OVP: Princess O'Rourke (1943)

Film: Princess O'Rourke (1943)
Stars: Olivia de Havilland, Robert Cummings, Charles Coburn, Jack Carson, Jane Wyman
Director: Norman Krasna
Oscar History: 1 nom/1 win (Best Original Screenplay*)
Snap Judgment Ranking: 2/5 stars

Do you ever see really old movies and realize what masterpiece they clearly inspired?  Not just in terms of sequels and all of that, but in the sense that the film clearly inspired a much better movie down the road?  That was my feeling throughout the entirety of Princess O'Rourke, a comedy short on charms and laughs but thick on a really cute idea which would be used more elegantly and grandly in Roman Holiday a decade later.  But this is the film that I've been dealt next to review (with its Oscar-in-hand), and so I'll give it my best.

(Spoilers Ahead) The film is one of those movies that you feel instantly like you've already seen and that you know will leave you pretty quickly after you're done with it, but it's not what you'd call a bad movie by any means.  The film follows Princess Maria (de Havilland) a princess exiled from her country during World War II who is living in a posh Manhattan hotel until the war is over, and during a case of being on sleeping pills while flying under an assumed identity (it makes sense in the movie) meets and falls for a commoner, an American pilot named Eddie O'Rourke (Cummings).  She likes the idea of being a normal person for a while, and eventually falls for Eddie, but cannot marry him because she's a princess.  The film takes a ridiculous turn in the final act, rather than the bittersweet direction Roman Holiday took, and actually has them get married by a Supreme Court judge with the aid of President Roosevelt's dog Fala (this makes less sense in the movie).

The movie is pretty dull and lifeless, though it does have the aid of Robert Cummings gamely playing the leading man.  Cummings, who is best known for his roles in Alfred Hitchcock's Saboetur and Dial M for Murder, is wildly likable and pretty cute as Eddie, a man who has trouble understanding his new wife's many duties (and while this occasionally veers into sexism, it takes a LOT longer than you'd expect).  I also enjoyed the banter he achieved with Jane Wyman and Jack Carson who play his best friends.

De Havilland, on the other hand, is like cinematic Valium.  I love de Havilland in general, but this is easily the driest work I've ever seen from her, but there is a reason for that.  Princess O'Rourke is the famed film that created the de Havilland Law, which stipulated that an actor could only be under contract to a studio for seven years.  At the time, the very hard-working de Havilland was one of Warner Brothers biggest stars but she felt they were taking advantage of her in this way by giving her trifling scripts (seeing the movie, she had a point).  Therefore, she sued to get out of her contract and won.  This may sound antiquated today when actors rarely have devotion to a studio, but this is still a rule used today (Chris Evans, for example, could only be under contract to play Captain America for seven years before Disney would have to renegotiate).

Overall, though, this is a pretty unsatisfying nomination and win for the Oscars, and perhaps it was just a recognition for Norman Krasna, who had been nominated three times previously without a victory and also directed the film.  His competition, though, included Lillian Hellman and Noel Coward, neither of which ever won an Oscar (as well as Dudley Nichols, who famously was the first person to refuse his Oscar), so this doesn't seem particularly compelling reasoning in hindsight.  All-in-all I have trouble believing this is where the OVP will land even if I haven't seen any of the other nominees.

Those are my thoughts on Princess O'Rourke-how about yours?  Have you seen the movie?  If so, what'd you think?  And if not, weigh in on Olivia de Havilland and Robert Cummings and some of your favorite performances of theirs.