O Escândalo da Princesa

Sophia Loren--in a succession of lavish gowns, her hair tinted a honey-brown--looks every inch the princess in this surface-pretty remake of 1929's "His Glorious Night", adapted from Molnar's play "Olimpia". An American businessman from Pittsburg travels overseas and falls in love with mercurial royalty from Ruritania; she has breached protocol by even being seen with this "peasant", so in order to keep him quiet she agrees to spend a weekend with him in the country. Wily Maurice Chevalier, as Sophia's father, gets to sing a little and make eyes at the ladies, and his polished comic timing is a welcome relief to the empty, useless bantering of the young lovers. As Loren's gallant guy, stiff John Gavin talks as if he's being dubbed by a ventriloquist (he has no music in his voice). Sophia doesn't have the witty lines of the older players (nor that of Angela Lansbury as a competitive Countess), though she gives more to this puff-piece than most actresses would have. A few funny lines do lighten the load, yet it's largely forgettable. ** from ****

This is a really beautiful and charming film with a wonderful cast. Sophia Loren has never looked more lovely in the role of Princess Olympia alongside the handsome John Gavin in the role of Charlie Foster. Maurice Chevalier is absolutely delightful as Prince Philip as is his on-screen wife Isabel Jeans in the role of Princess Eugenie. The settings are simply beautiful in different palaces around Vienna such as the Belvedere and Schoenbrunn. The Austrian countryside is also delightful. I loved the music as well. A young Angela Lansbury also makes an appearance as the devious Countess Lina. It is a lovely and enchanting film.

A lot of talent was wasted in this uninspired remake of 'His Glorious Night', based on a Molnar Play. The lovely Sophia Loren is beautiful to look at as a spirited Ruritanian princess falling in love with the stereotyped brash American industrialist. There are no new ideas here. Visually, it's appealing, but with all the talent involved, it should have been much better.

I can't believe all the criticism of this film, it's a light ball of fluff, it's funny and fun, and Sophia is gorgeous and so is John Gavin who just died last month at age 86. Give it a break! It's not a masterpiece but it wasn't trying to be. Filmed on location in Italy and Austria the cinematography features a royal world gone by, and Sophia's character is a pip of a princess who makes everyone nervous because she keeps doing scandalous things like shooting at weather vanes and riding forbidden wild stallions and desiring romances with undesirables. Enter John Gavin an American who is good at heart and doesn't know she is a Princess at first, he thinks he hurt her by frightening her horse which threw her to the ground, so he takes her back to an inn to recover, only she's perfectly fine, she just loves the way he looks and is smitten. Then the real (royal) world comes back into play and she is called to be a responsible Princess again and possibly marry royalty but she just can't forget that handsome American who lives in Pittsburgh. :) Must say the clothes design in this movie was Oscar worthy, Sophia wears breathtakingly beautiful clothes, if you love the rich fashions of days gone by you should watch it with a keen eye toward its style. A nice film to drink hot cocoa to on a cold winter night.

"A Breath of Scandal" is a solid film that straddles the line between drama and comedy. It features an interesting cast of characters who illustrate some of the peculiarities of the aristocracy while comparing and contrasting those mores to the more folksy egalitarianism of Charlie and America. It is a mostly good time even if the film doesn't fully resonate with or impact the viewer. It shares some similarities with another Sophia Loren film from 1960, "The Millionairess." I rate both 6/10 and deem them both worth watching even if they are somewhat turgid.