparks fly, but Olivier's Teutonically humourless Regent of Carpathia - in Britain for the 1911 coronation of George V - is nicely played off against Marilyn's innocently saucy showgirl.