blanche-2 Sylvia Sidney stars with Cary Grant in Thirty Day Princess, a 1934 film directed by Marion Gering with a script by Preston Sturges and others. The movie also features Edward Arnold and Henry Stephenson.Arnold plays Richard Gresham, a banker who wants to float a $50 million loan to the small country of Taronia, but in order to have the public look favorably upon it, he wants the King's daughter, Princess Catterina (Sidney), to do a tour of the United States, talk about her country, and get the press to like her. Unfortunately, when Catterina arrives, she comes down with the mumps and will be out of commission for a month. Gresham launches a search for a lookalike and eventually hires a poverty-stricken actress, Nancy Lane (Sidney) for the role. At her first reception, Nancy meets Gresham's nemesis, newspaper publisher Porter Madison III, who is against the loan. Do I have to tell you what happens? Right, he and Nancy fall for one another.Very cute, light comedy with this unusual romantic and dual role for Sidney, who for some reason played poor women a lot. My generation knew Sidney as an older and old woman, and Sidney was one who didn't seem to fool around with plastic surgery. Her distinctive smoker's voice and her wonderful acting lifted many a TV show. Here, in some scenes, she actually reminds me of Gene Tierney! She looks lovely and wears the princess' gowns beautifully.Sidney plays well with the handsome (and also very young) Grant, who was her costar in Madam Butterfly. Grant's iconic persona was not yet developed; for a time, he had the usual leading man roles. He acquits himself beautifully. Entertainment Weekly named him the #7 greatest film star of all time. To me, he was, and always will be, #1. Few actors had the longevity of popularity and good taste in roles and films he chose to do, and no one had his style.Very enjoyable film, and great to see these stars so young and fresh.

MartinHafer This is a sweet little fantasy film that you will thoroughly enjoy provided you don't question the plot. Of course the idea of a princess having an exact double who can perfectly pretend to be her is a bit silly, but my advice is to just accept this and enjoy this nice little romantic film.The film begins in a tiny fictional kingdom in Europe. A rich banker, Edward Arnold, meets the king (Henry Stephenson) and they talk about possibly selling some bonds to allow the kingdom to modernize--bring electricity and other modern things to the common people. Arnold likes the idea and wants the king to come back with him to America to go on a publicity tour to drum up support for the bonds. However, the king is hesitant and sends his daughter (Sylvia Sidney) instead. Unfortunately, shortly after arriving, the Princess becomes ill and is quarantined. The bond drive is no longer possible and it looks like the business deal will fail. However, when an exact double (who is supposed to be a struggling actress--also played by Sidney) is discovered, she is convinced to pretend to be the Princess. The biggest obstacle still in the way is a newspaper owner (Cary Grant) who dislikes Arnold, so it's not only up to the actress to play the part but win over cynical Grant to her side. While this isn't all that hard, what is she to eventually tell him? After all, they have fallen in love.The film is exceptionally directed and the script gets the most out of the plot. Additionally, I really enjoyed Miss Sidney's performance--she made the film. As for Grant and Arnold, they are also terrific. While I always love Stephenson in films, I must admit that he had trouble with the accent--but this is the most minor of qualms. Overall, a delightful romantic comedy with strong elements of fantasy. You can't help but like it once you accept its rather odd premise.

trpdean I liked this movie far more than expected - it's a quite funny mistaken identity kind of film - with the requisite newspapermen, wealthy men, princesses, romance that any Depression era comedy relish. I had some concern about the always erious Sylvia Sidney in a comedy - but her intelligence is just wonderful in the line readings - she's quite an actress.Cary Grant is very young - and not quite as deft and light as in later years - but fine, not clunky at all.Edward Arnold is thoroughly enjoyable in the kind of role he was born to play - the plutocrat. I particularly enjoyed the amusing discussion (hard to imagine in a film now) with the king of the necessary size for the bond issue for Taronia's electrification.There is further interest in the comedy's deadly serious background of extreme poverty/destitution/fear of hunger that haunts the film - it's very much there in the asides, in the protagonist's motivation.I hadn't realized that Sylvia Sidney (known as a real symbol of the Great Depression) and Cary Grant had worked together twice before. They work very well - and she's far prettier than I remembered.You'll enjoy this one - the writing (by Sturges and others) is truly sparkling, the comedy is fast, intelligent and the show charming.

robb_772 A thoroughly winning little depression-era romantic comedy, THIRTY DAY PRINCESS manages to turn it's fairly routine storyline into a fresh and engaging picture that entertains throughout it's entire runtime. The plot has the Princess of the imaginary country Taronia (Sylvia Sidney) touring the US as an ambassador for her financially struggling country, with the hope of securing a major loan from the US. Upon arrival, our unfortunate Princess is stricken with the mumps, and is replaced by a look-alike actress (also played by Sidney), who doubles the ill Princess until she filly recovers. Complicating matters, however, is an ambitious news executive (Cary Grant), who is skeptical of the US approving such a large loan and wants to get to know out titular princess first hand.As evidenced by the summary above, the film's plot was flimsy and formulaic even by the standards of the mid-thirties, but the picture manages to surprise viewers by using such an overly-familiar plot device as a springboard for sharp dialogue and delightful, fully-realized performances. Any film of this nature is almost entirely dependent upon its lead performer, and Sylvia Sidney handles her dual role with utter conviction, truly convincing viewers that she is two completely different characters. There is also an irresistible chemistry between Sidney and the young Cary Grant, who offers flashes of the brilliant actor he would soon become. In the end, the film manages to escape its well-worn premise and emerge as a genuine delight as one of the more underrated comedies of the thirties.