Un scandale à la cour

I like it a lot. It is funny. Has some funny scenes and some funny characters.

Now, I didn't say that it is a comedy that will make you laugh a lot, but you might watch almost all of it with a smile on your face, at least I know I did.

Sophia Loren looks great in it and from what my sister told me the guy looks very good also.

(Maybe guys could learn something from the man in this movie.)

I gave it a 10 because I think it is one of the best of it's kind. (By the way, if you know better ones please let me know. 10x)

PS: I think is a nice movie to watch with a girlfriend/boyfriend.

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.

In 1960 this film did not receive audience attention because there were other film being shown that the public wanted to see, like "Psycho" and many other films. Most Sophia Loren films were not as popular in America and so Carlo Ponti brought his wife back to Europe and she made a very successful film, "Two Women" which won her an Academy Award and brought Sophia great notoriety. In this picture, Sophia plays the role as Princess Olympia who is a very wild and beautiful young lady who gets into all kinds of trouble. Sophia rides her horse one day and an American named Charlie Foster, (John Gavin) and his automobile scares the horse and the Princess falls to the ground and she plays games with Charlie making believe she is hurt, but she really likes him and wants to spend the night with him in a lodge. Charlie has no idea this pretty gal is a Princess and they both get along very well, with her sleeping in his pajamas and her waking up and the bottoms of the PJ's are missing. This is a great comedy and Maurice Chevalier, (Prince Philip) gives a great supporting role as Princess Olympia father along with Angela Lanwsbury, (Countess Lina) who is a gossip and trouble maker getting into everyone's private lives. Michael Curtiz directed this picture and he was a famous director who produced many great films.

Sometimes, particularly when one is looking at a landscape or a portrait, beauty is sufficient. Movies are a different situation altogether and visual beauty is a bonus and certainly does no harm but it cannot carry a movie all by itself. John Gavin is beautiful but miscast and wooden where a more dangerous charm would have helped. Think Grant or even Sinatra but at least think alive. As to Loren, words fail me. The look (beautiful perhaps) is entirely wrong and she is no princess. If for no other reason her accent makes no sense and screams please oh please dub me, dub me, dub me even by the actress she called mother for no discernible reason. The eligible prince actually looks like Grace Kelly's real life prince but there is no Grace Kelly to lift his form into substance. The only performer who is even slightly acceptable is the divine and immortal Angela Lansbury who actually seems to be engaged. Fortunately, she doesn't have to listen to old Maurice beat a dead horse (i.e., his tired singing routine). Speaking of horses, the four-legged ones were cute but could only move the carriage, not the plot. On the whole, I'd rather be in Pittsburgh, with or without a horse or anywhere else, as long as it is with Ms. Lansbury.