REVIEW: Princess O'Rourke (1943)
Title: Princess O'Rourke
Release Year: 1943
Genre: Comedy & Romance
Cast: Olivia de Havilland & Robert Cummings
Plot: A pilot falls in love with a woman looking to become a maid. Little did he know, she's really a princess.
Rating: ⭐️⭐️＿ ＿ ＿
Review: I've only watched this film once and it was a very long time ago so my review will probably leave out many points because I don't remember much of the film.
I usually love films about princesses because who doesn't love a fairytale, so I was very excited to I find this one.
I remember that I liked the first half of the film. I thought it would get better by the end but it didn't much. I guess it's mostly due to Olivia de Havilland. The role didn't suit her at all. I think there were many actresses in the forties that would've better suited this type of role. I liked Olivia in her role on The Heiress, 1949 but she really ruined this film for me.
While filming, Olivia had a dispute with Warner Brothers over her contract which lead them to keep a backup actress incase she wanted out. I wish she did, but after finding out who would'e replaced her, I'm satisfied she stayed.
Gary Cooper was offered Robert Cummings' role but he turned it down. I don't see Cooper doing this role, but he would've been dreamy in a pilot's suit. Besides Cummings was hilarious!
I also loved the other characters, except for Charles Coburn, of course. I hated the part where he kept repeating "his father was one of eleven boys. Remarkable". This made me think that the princess and the pilot will end up having girls only. Maybe if they fast-forwarded to when they have children and ended up having just girls, I would've found his annoying repetition actually funny.
I noticed that there were many identical scenes as in Roman Holiday, 1953 like:
I loved the story and it could've been as good as Roman Holiday, had the casting been better. Actually the writing was the only thing that got nominated for an Oscar from this film and won.
Eventhough I wasn't satisfied with the film, I still recommend it, just for Cummings.
Release Year: 1943
Genre: Comedy & Romance
Cast: Olivia de Havilland & Robert Cummings
Plot: A pilot falls in love with a woman looking to become a maid. Little did he know, she's really a princess.
Rating: ⭐️⭐️＿ ＿ ＿
Review: I've only watched this film once and it was a very long time ago so my review will probably leave out many points because I don't remember much of the film.
I usually love films about princesses because who doesn't love a fairytale, so I was very excited to I find this one.
I remember that I liked the first half of the film. I thought it would get better by the end but it didn't much. I guess it's mostly due to Olivia de Havilland. The role didn't suit her at all. I think there were many actresses in the forties that would've better suited this type of role. I liked Olivia in her role on The Heiress, 1949 but she really ruined this film for me.
While filming, Olivia had a dispute with Warner Brothers over her contract which lead them to keep a backup actress incase she wanted out. I wish she did, but after finding out who would'e replaced her, I'm satisfied she stayed.
Gary Cooper was offered Robert Cummings' role but he turned it down. I don't see Cooper doing this role, but he would've been dreamy in a pilot's suit. Besides Cummings was hilarious!
I also loved the other characters, except for Charles Coburn, of course. I hated the part where he kept repeating "his father was one of eleven boys. Remarkable". This made me think that the princess and the pilot will end up having girls only. Maybe if they fast-forwarded to when they have children and ended up having just girls, I would've found his annoying repetition actually funny.
I noticed that there were many identical scenes as in Roman Holiday, 1953 like:
- When the princess was drugged and woke to find herself wearing a man's pyjamas.
- When the princess made up a lie about her true identity.
I loved the story and it could've been as good as Roman Holiday, had the casting been better. Actually the writing was the only thing that got nominated for an Oscar from this film and won.
Eventhough I wasn't satisfied with the film, I still recommend it, just for Cummings.
Who was Olivia de Havilland’s backup? Was she that bad? That you didn’t even want to write her name? Haha!
ReplyDeleteI don’t remember much about this film either except Olivia de Havilland was unsuitable at all for it. She was definitely not the spoilt princess kind.
We should rewatch it soon to see whether or not she was actually unsuitable.
Yes I know I’m curious to know if we exaggerated or not hahahha
DeleteI didn’t write her name because I so t think I’ve seen her before and I like to add people I know hehehe I think she wasn’t leading lady material. Her name is Alexis Smith.
I don’t think the princess was supposed to be spoilt anyways it’s not how I remember it. I think the character was like Audrey Hepburn in Roman Holiday. Still while she could pull of being a rich woman, she never seemed like she could be a princess.