The Princess Comes Across

... very shortly before all three of these nations would become troublesome for the US and the rest of the world for that matter. It's a combination comedy/romance/drama/mystery/musical film set aboard a ship that is headed from Europe to America that could have easily been too busy and thus incoherent, and yet it works. Carole Lombard is the Swedish Princess Olga and Allison Skipworth is her companion/lady-in-waiting as Olga travels to America for an acting career with Transatlantic Studios. Except she's not. She's a Brooklyn chorus girl who is pretending to be a princess, because the studio wasn't interested in her as just another American aspiring actress, but as a princess she got their attention and a contract. Lombard does a great Greta Garbo imitation throughout, and it's thus funny when she lapses into her Brooklyn accent when frustrated or she forgets herself. Fred McMurray plays King Mantell, a successful bandleader and concertina player who wants to romance the princess, but she is (initially) having none of it, because to let someone get too close might disclose her ruse. McMurray is paired with William Frawley as his manager, decades before they are teamed again on "My Three Sons". A blackmailer (Porter Hall) tries to shake down both Mantell and the princess. At the same time the ship's captain (George Barbier) receives a cable announcing that there is an escaped French convict on board. Plain sailing this isn't. Luckily there is a group of detectives on board who are heading for a conference. They are Douglass Dumbrille representing France, Lumsden Hare representing the U. K., Sig Ruman representing Germany, Mischa Auer representing the Soviet Union and Tetsu Komai representing Japan. There are several jokes about crime and punishment in the Soviet Union surrounding the Russian detective, but nobody says anything about Germany or Japan because they are not seen as a threat yet. It is near the end of a rare period of peace in the world during the 20th century. The vacation of these gentlemen is interrupted when two murders are committed. It is a wonderful contrivance in script-writing as to how all aspects of this multi-faceted film gel together relatively seamlessly. One moment William Frawley makes another one of his funny down to earth statements, then we go straight over to downright skullduggery and high drama. In the midst of it all Fred MacMurray, who was quite an accomplished musician, gives us a song in the middle of the picture. I'd say that this busy and engaging film is definitely worth your time.

Princess Carole Lombard boards the ocean liner headed to America sporting a Swedish accent, with a contract from a big American film contract practically in her hand. It's soon apparent it's a publicity gimmick cooked up by her and her companion, 'Countess' Alison Skipworth. She expects the Royal Suite, but concertina player Fred MacMurray and his manager, William Frawley, have it and won't give it up until he sees Miss Lombard. It all starts out as a screwball comedy, with some expect farceurs, like George Barbier as the captain, and Sig Ruman and Mischa Auer as two of four detectives on board, looking for an escaped French murderer. Then Porter Hall shows up, ready to blackmail MacMurray for cash; Fred spent a year in prison when he was younger. MacMurray shows him the door. Hall says he has a couple of other people who will pay him and leaves.... and then turns up as a corpse in Miss Lombard's state room. It's a fine and shocking turn to the script, which is competently realized by William K. Howard. Although this is far more standard than the visual extravaganzas he headed at the beginning of the decade, DP Ted Tetzlaff offers some nice compositions in the ship's interior.

Moviecut—Concertina

source: Concertina

Carole Lombard reunites with Fred McMurray. Here she plays Swedish Princess Olga from Europe to America with her lady in waiting Gertrude Alwyn (played by the marvelous Alison Skipworth). Aboard the ship, she is reunited with Fred McMurray's character King Mantell who runs a band and plays a concertina. His sidekick is played by William Frawley. It's interesting to note that McMurray and Frawley would work together years later on "My Three Sons." Anyway, everybody has their secrets especially the Princess. Aboard the ship, there is an unsolved murder to be solved before they land in New York City. Anyway, it's an entertaining comedy and drama. I loved the chemistry between McMurray and Lombard. I also adore Alison Skipworth, a character actress, who is wonderful as the Princess's Lady in Waiting.

It's difficult to smoothly blend a suspenseful murder mystery with a light romantic comedy, but ace director William K. Howard achieves the almost impossible and does exactly this in Paramount's expansively produced and beautifully photographed (Ted Tetzlaff) shipboard thriller/romance. The stars, Carole Lombard and Fred MacMurray, are both in fine form. They need to be, for they are up against a remarkable array of professional scene stealers including Douglass Dumbrille, Alison Skipworth, Charles Barbier, Porter Hall and Sig Ruman. You'd expect a richly produced, smoothly directed (by William K. Howard), atmospherically photographed (by Ted Tetzlaff), ingratiatingly acted and most entertainingly scripted movie fare like this to receive hurrahs from all the critics, But that was not the case. Frank Nugent of The New York Times even gave the movie a negative review. In my opinion, the movie is a most entertaining blend of romance, thrills, mystery and comedy. Alas, it was during the filming of The Princess Comes Across that Howard unwittingly set the stage for his later rebuff by the Hollywood hierarchy when he ordered the movie's production supervisor off the set for too much interference.

The delightful Carole Lombard was at her comic height in 1936, whether playing the dizzy heiress of "My Man Godfrey", the frazzled socialite of "Love Before Breakfast", or the phony Swedish princess in this, a delightful screwball comedy set on an ocean liner that literally is murder. She spoofs the legendary Garbo here, giving a delightful Swedish accent that is comical yet not ridiculing. The fun starts on her trip when she finds concertina player Fred MacMurray inside her state room, and from there comes blackmail, a few murders, romance and the comedy of several people pretending to be who they are not. Lombard and MacMurray are surrounded by a top-notch supporting cast including the imperious Allison Skipworth as Lombard's dowager like companion (reminding me of the late Marie Dressler), William Frawley as MacMurray's crotchety pal (hysterical in a scene wearing a beret which looks like a bad toupee), Mischa Auer, Lumsden Hare, Sig Ruman and Douglas Dumbrille as a group of European detectives conveniently aboard to get involved in the murder investigation, Bradley Page as a mystery man stalking the detectives, and Porter Hall as the blackmailer. This fun-filled voyage has a delightfully witty screenplay and everybody involved seems to be having a joyous time. After being rather obnoxious in their previous pairing ("Hands Across the Table"), MacMurray gets to downplay a bit here, and Lombard proves again as to why she was one of the most beloved actresses of the 1930's-she was simply divine, a rare actress under the age of 30 whom everybody could identify with. Her down to earth demeanor is visible through her high-falluting impersonation of the Swedish countess from Brooklyn and it becomes obvious as to why her tragic death in 1942 was mourned by the world. Two of the screen's great 1930's movie villains (Dumbrille and Page) seem to be playing against type here, but the cleverness of the screenplay is such that not everything is as it seems. It's great to see MacMurray and Frawley together 25 years before they were paired together on "My Three Sons", ironic considering that Frawley's "MTS" replacement William Demarest had appeared with him in "Hands Across the Table". Don't be drinking when Lombard, in Swedish dialect, reveals to the American press the name of her favorite movie star.

What do you get when you mix together a phony princess, a professional concertina player, five illustrious detectives of five different nationalities, a slimy blackmailer, an escaped murderer, and other oddball characters, and you set them off on a transatlantic trip from France to the USA? You get the enjoyable, if slightly stagy, "The Princess Comes Across". Carole Lombard gives an accomplished comedic performance - in fact, the entire cast is terrific. But what I most appreciated about this film is that the mystery, and it's a solid one, is played straight and is not overwhelmed by the comedy; the director even makes the interesting choice of completely avoiding the use of any kind of music score during some of the tenser moments. A nice diversion. **1/2 out of 4.

The plot of this movie seems rather crazy. After all, Carole Lombard plays an American who can't get a job in Hollywood, so she pretends to be a Swedish princess (sort of like a royal version of Garbo) and is adored--and offered a film contract. Now you'd think this is a totally ridiculous idea, but in real life just a year later, Samuel Goldwyn introduced a Norwegian sensation--Sigrid Gurie. Unfortunately, when it was found out that Gurie was born in Brooklyn (exactly like Lombard's character), it didn't exactly help her film career! Now you'd think that having Lombard playing a rather broad Garbo impersonation would be silly, but because she was such a likable actress and it's such a cute film, they manage to carry it off well. The film begins with Lombard coming aboard an ocean liner with a lot of hubbub from the press--after all, they think a princess is on her way to America. Once aboard, band leader Fred MacMurray falls for her and pursues her. However, unexpectedly, the comedy becomes a murder mystery--and both MacMurray and Lombard are suspects. However, MacMurray also knows that she was the victim of a blackmailer who was just murdered--and he knows she has something to hide. There's much more to the film than this, but you can just see it yourself--it's worth it. Overall, the film works well because the writing is very good and the actors have nice supporting character actors on hand--such as William Frawley, Douglas Dumbrille and Sig Ruman. Plus, the ever slimy Porter Hall made for a great blackmailer. Clever and most enjoyable from start to finish. Oh, and I must point out that this film allows the viewer to hear MacMurray Crooning! His voice, though a tad weak, was actually far better than I expected and was rather reminiscent of the singing of Dick Powell.

This is a delightful blend of zany comedy and murder mystery, almost completely set aboard ship and featuring a most excellent cast, though perhaps not quite a classic – mainly because the thriller element lacks the touch of sophistication associated with THE THIN MAN (1934), which was the prototype of this style at the time. Carole Lombard and Alison Skipworth are unemployed New York actors posing as Swedish royalty to attract a film contract (hence the title – with the star supplying a delicious parody of Greta Garbo); Fred MacMurray and William Frawley are a concertina player and his manager, respectively; George Barbier is the ship's captain; Porter Hall is a slimy blackmailer who preys on three of the ship's passengers (the fraudulent Lombard, MacMurray – with a spell in jail behind him – and another who's a murderer impersonating a missing passenger – though the stranger seen prowling about intermittently is eventually revealed as a red herring); conveniently on board is an international convention of detectives comprising Douglass Dumbrille (French), Sig Rumann (German), Mischa Auer (Russian), Lumsden Hare (British) and Tetsu Komai (Japanese). When Hall turns up dead (the shadowy lighting in this scene, courtesy of cinematographer Ted Tetzlaff, is actually rather striking) and a passenger list in his pocket bears a mark near Lombard and MacMurray's names, naturally they arouse the detectives' suspicion – despite Barbier's attempts to keep the Princess out of such indiscretions. Typically, MacMurray and Frawley carry out their own sleuthing – though Rumann is actually the first to get to the truth, but doesn't live long enough to reveal the identity of the killer to his associates! So, in an effort to distract the murderer's attention off Lombard, MacMurray – who, naturally, has fallen for the leading lady (even after he becomes aware of her less-than-regal/foreign-origins) – declares that he has solved the case, fully expecting a rendezvous with the guilty party but counting on pal Frawley to bail him out at the last minute. There are plenty of amusing situations throughout (notably the scene in which Frawley is derided by fellow passengers for wearing a French painter's cap) and witty repartee (particularly as delivered by Skipworth and Auer), but also some genuine tension at the climax (even if the final unmasking of the villain hardly proves a surprise) – not to mention a musical number from MacMurray!