Princess O'Rourke (1943)

Before Audrey Hepburn ran off for a Roman Holiday with Gregory Peck, Olivia de Havilland had a New York holiday with Robert Cummings. But where-as Audrey had to choose duty over love, Olivia gets both.

De Havilland is a princess living in exile in New York City, as her country (unnamed) has been invaded by Nazi Germany (her parents, the king and queen, are still over there). With her is her uncle, played by Charles Coburn, and her secretary, Miss Haskell, played by Gladys Cooper. Princess Maria (de Havilland) is exceedingly unhappy with her situation. Even the arrival of a new hat fails to lift her spirits. After a count with a nervous tick comes calling, Maria imagines what their children would be like, with his tick combined with another tick that runs in his family line (de Havilland's comedic timing is perfect in this scene, which you can watch below). Worried with the way Maria is acting, her uncle suggests a change of scenery.

Maria then finds herself on a night flight to San Francisco, registered under the name of Mary Williams. Nervous of planes, Maria takes a sleeping pill. When immediate results are not forthcoming, she gets one from the stewardess. Then the co-pilot (Jack Carson). Then the pilot (Robert Cummings). He gives her two. Next thing you know, she has passed out cold.

Due to complications, the flight has to turn around and lands back in New York. Of course, no one can wake Maria up and they don't even have her real name. It doesn't help that when they are able to rouse her the tiniest bit she only speaks in French. The pilot, Eddie O'Rourke (Cummings) tries to help her walk it off. He takes her to a diner to get her some coffee, and the man there, thinking the lady just needs to sleep, giver her ANOTHER sleeping pill. There's no waking her now, so Eddie takes her to his apartment to sleep it off. He gets his co-pilot, Dave (Carson) to send over his wife (Jane Wyman) to undress Maria.

Honey, are you lucky I was raised right. I was, wasn't I?

Yeah, I guess I was.

The next morning, Maria awakens in Eddie's apartment and wearing his pajamas. He isn't there but he left a note for her, asking her to meet him later. Maria goes back to the hotel she has been staying in with her uncle, who had been frantically trying to find her when he found out about the flight. She tells him she spent the night in the ladies lounge at the airport.

After changing to a blue suit and her new hat, Maria goes walking and meets Cummings on the street. She doesn't remember him of course. They go into a drugstore and order cherry cokes.

Now that she's awake, and seeing how pretty she is, Eddie naturally wants to find out more about her. "What does your father do? For a living?" he asks, to which Maria replies, "He.. has an income."

Learning that she's a refugee, Eddie invites her to see the town with him and takes her on an ordinary date. They stop by Dave and Jean's (Wyman) apartment, were Maria learns who it was that undressed her. She is relieved. Jean also tells her that Eddie and Dave are planning to join the army as fliers.

Jean tells Maria that she has to her Women's Defense group meeting in the basement. Maria begs to come along. The lady in charge asks her what she can do. Well, she can't sew except petit-point, she can't cook, in fact, she pretty much can't do anything useful to the war effort. She is told that she can be the dummy for everyone to practice bandaging.

   

 

In the midst of it there is an air raid (and a funny episode involving the guys) and then the two couples go out to eat. Maria is called upon to tell her life story, so she concocts of tale in which she currently works as an upstairs maid. Jean tell how she and Dave got together (it's cute) and leaves both Maria and Eddie in a romantic mood. After they finish dancing, they go for a walk and Eddie asks Maria to marry him. When she is hesitant to answer, Eddie says, "Is it on account of your parents? I can support your parents!" Maria tells him no but that she loves him. She promises to call him the next day, but deep down knows that marriage to a commoner is out of the question.

 

 

Eddie, very excited, calls on his friends and asks Jean to pick out  the rings. He is so excited that when he leaves he opens the closet door by mistake.

 

You thought I was going to walk in the closet, didn't you?

 

In the meantime, Maria's uncle, has been looking into Eddie's background and is very pleased to learn that he comes from a family of nine boys, and his father one of eleven! He calls the King, Maria's father, and gets his consent to the marriage. Maria doesn't know that her uncle knows about Eddie and the following morning calls Eddie to tell him she can't marry him. "I'll always remember your asking me to marry you," she keeps telling him. Eddie, who has to leave on a flight says, "Stop repeating that!" He won't take no for an answer.

Feeling depressed, Maria tries to free her pet bird, because she knows what it's like to live in a cage (metaphorically).

 

 

Her uncle walks in and, still pretending he doesn't know anything, talk to Maria about her marrying an American, as it would be good for foreign relations. Her face brightens up as they try to think of what occupation this American should have. "Dentist? Lawyer? School teacher?"... "too uh..." "yes."

Then he suggests a pilot, to which Maria responds with a excited "Yes!" And what should his name be? How about Edward O'Rourke? Maria's expression says it all (and Coburn just keeps saying, "One of nine boys. Extraordinary. His father one of eleven!"):

 

Now to tell Eddie that she is a princess.

 

Maria invites Eddie to come to the hotel where she is staying. He invites Dave and Jean to go with him. They are all stunned when they find out her true identity and immediately become ill at ease, calling her "Your Highness" and acting very stiff. Eddie then has to talk to her father on the phone. Of course it's an awkward conversation.

 

I saw you on the newsreel.

 

The Royal family wants Maria to get married right away, and they are invited by President Roosevelt to be married at the White House. On the way there, Eddie is instructed in royal diplomacy and told what his position will be. It's put to him very bluntly:

Your position in the Royal Family is most important; you are to have children, if possible, boys.

Well that's not a full days work.

Whenever Eddie questions something that sounds silly to him, he gets the response, "It's customary." He is also told he will only be a prince, and not a king.

 

I'll only be a prince. Prince! Here Prince! (shakes head).

 

They arrive at the White House (they were given special permission to film there), where they are met by Roosevelt's dog, Fala. Eddie is still pretty much in shock over the recent turn of events. When they go to sign the pre-marital agreements, Eddie becomes upset to learn that he will have to give up American citizenship and drop out of the army. He becomes so angry that he is told to leave.

Royal Princess! You're nothing but a slave.

 

Eddie goes for a walk around Washington to cool off and eventually goes back to White House to sleep, as he has no other place to go and, after all, he was invited to stay there by the President.

 

 

Maria is meanwhile in her room, the same room that the Emancipation Proclamation was signed in. "Lincoln freed the slave but he didn't free me," she sighs. Suddenly she hears a noise. Is it the ghost of Lincoln?? No, it's just Fala. Seized with inspiration, Maria writes a note to President Roosevelt and tells Fala to take it to him. A phone call is made to a supreme court judge to come and secretly  marry Eddie and Maria. Everyone takes off shoes so as not to awaken anyone else. Maria comes out of her room wearing an amazing lace peplum dress and matching hat. "Will you marry a refugee?" she asks Eddie. "Will I?"

 

My diamond's small, but my love for you isn't.

 

They go into study for the ceremony. As they leave, Eddie says he hopes that the guard who stood in as a witness doesn't get into trouble. "That wasn't a guard! That was the president!" Maria tells him. "Holy Mackeral! I tipped him a buck! And he took it!"

And with that, the film comes to a happy close.

 

Princess O'Rourke was written and directed (his directorial debut) by Norman Krasna and he won the Academy Award for Best Writing - Original Screenplay. The review in Variety read: "Princess O'Rourke is a spritely, effervescing and laugh-explosive comedy-romance. Credit for general sparkle and excellence of the picture must be tossed to Norman Krasna, who handled the writing and directing responsibilities." The New York Times claims it to be "in the best tradition of American screen comedy" and has "the fast, aggressive spirit and tempo of American life, plus a heavy slug of sentiment concealed behind wisecracks and jokes. It has that agreeable impudence which is the mark of an American's self-respect and it has, too, a nice touch of raillery for the formal, the pompous and smug." Here's how they rate the cast and director:

Norman Krasna wrote and directed the film for Warners, which hereby rates him with us in a class with such eminent film-makers as Frank Capra, Preston Sturges and George Stevens. And the whole cast plays it in a manner which should bring them all honorable awards. Miss de Havilland is charming as the princess—so modest, yet so eagerly thrilled—and Mr. Cummings makes a very amusing fellow out of the bewitched and bewildered hero. For instance, when he asks suspiciously, "What does a prince consort do?" or greets his future father-in-law on the telephone with the nervous statement, "I saw you in the newsreels," the nuances are delightful. Mr. Cummings is a new James Stewart in this.

Likewise, Charles Coburn is grandiloquent as the pompous uncle of the princess, and Jack Carson and Jane Wyman draw rich humor and honest sentiment from the roles of two friends. A word, too, must be spoken for the Scotch terrier which plays Fala, the President's dog, in this film. The trick of using the pup as a friendly symbol is the most appealing device of the year. And it fits most completely in a picture which fairly bounces with elastic good-will.

 

Not everyone was happy with the film though. The wartime Bureau of Motion Pictures (BMP)  objected to the film, saying that it was an example of the studios "... recklessly using the war for background incidents in an opportunistic attempt to capitalize on the war rather than interpret it." They cited the "ridiculous" caricatures of Red Cross workers, European nobility, and the Secret Service as examples. However, no attempt was made to censor or restrict its release (source).

The filming of Princess O'Rourke was also not a happy experience. Olivia de Havilland was exceedingly tired of all the lightweight parts Warner Brothers had been giving her and initially refused to be in the picture, and was suspended as a result. Alexis Smith was tested for the part. Olivia ended up taking the part again, though she was unhappy for much of the shooting. Cummings was frequently not available, meaning she had to act with a stand in. Charles Coburn kept forgetting his lines causing numerous retakes. During this time, Olivia was also suffering from low blood pressure, exhaustion, and low energy level, yet managed to give a sparkling comedic performance. After filming wrapped, she filed a lawsuit against Warner Brothers that set a seven year limit to studio contracts, including suspensions. "I wanted to play a real human being instead of a delightful romantic heroine," she said. She won and it became known as the de Havilland Law. After the lawsuit, she was assigned by Warners to the RKO picture Government Girl (1943), another part she disliked, and her final Warner Brother film, Devotion (completed 1943, released 1946).  Later, however, Olivia said that Princess O'Rourke was one of her more satisfying roles to play for Warners.

Princess O'Rourke will be airing on TCM on July 30th at 7:45am ET.

 

This post is part of The Royalty on Film Blogathon hosted by The Flapper Dame. Be sure to read all of the other regal posts!

 

Charles Coburn: The Scene Stealer

 Charles Coburn has become one of my favorite character actors ever since I saw him in The More the Merrier. He is definitely a scene stealer in that movie and won his first Oscar for his role as a business executive playing matchmaker to Jean Arthur and Joel McCrea. If you haven't seen the film yet I highly suggest you order a copy immediately.

Charles Coburn is a scene stealer in most of the films I've seen him in. He is also one of the few character actors to receive star billing in some of his films. He appeared in 70 films and was in numerous television shows, as well as continuing in theatre, which he began in 1901 at the age of 24. He did not get into movies however, until after the death of his wife, Ivah Wills (who appeared in many plays with him and with whom he had six children) in 1937 (he had appeared in two films before that but did not sign a contract until after her death). For a man who didn't start making films until he was 60 and who worked until his death in 1961 at the age of 86, his filmography is very impressive. Read a brief biography of him here.

Known for wearing a monocle (which corrected an eye deficiency - "No point having two window panes where one will do"), and being a well spoken Southern gentlemen, he was usually cast as a man of wealth and importance, whether it be as Judge, Doctor, Captain, Lord, General, Colonel, Professor, Sir, Chancellor, Inspector, Mayor, or Father. He also played the gruff but kindly uncles, fathers, and grandfathers. In Movie Stars of the '40s: A Complete Reference Guide for the Film Historian or Trivia Buff, he is described as one "who could be delightfully droll, devilishly sly, or downright dangerous."

He always seems as though the part were made for him, as though he were there and not even thinking of acting - which of course demands the best and only true thinking about acting.

~ Otis Ferguson, Critic

What's My Line

And now to highlight some of my favorite of his film appearances:

In Bachelor Mother (1939), Coburn plays the father of David Niven, who is friends with an unwed mother (Ginger Rogers) that works at his store. The truth is though that the baby isn't actually hers. She had witnessed the baby being left on the doorstep of an orphanage and, going over to it and picking it up, was caught holding it when the people working at the orphanage opened the door. No one will believe her story of course, leaving her stuck with the baby. When Charles Coburn finds out about it, he thinks it is his grandson, and is so happy that he finally has an heir that he won't listen to anyone's story that contradicts the one he wants to believe. Coburn's scenes with the baby are wonderful and sprinkled with great lines like, "I don't care who the father is, I'm the grandfather!" and "Is there something I can do?" (Rogers), "You've done it!" (Coburn holding baby). There's a great scene near the end where both Niven and Rogers get someone to pretend he is the father of the child, and not Niven. The problem is they both bring him to see Coburn at the same time. Coburn merely smiles in contentment, believing even more that the child is his grandson. You can read more about the film here.

Bachelor Mother will be airing on TCM December 24 at 10:30am EST.

The Lady Eve (1941) finds Coburn as a cardsharp father to Barbara Stanwyck. Their target: Henry Fonda. Stanwyck really dominates this picture but Coburn has some memorable lines. You can read more about the film here. Also, watch the TCM The Essentials Intro here.

Don't be vulgar, Jean. Let us be crooked, but never common.

 

Ah, there you are. Well, it certainly took you long

enough to come back in the same outfit.

The Devil and Miss Jones (1941) has another great performance by Coburn. From TCM: "John P. Merrick, the world's richest man, goes undercover when employees organize for better wages and working conditions at a department store which he owns. Posing as a lowly shoe clerk, he is befriended by fellow clerk Mary (Jean Arthur) and her boyfriend Joe (Robert Cummings), a labor organizer who has just been fired. He also finds a romantic interest in Elizabeth (Spring Byington), a middle-aged employee in the same department. Although initially his goal is to root out the employees behind the unrest at work, his new friends and his firsthand experience as a worker mistreated by management precipitate a change of heart." Coburn does a magnificent job making the "crusty millionaire J. P. Merrick lovable without resorting to excessive sentimentality [and] is a mark of his skill as a comic actor." Coburn received his first Oscar nomination in the Best Supporting Actor category. The film also has the great character actors Edmund Gwenn and S.Z. Sakall among its cast. You can read more about the film here.

Watch the film here!

George Washington Slept Here (1942) stars Jack Benny and Ann Sheridan as a husband and wife who have just purchased a somewhat ramshackle home (the house from Arsenic and Old Lace) that, as the title states, was one of the many places where George Washington slept during the Revolutionary War. Coburn plays Sheridan's rich Uncle Stanley, comes to visit them in their new home. When they ask him for money towards fixing up the house, he confesses that he isn't actually rich and just pretended to be so that his relatives would be nice to him! You can read more about the film here and here.

The More the Merrier (1943) is, as mentioned above, Coburn's best role, hence the Oscar. My favorite moment in the film is when he and McCrea are going back to their apartment, which they share with Arthur due to the housing shortage in Washington DC, after sunbathing on the roof. Coburn pretends to shoot some kids with a machine gun, and they pretend to  die by falling off the wall they are sitting on. It looks so natural, as if it were unscripted. You can't help but think that Coburn would make an awesome grandpa.

Another great scene is when Coburn gets locked out of the apartment. He climbs out of the hall window of the apartment house and raps on the bathroom window, scaring Jean Arthur to death. You can read more about the film here.

In Heaven Can Wait (1943), Coburn plays the grandfather of Don Ameche, a spoiled rich kid turned skirt chaser. Coburn realizes that his grandson is very much like him and helps him steal his cousin Albert's fiancée (Gene Tierney) and, when the marriage gets a little shaky, to win back his wife. You can read more about the film here.

Albert, I'm struggling successfully against the gout, I'm waging a terrific battle with my liver, and I'm holding my own against asthma, but I doubt if I have strength enough to survive your jokes. You're a successful lawyer. Let it go at that.

Heaven Can Wait will be airing on TCM December 12 at 10pm EST. You can also watch it here.

Princess O'Rourke (1943) is about a princess (Olivia de Havilland) visiting America and falling in love with an airline pilot (Robert Cummings). Coburn is her uncle who is trying to help her find a husband that she can produce a male heir. When he discovers that she has fallen in love with a commoner, he begins to find out all he can about this young man. When he discovers that Cummings comes from a family of nine boys, and his father "one of eleven," he calls the king and gets permission for de Havilland and Cummings to marry. The best scene is when Coburn talks to de Havilland about the possibility of her marrying an American (he hasn't told her yet that he knows about Cummings and has already received the king's approval). You can read more about the film here.

"One of nine boys. Extraordinary. His father one of eleven!"

         

Has Anybody Seen My Gal (1952) has Rock Hudson and Piper Laurie top-billed but the film definitely belongs to Coburn. He has decided that when he dies he wants to leave his fortune to the daughter and grandchildren of the woman he almost married in his youth. He moves in with the family and has the check delivered anonymously to see how they react. He is a delight to watch the entire film. Where else can you see Coburn dance like this?!

You can watch the film here (look for a brief appearance by James Dean around the 30 min. mark)!

In Trouble Along the Way (1953) Coburn is Father Burke, the head of a financially failing, all-male university. He decides to hire John Wayne, a once famous coach with a problem of his own, to build up the football team and therefore increase enrollment. Due to script differences between Wayne and the director, the film did not do well at the box office. Coburn's performance however, as the ever optimistic priest makes the film worth watching. The film also stars Donna Reed as a social worker and Sherry Jackson (Make Room For Daddy) as Wayne's daughter.

In Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953), starring Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell, Coburn plays Sir Francis "Piggy" Beekman, a role completely different from Father Burke. He owns a diamond mine, and Lorelei (Monroe) just loves diamonds. They are caught alone in a cabin together by the detective Lorelei's fiancée hired to keep an eye on her. You can read more about it here and here.

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes will be airing on TCM December 21 at 8pm EST.

Charles Coburn films on YouTube (click on title):

Made For Each Other (1939) - Carole Lombard & James Stewart

Three Faces West (1940) - John Wayne

The Devil and Miss Jones (1941) - Jean Arthur & Robert Cummings

Heaven Can Wait (1943) - Don Ameche & Gene Tierney

Colonel Effingham's Raid (1946) - Charles Coburn (lead role) & Joan Bennett. "As the star of Colonel Effingham's Raid he [Coburn] got to display more range than usual, grandly expounding in the scenes in which he celebrates his military heritage but also showing a more vulnerable side when he thinks he's lost the battle." You can read about it here.

Green Grass of Wyoming (1948) - Peggy Cummins, Coburn is second billed

Impact (1949) - Brian Donlevy & Ella Raines

Has Anybody Seen My Gal (1952) - Rock Hudson & Piper Laurie

This post is part of the annual What a Character! Blogathon hosted by Once Upon a Screen, Outspoken & Freckled, and Paula's Cinema Club. The Blogathon has been moved to next weekend but I am posting mine early. Be sure and check out the other entries celebrating these great actors and actresses without whom movies could not be made.

Day 1