The Prince and the Showgirl

The film is set in London in June 1911. George V will be crowned king on 22 June and in the preceding days many important dignitaries arrive. Among those arriving are the 16-year-old King Nicholas VIII of the (fictional) Balkan country of Carpathia, with his father the widower Prince Regent, Charles (Laurence Olivier) and his maternal grandmother the widowed Queen dowager of Carpathia (inspired by King Michael I of Romania, Carol II of Romania, and Queen Marie of Romania).[4]

The British government decide that keeping Carpathia in the Triple Entente is critical during the rising tensions in Europe. They find it necessary to pamper the royals during their stay in London, and thus civil servant Northbrook (Richard Wattis) is detached to their service. Northbrook decides to take the Prince Regent out to the musical performance The Coconut Girl. During the intermission, the Prince Regent is taken backstage to meet the cast. He is not particularly interested in engaging with the male actors but extremely interested in the physical charms of Elsie Marina (Marilyn Monroe), one of the performers, and he sends a formal invitation for her to meet him at the Carpathian embassy for supper.

Elsie arrives at the embassy and is soon joined by the Prince Regent, a stiff and pompous man. She expects a large party but quickly realises the Prince's true intentions – to seduce her over a private supper. She is persuaded not to leave early by Northbrook, who promises to provide an excuse for her to escape after supper. The Prince Regent turns his back on her during the supper, taking phone calls and addressing matters of state. He then makes a clumsy pass at her, which she immediately rebuffs. She pointedly explains how inept he is and that she had hoped the Prince was going to sway her with romance, passion and "gypsy violins". The Prince changes his style and tactics, complete with a violinist. The two eventually kiss and Elsie admits she may be falling in love, rebuffing Northbrook's promised feint to help her leave the embassy. Elsie then passes out from the many drinks she consumed before, during and after her semi-solitary supper. The Prince places her in an adjoining bedroom to stay the night.

The following day, Elsie overhears a conversation concerning the young Nicolas' plotting with the German embassy to overthrow his father. Promising not to tell, Elsie then meets the Dowager Queen (Sybil Thorndike), the Prince's mother-in-law, who decides Elsie should join them for the coronation in place of her sick lady-in-waiting. The ceremony passes and Elsie refuses to tell the Prince Regent details of the treasonous plot. Nicholas then invites her to the Coronation Ball, where she persuades Nicholas to draw up a contract in which he confesses his and the Germans' intent, but only if the Prince agrees to a general election. The Prince is impressed and realises that he has fallen in love with Elsie. The morning after the Coronation Ball, Elsie irons out the differences between father and son. Her honesty and sincerity have inspired the Prince to finally show sincere love to his son.

The next day, the Carpathians must leave to return home. The Prince Regent had planned to have Elsie join them. In eighteen months' time, his regency will be over and he will be a free citizen. She reminds him that that is also the length of her music-hall contract. They both realise that much can happen in eighteen months and say goodbye.

Promotional photograph of Monroe by Milton H. Greene

• Marilyn Monroe as Elsie Marina
• Laurence Olivier as Charles, the Prince Regent of Carpathia
• Sybil Thorndike as the Dowager Queen
• Richard Wattis as Northbrook
• Jeremy Spenser as King Nicolas
• Paul Hardwick as Major Domo
• Esmond Knight as Colonel Hoffman
• Rosamund Greenwood as Maud
• Aubrey Dexter as The Ambassador
• Maxine Audley as Lady Sunningdale
• Harold Goodwin as Call Boy
• Jean Kent as Maisie Springfield
• Daphne Anderson as Fanny
• Gillian Owen as Maggie
• Vera Day as Betty
• Margot Lister as Lottie
• Charles Victor as Theatre Manager
• David Horne as The Foreign Office
• Gladys Henson as Dresser

Marilyn Monroe and Laurence Olivier at a press conference announcing their partnership

The film was produced and directed by Laurence Olivier. It was shot in Technicolor at Pinewood Studios. Marilyn Monroe had formed her own company - Marilyn Monroe Productions, through which she purchased the rights to Terence Rattigan's The Sleeping Prince. Olivier and Vivien Leigh had played the lead roles in the original London production of the play.[1]

Production was marred with difficulties between Monroe and her co-stars and the production team. According to Jean Kent, Monroe regularly failed to arrive on set on time and "appeared dirty and dishevelled".[5] She caused her co-star Richard Wattis, who had a lot of scenes with her, to "take to drink because takes had to be done so many times" and had an uneasy relationship with the normally quiet and placid cinematographer Jack Cardiff, who said that Olivier referred to her as a "bitch". "She never arrived on time, never said a line the same way twice, seemed completely unable to hit her marks on the set and couldn’t and wouldn’t do anything at all without consulting her acting coach, Paula Strasberg."[5] Olivier also reportedly showed a strong dislike of Monroe and her acting coach; he ordered Strasberg off the set at one point and Monroe refused to continue shooting until she was restored. The relationship between Olivier and Monroe worsened when Olivier said "try and be sexy" to her and she never forgave him for it. Kent states that the difficulties with filming and Monroe caused Olivier "to age 15 years."[5]

Donald Sinden, then a contract star for the Rank Organisation at Pinewood Studios, had a permanent dressing room four doors from Monroe's during the filming, although working on different movies. He said:

She was still suffering from the effects of The Method school of acting, so one day I had the props department make up a notice that I fixed to my door saying:

Office of the Nazak [Kazan, backwards] Academy. You too can be inaudible. New egos superimposed. Motivations immobilised. Imaginary stone-kicking eradicated. Um's & Er's rendered obsolete. Motto: 'Though 'Tis Method Yet There's Madness In It'.

I waited inside and presently heard the usual footsteps of her and her entourage. They paused outside and from the entire group I only heard one laugh—that of Monroe. The door burst open and in she came, slamming the door in the faces of her livid retainers. From that moment on, whenever the poor girl could not face the problems of her hybrid existence—which was frequently—she popped in for a natter and a giggle. Of course as a sex symbol she was stunning, but sadly, she must be one of the silliest women I have ever met.[6]

The film opened on 13 June 1957 in New York and in Los Angeles and London on 3 July 1957.[1]

The 2011 film My Week with Marilyn depicts the week in which Monroe spent being escorted around London by personal assistant Colin Clark, during the filming of The Prince and the Showgirl. The movie is largely based upon two books by Clark recounting his experiences during the production: My Week with Marilyn (2000) and The Prince, the Showgirl, and Me: Six Months on the Set With Marilyn and Olivier (1996). Both books and the film depict Monroe striking up a friendship and semi-romantic relationship with Clark for a brief time during production.[16]

• List of American films of 1957

Wikimedia Commons has media related to The Prince and the Showgirl (film).

• The Prince and the Showgirl at IMDb
• The Prince and the Showgirl at AllMovie
• The Prince and the Showgirl at the TCM Movie Database
• The Prince and the Showgirl at Rotten Tomatoes
• The Prince and the Showgirl at the American Film Institute Catalog