- Film Review
- Reviewed By Tony Sloman
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3 out of 5
What should have been an explosive pairing of Hollywood's golden girl, Marilyn Monroe, and England's greatest theatre actor, Laurence Olivier, doesn't quite come off, largely owing to the vapidity of the vehicle chosen: a tired Terence Rattigan play, The Sleeping Prince, written for the Coronation and already dated before it hit the West End boards. Yet there's much to be thankful for, especially the presence of Monroe, lovingly lit in Technicolor by the great Jack Cardiff. As you would expect, Monroe sparkles, showing a terrific sense of comic timing in a performance of great skill and beauty certainly helped by that figure-hugging white evening dress she wears throughout. Olivier, who also directed, seems overawed, and hampers himself with a Balkan accent that's a cross between Garbo and Bela Lugosi. Richard Wattis and especially Sybil Thorndike are splendid, however, and Marilyn, whose company financed the project, is a dream.
Plot Summary
Romantic comedy starring Marilyn Monroe and Laurence Olivier. London, 1911. An American showgirl falls for the cold Prince Regent of a small European country, who is in town for George V's coronation. In her pursuit of the prince, she also tries to reconcile the differences between the prince and his son.
Cast and crew
Cast
- Charles, Prince Regent
- Laurence Olivier
- Elsie Marina
- Marilyn Monroe
- Queen Dowager
- Sybil Thorndike
- Northbrooke
- Richard Wattis
- King Nicholas
- Jeremy Spenser
- Hoffman
- Esmond Knight
- Major Domo
- Paul Hardwick
- Maud
- Rosamund Greenwood
Crew
- Director
- Laurence Olivier
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