THE PRINCE AND THE SHOWGIRL

When a dazzling American showgirl captures the monocled eye of an imperious European monarch, it's clear proof opposites attract. And who could be more attractive opposites than luminous Marilyn Monroe and suave Laurence Olivier (who also produced and directed) as The Prince and the Showgirl? He's Prince Regent of Carpathia, an arrogant stuffed shirt visiting London for the 1911 coronation of King George V. She's Elsie Marina of Milwaukee, short on social graces but long on common sense, in London as a third-blonde-from-the-left Gaiety Girl. Their liaison is an eye-opener - and it soon gets hazy as to who's seducing whom. With Olivier's style, Monroe's radiance and the wit of Terence Rattigan's script (adapting his play The Sleeping Prince), your heart and funnybone truly receive the royal treatment.