Der Pilot und die Prinzessin

Princess O'Rourke does not try to be amusing or clever, but instead it deftly combines funny situations with a sort of real-life seriousness. A viewer may get the impression that this is really how a princess (Olivia de Havilland) would behave if faced with the predicament of falling for a commoner in another country-- if, in fact, it would happen at all.

Yet there is something believable about this hokum, because the film possesses a calmness and dignity, in large part due to the presence of Miss de Havilland. Robert Cummings as the leading man is both romantic and comic; while Charles Coburn and Jane Wyman deliver strong supporting performances.

The film's strongest asset, though, is the writing. The basic premise seems to cover all sorts of angles and suggests that love and politics intersect but do not necessarily mix. The story moves forward with ease, and a highlight of the proceedings is the friendship that develops between de Havilland and Wyman.

Seeing Princess O'Rourke last night on TCM, it was interesting to learn that interiors at the White House were shot at the real location. And while the current president was occupied by something called World War II, he found time to have his well known Scot's terrier Fala make a guest appearance.

That is the real Fala you see playing message courier between Princess Olivia DeHavilland and the pilot from Brooklyn, Robert Cummings. She's a princess from some unnamed European country that is currently occupied by some jackbooted uninvited guests. Most of the royalty in exile settled in the United Kingdom during war time, but some actually did make it here. In fact Olivia's father the king is in London as the story goes.

And this is a Cinderella story in reverse with the boy from Brooklyn, meeting, wooing and winning a princess. Cummings is an airline pilot scheduled to go in the Army Air Corps who meets princess DeHavilland on a flight that gets canceled back to New York. A slight overdose of sleeping pills leaves her in his unwanted hands. The unwanted part changes soon enough as it does in all films of this type.

The ironic thing is while some royalty did make it back to their countries, a lot were dispossessed permanently by those other totalitarian occupiers from the East after World War II. They didn't exactly live in the diminished circumstances that Olivia was heading for. Some of Charles Coburn's concerns as her uncle are quite real.

Princess O'Rourke is a charming comedy though dated by its topical wartime references. Look also for nice performances by Jack Carson as Cummings's co-pilot and Jane Wyman as Carson's girl friend.

Pre-dating "Roman Holiday" by ten years is this charming little comedy about a runaway princess, this time in New York, falling in love with a commoner. Like "Roman Holiday" the part of the princess is played to perfection, this time by Olivia De Havilland. And she's matched well by Robert Cummings, with a brilliant supporting cast headed by Charles Coburn, Jack Carson and Jane Wyman.

Unlike "Roman Holiday" this film opts for an overly-simplistic solution that is neither believable or satisfying. It's quite fun though being in the White House and watching FDR's dog play an important role in the drama. And the Oscar winning script is pretty good until the finale.

But it is De Havilland that makes the film work. Early in the film she takes a number of sleeping pills, and her drugged acting is superb. She also has a very raunchy scene in a bath! She achieves a perfect balance between comedy and drama, and once again proves that she was one of the best actors of her generation.

As WWII rages in Europe, Princess Maria (Olivia de Havilland) is living in New York City under the watchful eye of the U. S. Secret Service. As a guest of the country she is protected night and day. Besides layers of security, she also lives under the scrutiny of a royal retinue that acts as her watchdog and agent of propriety. She sees herself as living in a gilded cage, but things change when she is flown to San Francisco---or at least that is the intent. A series of mishaps diverts her path and places her incommunicado for a brief time.

When she reappears in New York, she "escapes" for some prosaic adventures and meets an American pilot about to join the Air Force. For the first time, she can imagine a life free of royal responsibilities, but the princess knows what she must do.

Some films are like time capsules---glimpses back at another time---and "Princess O'Rourke" is full of overt and intrinsic references to its era, making it very interesting to watch. Besides the references to wartime behaviors and values---which are many---the plot contains references to social mores and political myths.

It is always nice to watch Olivia de Havilland; even more so, knowing the battle that was being waged between the actress and the studio.

The final scenes take place in the actual White House. How preposterous it would have been to Jane Wyman, who plays the second female lead, to consider that her husband, Ronald Reagan, would eventually live there himself.

Yes, it's a wartime movie, with some fairly subtle propaganda thrown in. Yes, it's a formula romance. Well, I'm afraid I love formula romances. And I guess I can even respect propaganda when it's done with panache and sincerity.

Norman Krasna's screenplay is the real star. Watching the film I was constantly amazed at how the dialog sparkled, how the situations never worked out in quite the way I expected, how the characters always seemed just a little warmer and more human than they might have in many similar films of this era.

The cast is excellent as well, consisting entirely of Hollywood stalwarts, every one of them at their most endearing. Jack Carson, Charles Coburn and Jane Wyman are all great, of course. But Olivia De Havilland is also perfectly cast, lovable on one hand, regal on the other... yet without that slightly simpering quality that made her less likable in, say, The Adventures of Robin Hood, or Gone With the Wind. Robert Cummings was a fine comedic actor who is not well-remembered today, perhaps because he was less multidimensional than someone like James Stewart; but he's used to excellent advantage here. He's not just portraying the perfect everyman Yank; he IS that (perhaps mythical) person, the Guy From Brooklyn. And, yes, the perfect wartime Yank, who's just got to join up and be in "the biggest fight of all time, and the most important." Just as Bogart had to go be a hero at the end of Casablanca. These wartime films earn much of their charm by being unashamedly part of their times.

But ultimately, it's the little touches that raise this film far above the ordinary. The extended gag with the multiple sleeping pills; the silly little bits with the president's dog... These don't distract from the warmth of the film, they add to it.

Perhaps we undervalue a film like Princess O'Rourke simply because the material and the style are so familiar. We need to step back and admire the Hollywood dream-factory at its finest, working to a certain format, yet also bringing together the talented individuals who could make that format sing.

I'll take a wonderfully-executed "formula" film like Princess O'Rourke any day, over self-consciously brilliant films that forget the basics of how to entertain.