Thirty-Day Princess
| Thirty-Day Princess | |
|---|---|
 theatrical poster | |
| Directed by | Marion Gering |
| Produced by | B.P. Schulberg |
| Written by |
Story: Clarence Budington Kelland Adaptation: Sam Hellman Edwin Justus Mayer Screenplay: Preston Sturges Frank Partos |
| Starring |
Sylvia Sidney Cary Grant Edward Arnold |
| Music by |
Howard Jackson Rudolph G. Kopp John Leipold Harry Ruby Karl Hajos |
| Cinematography | Leon Shamroy |
| Edited by | Jane Loring |
| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
Release dates | May 18, 1934 |
Running time | 74 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Thirty-Day Princess is a 1934 Pre-Code comedy film starring Sylvia Sidney, Cary Grant and Edward Arnold. The film was based on a story of the same name by Clarence Budington Kelland (which appeared in Ladies' Home Journal in 1933),[1] adapted by Sam Hellman and Edwin Justus Mayer, written by Preston Sturges and Frank Partos, and directed by Marion Gering.
Plot
On her way to New York to find financial backing for her impoverished country, the Ruritanian Kingdom of Taronia, Princess "Zizzi" Catterina (Sylvia Sidney) falls ill with the mumps and has to be quarantined for a month. In desperation, financier Richard Gresham (Edward Arnold), who is planning to issue $50 million in Taronian bonds, hires unemployed lookalike actress Nancy Lane (Sidney again) to impersonate the princess, and offers her a large bonus if she changes the mind of the chief opponent of the financial transaction, newspaper publisher Porter Madison III (Cary Grant).
Cast
- Sylvia Sidney as Princess Catterina/Nancy Lane
- Cary Grant as Porter Madison III
- Edward Arnold as Richard Gresham
- Henry Stephenson as King Anatol
- Vince Barnett as Count Nicholeus
- Edgar Norton as Baron Passeria
- Lucien Littlefield as Parker
- Robert McWade as Managing editor
- Marguerite Namara as Lady-in-Waiting
Production
Production on Thirty-Day Princess was to have begun on 28 February 1934, but was delayed because of the illness of William Collier Sr., who was scheduled to play the role of the "Managing editor". Collier was replaced and production began on 1 March.[2][3]
Although Preston Sturges received a writing credit for the film's screenplay, he wrote in his autobiography that "not much" of his work was actually used. Sturges also said of B.P. Schulberg that "as a producer, [he] was accustomed to accepting praise for pictures as generals accept praise for the valor of their soldiers, and it thus seemed logical to him that the writers should feel the same general sense of shared accomplishment." Thirty-Day Princess was released on 18 May 1934.[3]
Reception
The film received a mixed reception, with Meyer Levin of Esquire remarking that the director was "no man for comedy", and Cy Caldwell of New Outlook calling it a "jolly and amusing romantic comedy" in which Grant, Edward Arnold, Vince Barnett and others "render good support".[4] Grant biographer Geoffrey Wansell notes that Grant was "required to do little more than spend most of his time wearing white tie and tails. He states that some of the more scathing reviews of the film "infuriated" Grant and that he subsequently demanded to choose his own roles. Wansell claims that Paramount retaliated by loaning him to United Artists.[5]
References
- ↑ TCM Screenplay info
- ↑ TCM Notes
- 1 2 TCM Overview
- ↑ Deschner 1973, pp. 70-1.
- ↑ Wansell 2013, p. 36.
Sources
- Deschner, Donald (1973). The Complete Films of Cary Grant. Citadel Press. ISBN 0-8065-0376-9.
- Wansell, Geoffrey (December 13, 2013) [1996]. Cary Grant, Dark Angel. Skyhorse Publishing. ISBN 978-1-62872-336-6.
External links
- Thirty-Day Princess at the Internet Movie Database
- Thirty-Day Princess at the TCM Movie Database
- Thirty-Day Princess at AllMovie