With all the news surrounding Michelle Williams’ portrayal as Marilyn Monroe in My Week with Marilyn, I had to see what the fuss was about over Monroe’s reportedly tumultuous time filming The Prince & the Showgirl with her co-star and the film’s director, Sir Laurence Olivier. And shame on me for not watching the 1957 romantic comedy sooner!
In My Week with Marilyn, the movie takes place during a week of filming The Prince and the Showgirl in England as told through the diary of production assistant Colin Clark (played by Eddie Redmayne). Williams as Monroe and Kenneth Branagh, as Olivier, butt heads and their significant others, Dougray Scott as Monroe’s third husband, playwright Arthur Miller, and Julia Ormond as Olivier’s wife, Vivien Leigh add to the mix.
A little known fact about the history of the story is that Olivier actually played the same role in the stage version in London. His then-wife and Gone With the Wind star, Leigh, played opposite him as “the showgirl.”
As for the actual movie The Prince & the Showgirl, it showcases Monroe’s stereotypical blond bombshell persona as actress Elsie Marina. What makes this movie worth watching is that it’s an interesting and entertaining celebration of Monroe’s often forgotten comedic timing and her natural, effortless sex appeal against a very stiff Olivier who didn’t make too much of an impression on me as a viewer. Now, I’m not all that familiar with Olivier’s great films like Hamlet or Wuthering Heights, but playing a strict and loveless man of royalty was pretty forgettable, although his performance earned the film one of four BAFTA nominations. It’s Monroe’s performance that steals every scene and takes Olivier’s very serious thunder away from him, because after all, this is a romantic comedy.
For those of you who aren’t familiar with the movie, here’s a plot synopsis, courtesy of IMDB: “When Grandduke Charles, the prince-regent of Carpatha, a fictitious Balkan country which could start a European war by switching alliances, visits London for the coronation of the new British king in 1911, and spends his one evening off at the Coconut Girl club, the reputed stickler for protocol is so charmed by a clumsy American understudy that he orders his British attaché to invite her to the embassy for a private supper. Being overlooked and understanding German, she learns of the repressive attitude of the regent and the plans of his reformist, pro-German minor son, king Nicholas, to take over power by surprise, but doesn’t dodge and tries to reconcile father and son. The queen-dowager decides to make her lady-in-waiting for the coronation day, so she stays in the picture to everyone else’s surprise.”
So this sounds very political, but trust me, there are a lot of laughs to be had. When you see Monroe strut around in the same pearl-adorned form-fitting white evening gown for what’s supposed to be at least three days in the movie, she struts around the decadent chambers of the embassy in London with a very familiar and wise sense of her character.
Also worth noting is the very humorous performance of the other female lead, Dame Sybil Thorndike, who plays Charles’ late-wife’s mother, The Queen Dowager. In My Week with Marilyn this part goes to Judi Dench (J. Edgar), who I’d be interested in seeing play the role-within-the-role and the accomplished British actress Thorndike.
Take a look at the clip below to get a taste of the innocent fun that takes place in the movie, which was set one hundred years ago! If you’re interested in learning more about Monroe’s movies, check out my previous Did Ya Ever See… article about Monroe and Yves Montand in Let’s Make Love here! And you can expect to see Williams and Branagh portray the behind-the-scenes drama in My Week with Marilyn starting November 4th!
