The Prince and the Showgirl - 4 stars out of 10

The Prince and the Showgirl - 4 stars out of 10

"The Prince and the Showgirl" has a nice cast but a bad script.  This film moves so slowly that it would lose a long-distance race against a snail.  It isn't a problem with the story as much as the scenes are all just 5 minutes too long.  The film is only interesting if you have seen "My Week with Marilyn" and can understand everything that was going on behind the scenes during this film shoot.  Other than that, the actors are the main draw for this film.  Marilyn Monroe is lovely, particularly the scene where she dances in her room to the music outside, Laurence Olivier is excellent as the Grand Duke, and Sybil Thorndike's interpretation of the queen is great.  For me, the only thing that made this film worthwhile was the moment in the carriage where Olivier's scowl slowly and subtlely transformed into a smile and Monroe slowly caught on to his happiness.  This truly may be the best 10 seconds in cinema.  But other than that... there were a lot of issues on the set of this film (see "My Week with Marilyn" as a reference) and it shows through the lack of pacing in this film.  I wouldn't recommend this unless you are a movie buff who is making their way through the greatest moments in cinema, in which case you must see that moment in the carriage.  Otherwise, skip to "Some Like It Hot" for your Monroe fix.