Princesa por um Mês

Thirty Day Princess (1934)

*** (out of 4)

A banker (Edward Arnold) talks Princess Catterina (Sylvia Sidney) into visiting America so that she can get a loan for the poor people of her country. Once there she falls ill so the banker comes up with a scheme to find a look-a-like to take her place. He finds actress Nancy Lane (Sidney) who is told of the job and one thing she must do is pull the job over on a newspaper owner (Cary Grant).

THIRTY DAY PRINCESS isn't a masterpiece but it's certainly a very fun and very entertaining little gem that should probably be better known among film buffs than it actually is. You'd think with Sidney and Grant as well as the screenplay being co-written by Preston Sturges that it would be better remembered today but for some reason it has pretty much slipped away.

That's really too bad because there are some pretty good moments throughout the film including a wonderful performance by Sidney. She basically plays two different roles here and I thought she did a great job with both of them. I really loved the charm she brought to her characters and especially that innocence laugh she has as the Princess. I really thought she did a fabulous job at making the Grant character fall in love with her because the viewer too falls in love! The supporting cast is good too with Arnold playing a the bad guy with ease and Grant is also fun in a somewhat fast-talking role. Henry Stephenson doesn't appear in too much of the film but when he's on the screen he's great too.

There are some logical issues with the film but that there is to be expected in this type of spoof. Director Marion Gering does a nice job at keeping the film running at a nice pace and he manages to get some nice laughs throughout. With that said, there's no question that it's the cast and especially Sidney that make this film so memorable and fans of her will really want to check it out.