Prinzessin für 30 Tage

A witty romantic comedy about a newspaper man and a princess - no, not ROMAN HOLIDAY, something just as classy and if you're more a 30s movie fan than a 50s movie fan, like me you might find this better.

This is not one of those awful cute and sickly sugar coated Ruritanean comedies which were common in the thirties. Surprisingly it's a smart, cleverly written grown up fun film. I'm not saying it's a biting political or social satire - no, it's a silly, silly story but it's one of those really well made films which still work today.

Every time you find a film directed by Paramount's unsung genius Mr Marion Gering, you find a near perfect piece of entertainment. He wasn't quite top table maybe because he didn't have a particular discernible style but he never failed to make near masterpieces - like this.

In the hands a lesser director this could have been utter tripe. After all: 1. The story is absurd but Gering makes it utterly compelling. 2. Cary Grant's output at this time was hardly notable but he's as good as he ever was in this. 3. You initially think that Claudette Colbert should have been the princess rather than miserable Sylvia Sidney but Gering turns her into the perfect comedy actress.

You might think that this sounds very familiar and that you've seen this type of thing a dozen times before. But don't dismiss this, it's not just another 'also ran.' In terms of writing, acting and production and definitely in terms of humour, this is a cut above the rest. We're not quite at IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT levels but we're pretty close.......and more entertaining than ROMAN HOLIDAY.

Thirty Day Princess (1934)

*** (out of 4)

A banker (Edward Arnold) talks Princess Catterina (Sylvia Sidney) into visiting America so that she can get a loan for the poor people of her country. Once there she falls ill so the banker comes up with a scheme to find a look-a-like to take her place. He finds actress Nancy Lane (Sidney) who is told of the job and one thing she must do is pull the job over on a newspaper owner (Cary Grant).

THIRTY DAY PRINCESS isn't a masterpiece but it's certainly a very fun and very entertaining little gem that should probably be better known among film buffs than it actually is. You'd think with Sidney and Grant as well as the screenplay being co-written by Preston Sturges that it would be better remembered today but for some reason it has pretty much slipped away.

That's really too bad because there are some pretty good moments throughout the film including a wonderful performance by Sidney. She basically plays two different roles here and I thought she did a great job with both of them. I really loved the charm she brought to her characters and especially that innocence laugh she has as the Princess. I really thought she did a fabulous job at making the Grant character fall in love with her because the viewer too falls in love! The supporting cast is good too with Arnold playing a the bad guy with ease and Grant is also fun in a somewhat fast-talking role. Henry Stephenson doesn't appear in too much of the film but when he's on the screen he's great too.

There are some logical issues with the film but that there is to be expected in this type of spoof. Director Marion Gering does a nice job at keeping the film running at a nice pace and he manages to get some nice laughs throughout. With that said, there's no question that it's the cast and especially Sidney that make this film so memorable and fans of her will really want to check it out.

A thoroughly winning little depression-era romantic comedy, THIRTY DAY PRINCESS manages to turn it's fairly routine storyline into a fresh and engaging picture that entertains throughout it's entire runtime. The plot has the Princess of the imaginary country Taronia (Sylvia Sidney) touring the US as an ambassador for her financially struggling country, with the hope of securing a major loan from the US. Upon arrival, our unfortunate Princess is stricken with the mumps, and is replaced by a look-alike actress (also played by Sidney), who doubles the ill Princess until she filly recovers. Complicating matters, however, is an ambitious news executive (Cary Grant), who is skeptical of the US approving such a large loan and wants to get to know out titular princess first hand.

As evidenced by the summary above, the film's plot was flimsy and formulaic even by the standards of the mid-thirties, but the picture manages to surprise viewers by using such an overly-familiar plot device as a springboard for sharp dialogue and delightful, fully-realized performances. Any film of this nature is almost entirely dependent upon its lead performer, and Sylvia Sidney handles her dual role with utter conviction, truly convincing viewers that she is two completely different characters. There is also an irresistible chemistry between Sidney and the young Cary Grant, who offers flashes of the brilliant actor he would soon become. In the end, the film manages to escape its well-worn premise and emerge as a genuine delight as one of the more underrated comedies of the thirties.

This film has two things that the people of 1934 sorely needed: a feel good love story, and cary grant! With sylvia sidney (got above the title billing), eddie arnold and henry stephenson. When king anatol wants to improve the living conditions for his people, he works out a deal with gresham, the banker. But when the princess is too sick to travel, gresham finds a look-a-like to take her place. And of course, the actress falls for madison. Complications, misunderstsandings, as the old friends of the actress think they have figured things out. Can they keep the secret until the princess goes back to her own country? And can they ever explain things to madison? It's a fun adventure, as an ordinary girl gets to be princess for thirty days. Directed by marion gering. Sidney, grant, and gering had made "madam butterfly" together, just prior to this. It's always interesting to see a screenplay by preston sturges, story by clarence kelland. It's fun to watch, as plain jane gets to be princess for a short time.

I've always loved Sylvia Sidney. I started going to the movies the year her last leading lady performance (LOVE FROM A STRANGER) was made, but I didn't see it then and it was only in revivals in the 1950s and occasional showings of some of her 1930s films on TV that I discovered her. I was amazed at how good she was even when only 21 or 22 years of age, and I thought she was just about the prettiest actress in the world at the time. Problem is, time didn't treat that prettiness too well, and when you saw her after the age of, say, 45 or so, it was hard to see even a trace of that prettiness. No problem, though, for she was a great actress and, I think with proper allowances in casting, she might today be one of the true legends of Hollywood's 1930s era. Well, we'll just have to settle for talent. I'm writing this, though, to say that one is never too old to learn. Although Sidney could be hilariously tough and ballsy in her later years, I had not known she had ever made even one comedy in her starring Hollywood years. And now, after 70-plus years of rather intense movie watching, I have finally seen THIRTY DAY PRINCESS, with a performance by her that is all charm and fun and light and prettiness personified. I can't imagine anyone, not even Colbert or Lombard or Stanwyck, could have done it any better. Truly, I have had her so associated with tragedy and poverty and murder and all the other good things of Hollywood Melodramatic Life, that I kept expecting someone to stab her or toss her down a flight of stairs, but nobody ever did. So, I learned that Sylvia could do comedy at a time when just about nobody would let her, and I am a better-informed movie-lover for it today. As for the film itself, she and Cary Grant and Edward Arnold give it exactly what it needs, and it should be far better known today than it is. She was a wonderful actress and, lest I forget to say it one more time, so damned pretty - not beautiful, just so damned pretty.