BEFORE: I would have loved for Movie #2001 to be something from the world of sci-fi, which could have been a nice tribute to Kubrick or Arthur C. Clarke, but it wasn't meant to be. Instead I'm playing upon the link between Groucho Marx and Marilyn Monroe (last seen in "How to Marry a Millionaire"). They co-starred in one film, "Love Happy", which I'm not inclined to watch. But this allows me to get the Laurence Olivier chain out of the way.
Here's how the rest of April will shake down: Olivier/Shakespeare, Marlon Brando, a week of Robert Redford, some Steenburgen, a couple of De Niros, a couple Sean Penns, a couple Kristin Wiigs, and then I'll be set up for the new Avengers film. It's a bit convoluted but I'm satisfied with the plan.
THE PLOT: An American showgirl gets entangled in political intrigue after the prince regent of a foreign country attempts to seduce her.
FOLLOW-UP TO: "My Week With Marilyn" (Movie #1,769)
AFTER: At first it seems quite jarring, going from the Marx Brothers to Olivier - a bit like reading MAD Magazine before you start your English Literature homework. But this really worked out fine - Groucho played the ruler of a fictional country named Freedonia in "Duck Soup", and here Olivier plays the ruler of a fictional country called Carpathia. I had to check Wikipedia, but Carpathia is a European region, not a country - it's only a country in this film and in "Ghostbusters II".
(Additionally, "Duck Soup" was the film-within-a-film seen in "Hannah and Her Sisters", and this was the film-within-a-film referred to in "My Week With Marilyn". Small point of order.)
Olivier always seemed like a bit of an odd duck to me - classically trained, of course, but by the time I was old enough to know who he was, he was (I assume) scrambling for roles in the 1970's, playing Van Helsing in a Dracula remake and then Neil Diamond's father in a re-working of "The Jazz Singer". I probably knew him best as Zeus in "Clash of the Titans", but this film proves that he missed his true calling - appearing on "Get Smart" as the German-accented head of KAOS. (Meanwhile, the role of Franz Liebkind in "The Producers" remained forever tantalizingly just out of his reach.)
Which is my way of saying that he really hams it up here as a German-like Grandduke, monocle and all, who invites an American actress to dinner while he's in London for the coronation of King George (I'm gonna say VI, but I'm terrible with British king numbering) in 1911. Nope, it's George V - another tip of the hat to Wikipedia. The implication here is that any woman in London would jump at the chance to have dinner at the embassy with the Grandduke, followed by a roll in the hay (OK, probably some velvet cushions) and then some lovely parting gifts, thank you for playing.
But this is an AMERICAN showgirl, meaning she's got moxie. Or she's too dumb to take a hint and GTFO, either way works. Before she can do the walk of shame, she's spotted by the Grand Dowager, who either assumes that her son-in-law has a new steady girlfriend, or she invites her to the coronation as her lady-in-waiting just to piss him off, either way works. The point is, she sticks around the embassy for, I don't know, three days (?) wearing the same evening gown. I think she may have even slept in it, which is kind of nasty. Even Marilyn Monroe wouldn't seem too fresh after three days sewn into that dress.
There's an attempt at a reversal here, after a few contrivances that keep the chorus girl at the embassy long past her expiration date, she tries her hand at political maneuvering, but in the form of a seduction, similar to the one that the Grandduke tried on her - alcohol, violins, a little flattery. And he didn't seem to even notice, or he didn't care - either way works. Yep, a land war in Europe got delayed a whole three years, thanks to Marilyn Monroe - that's a historical fact, look it up if you don't believe me.
NITPICK POINT: The coronation scene itself is embarrassingly short on details - we don't get to see King George or his bride, or even stand-ins pretending to be them. Instead we're focused on Monroe's character as she stares wistfully at a few stained glass windows, and we get to feel all the wonder and excitement of her reading her church program.
Also starring Laurence Olivier (last seen in "Rebecca"), Sybil Thorndike (last seen in "Stage Fright"), Jeremy Spenser (last seen in "Kind Hearts and Coronets"), Richard Wattis (last seen in "The Man Who Knew Too Much"), Paul Hardwick (last seen in "Octopussy"), Esmond Knight.
RATING: 3 out of 10 vodka shots
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