The Ambassador's Daughter

This was a very entertaining film from 1956 with some great veteran actors who have had great roles in their careers and this is a rather silly film which seems to go on and on. However, this is a comedy concerning an American Ambassador's Daughter named Joan Fisk, (Olivia De Havilland) who live in France and meets up with a soldier named Danny, (John Forsythe) and Joan is modeling various dresses for an American Red Cross Benefit and Danny becomes very attracted to Joan. Joan does not tell Danny she is the daughter of an American Ambassador and pretends to be a French girl who is a professional model. There are wonderful actors in this film, namely, Myrna Loy, (Mrs. Cartwright); Adolphe Menou, (Sen. Jonathan Cartwright) and Tommy Noonan, (Cpl. Al O'Connor all gave outstanding supporting roles. If you like old time comedy films, this is the film for you.

De Havilland made this movie when she was 40 when the role demanded someone about half that age, After all, she was supposed to be appealing to a young soldier stationed in Europe after WW II.

Then, there was the problem of miscasting John Forsythe, who was a handsome sophisticated man of 38 at the time, not a young gullible GI capable of being manipulated into the comedic situation of this movie.

Even as a young boy, I found John Forsythe to be too sophisticated for the TV sitcom, Bachelor Father where he was Kelly's womanizing uncle rather than anything that resembled a father figure to me. Forsythe seems to have found a home on TV in roles like To Rome with Love, Charlie's Angels, and especially, Dynasty. It always seemed to me that he was born handsome and sophisticated.

This movie did bring together some old actors from Hollywood's Golden Age: Myrna Loy and Adolphe Menjou (as a couple???) and Edward Arnold as the American Ambassador and father of de Havilland.

In the final analysis, this movie, made in Paris during the mid 50s, seemed more like a series of fashion shows in search of a situation comedy.

THE AMBASSADOR'S DAUGHTER is a generally well made film with a great cast. The story and direction though are uninspired and workman-like and robs the story of any vitality. In more capable hands, this film would have been a charmer but the producers were clearly aiming for average. It just doesn't sparkle as it should be and because the pacing or tone, which should have been lightning fast and sharp for this kind of story, is lackadaisical, this big studio production feels and looks exactly like an episode of THREE'S COMPANY. One that takes place in Paris.

The great thing about this movie is Myrna Loy. Whenever she's on screen the movie comes alive. Loy, who starred in the great THIN MAN movies, has a knack for delivering light and funny dialogue and her timing here is perfect. She easily eclipses the whole cast, which includes Olivia De Havilland, John Forsythe, Adolphe Menjou, Tommy Noonan! Thank god Myrna was in this film or else it would have been totally forgettable. Well, the location shooting was also great.

All in all, I enjoyed watching THE AMBASSADOR'S DAUGHTER for what it was but it could have been much better, a classic in fact. Now it's just average.

The only reason that Olivia de Havilland agreed to appear in this trifle must have been because it was going to be filmed in Paris where she was living at the time. On the positive side, there are great stars supporting de Havilland such as Edward Arnold, Adolphe Menjou and Myrna Loy, and they are very very good, as is the Star, but negatively speaking, the story has been done many times, but it could have been quite good, if a decent leading man had been engaged - there is no doubt John Forsythe was out of his depth, trying to compete with the players listed above. There were some bright moments of comedy, and it was good to see the Stars having a bit of a romp, but at times it is hard going. As lovely as she is, Olivia was too old for the part, but some of the shots of Paris helped a lot.

This movie was released in 1956, right in the middle of Hollywood's decade-long fascination with Paris. It was a fascination ignited by the critical and financial success of An American in Paris (MGM 1951), and then stoked by such films as

April in Paris ( Warner Bros. 1952), Moulin Rouge (20th Century Fox 1952), Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (20th Century Fox 1954), The Last Time I Saw Paris (MGM 1954), Sabrina (Paramount 1954), Funny Face (Paramount 1957), The Sun Also Rises (20th Century Fox 1957), Love in the Afternoon (United Artists 1957), Gigi (MGM 1958), Paris Holiday (Tolda 1958), Can Can (20th Century Fox 1960), Paris Blues (Pennebaker 1961), Charade (Universal 1963), Irma la douce (MGM 1963), A New Kind of Love (Paramount 1963), Paris When it Sizzles (1964).

Unfortunately, this movie adds nothing to that generally very distinguished and successful list. (Paris Holiday is a bomb, yes.)

Others have recounted the plot, so I won't repeat that. Since this movie is about a group of non-Parisians living in Paris, it never really engages with its setting. It could just as soon have taken place in Vienna, or Rome, or ...

Little thought seems to have been put into the production. The plot is worked out at the end, which takes place in the iconographic Garnier Opera House during a performance of Swan Lake. With a wealth of operas and ballets from which to choose, Krasna picked the Tchaikovsky warhorse for no apparent reason, because he makes no effort to tie what is going on on stage to what is going on in the boxes and corridors (the plot, such as it is).

There's nothing really wrong with this movie, it's just that it's not very interesting. A cast this good should have been given a far better script.