Le Prince et la danseuse

The Prince and the Showgirl is one of those films from the 1950s that has a really interesting backstory. Of course, its context was only rediscovered for the wider public on the occasion of the premiere of My Week with Marilyn, a nostalgic take on a Pinewood Studios romance. In fact, it was an interesting meeting over Terence Rattigan's play "The Sleeping Prince: An Occasional Fairy Tale" from 1953. The play was written to celebrate the coronation of Elizabeth II, is set in 1911, and is a rather endearing caricature of the politics of the time, as well as being a great London guidebook. Of course, this aspect is better in the film, but in the theater, it's the confident dialogue that takes precedence. Marilyn Monroe bought the rights to her new production and asked Laurence Olivier, the director and lead actor from the first production, to reprise his role and direct the film. This fact was somewhat overshadowed in its day by the sensational marriage of Monroe and Arthur Miller, and much gossip remains to this day. Yet what is the final film really like? It’s one of the least typical films of Monroe's late career, an almost mechanical flip of a theatrical routine that tries to make the most of her charm, Olivier's reputation, and Technicolor. (14/09/2021)