Hollywood history is messy. Usually, when you put two of the biggest egos in the world on a soundstage in London, things don't go according to plan. That is exactly what happened in 1956. Laurence Olivier was the undisputed king of the British stage, a man who treated acting like a high-level chess match. Marilyn Monroe was... well, she was Marilyn. She was the most famous woman on the planet, a "dumb blonde" archetype who was actually a calculated, brilliant, and deeply insecure artist trying to prove she belonged in the room with the greats.
The Prince and the Showgirl was supposed to be a triumph. It ended up being a war of attrition.
If you’ve seen the movie, it’s a light, somewhat frothy romantic comedy. A Balkan prince regent comes to London for the coronation of King George V and tries to seduce an American chorus girl. It’s charming enough. But the real story isn't on the film. It's in the diaries of the people who were there, the leaked memos from Pinewood Studios, and the sheer, exhausting clash of two completely different philosophies of life.
The Collision of Method and Technique
Laurence Olivier didn't just direct the film; he starred in it. He had already played the role of the Prince on stage in The Sleeping Prince opposite his wife, Vivien Leigh. By the time cameras rolled for the movie version, he was bored with the part. He wanted prestige. He wanted the box office draw that only Monroe could provide.
Marilyn, meanwhile, arrived in England with a massive entourage. This included her new husband, the playwright Arthur Miller, and her acting coach, Paula Strasberg. This is where the friction started.
- Olivier believed in "outside-in" acting. You put on the uniform, you fake the accent, you hit your marks.
- Marilyn was a devotee of The Method. She needed to feel it.
Honestly, it was a disaster from day one. Olivier, in a moment of legendary condescension, reportedly told Marilyn to "be sexy" and "just stand there." For an actress who was desperately trying to be taken seriously as a dramatic talent, this was a slap in the face. She didn't want to be a pin-up anymore. She wanted to be an artist.
Why the Production Spiraled
Marilyn was late. Not just "fashionably" late—we’re talking hours or days. The British crew, known for their punctuality and "get it done" attitude, grew resentful. They saw her as a pampered American star. They didn't see the paralyzing anxiety that kept her in her dressing room for hours, terrified she couldn't deliver what the great Sir Laurence Olivier expected.
The tension wasn't just professional; it was personal. Olivier’s wife, Vivien Leigh, was aging and struggling with her own mental health. Watching a younger, more vibrant woman take the role she had originated on stage was brutal. You can almost feel that bitterness vibrating through the historical accounts of the production.
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The Myth of the "Difficult" Star
We’ve all heard the stories about Marilyn being impossible to work with. And sure, she was. She missed 28 out of 52 shooting days in some capacity. But if you look at the raw footage, something strange happens.
In every scene they share, Olivier is acting his heart out. He’s technical. He’s precise. He’s perfect.
And he’s invisible.
Marilyn, despite her lack of formal training and her constant reliance on Paula Strasberg whispering in her ear, owns the screen. She has a luminosity that technique cannot replicate. This drove Olivier crazy. He was the greatest actor of his generation, yet he was being upstaged by a woman who couldn't remember her lines and spent half the day crying in a trailer.
The movie was produced by Marilyn Monroe Productions. People forget that. She was one of the first women in Hollywood to start her own production company. She wasn't just a hired hand; she was the boss. When she clashed with Olivier, it wasn't just an actress arguing with a director—it was two producers fighting over the vision of a multi-million dollar project.
The Arthur Miller Factor
Arthur Miller’s presence on set added another layer of weirdness. He was the intellectual heavyweight, the man who wrote Death of a Salesman. The British press was obsessed with the "Egghead Weds Hourglass" narrative.
But Miller was also struggling. During the filming of The Prince and the Showgirl, Marilyn reportedly found his diary. In it, he had written that he was disappointed in her, that he was embarrassed by her behavior in front of his sophisticated friends.
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Imagine that. You’re already insecure, you’re in a foreign country, your director hates you, and then you find out your husband thinks you’re a burden. It’s a miracle the movie ever got finished.
The Critical Reception: Then vs. Now
When the film was released in 1957, the reviews were... fine. It wasn't a cultural reset. People liked Marilyn’s performance. They thought Olivier was a bit stiff.
But over time, the film has become a fascinating case study. It’s the only time we see the peak of the British theatrical tradition meet the peak of the American Method. It’s like watching two different species of animal trying to mate. It’s awkward, but you can’t look away.
Critics like Milton Shulman at the time noted that Marilyn was "a superb comedienne," while others felt the plot was too thin for its two-hour runtime. But honestly, the plot doesn't matter. You’re watching it to see the sparks fly between the Prince and the Showgirl.
Why the Movie Still Matters in 2026
We are currently obsessed with the "real" Marilyn. Between the movie Blonde and various documentaries, everyone wants to peel back the layers. The Prince and the Showgirl is the best evidence we have of her professional transition. It was her attempt to pivot.
It also serves as a reminder that the "good old days" of Hollywood were just as toxic and chaotic as anything happening today. Maybe even more so. There were no intimacy coordinators. There was very little HR. There was just a lot of gin and a lot of ego.
Specific Details That Often Get Overlooked
A lot of people think the film was shot in Hollywood. It wasn't. It was filmed at Pinewood Studios in Buckinghamshire. The atmosphere was incredibly "Old England."
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- The Costume Design: Beatrice Dawson did the costumes. Marilyn’s white dress is iconic for its simplicity, but it was a nightmare to film because it showed every bit of perspiration under the hot studio lights.
- The Script: It was adapted by Terence Rattigan from his own play. Rattigan was a master of the "well-made play," which is exactly what Olivier loved and Marilyn struggled with. The dialogue is snappy, but it lacks the soul Marilyn was searching for.
- The Supporting Cast: Sybil Thorndike is in this movie! She was a legend of the British stage. Interestingly, she was one of the few people on set who was actually kind to Marilyn. She defended her, saying that Marilyn was the only one in the cast who knew how to act for a camera.
How to Watch It Today
If you’re going to watch The Prince and the Showgirl, don't go in expecting a high-stakes drama. Go in looking for the nuances.
- Watch Marilyn’s Eyes: Notice how she reacts when she’s not speaking. That’s where her genius was.
- Look at Olivier’s Posture: He’s playing a caricature. It’s a masterclass in technical acting, even if it feels a bit dated.
- Listen to the Score: Richard Addinsell wrote the music. It’s very of its time—sweeping, romantic, and a bit over-the-top.
The film is widely available on streaming platforms like Amazon Prime and Max. It’s worth the two hours, if only to see the collision of two worlds that would never meet like this again.
Actionable Insights for Film Buffs and Historians
If you want to truly understand the dynamics of this production, you need to look beyond the film itself.
- Read "The Prince, the Showgirl, and Me" by Colin Clark. He was a third assistant director on the set and had a front-row seat to the madness. His diaries formed the basis for the movie My Week with Marilyn. While some of his claims are debated (did he really have a brief romance with her?), his descriptions of the set tension are widely regarded as accurate.
- Compare the Stage Play to the Film. If you can find a script of The Sleeping Prince, you’ll see how much the material was shifted to accommodate Marilyn’s persona.
- Study the Method vs. The System. Use this film as a primary source for understanding the mid-century shift in acting styles. Look at how Olivier’s "theatrical" projection compares to Marilyn’s "intimate" screen presence.
The story of The Prince and the Showgirl is ultimately a story about the cost of greatness. Olivier wanted to be a movie star; Marilyn wanted to be a respected actor. Both of them got what they wanted, but in a way that left them both feeling like they’d lost.
To understand the film, you have to accept that it is a beautiful, flawed compromise. It represents the end of one era of filmmaking and the messy, uncertain beginning of another. It’s not just a movie; it’s a time capsule of a moment when the world’s most famous woman tried to reinvent herself in the shadow of a prince, only to find out she was the one who held all the power.
Next Steps for Deep Research:
- Analyze the 1956 British Press Coverage: Search digital archives for The Daily Mail or The Guardian from the summer of '56 to see how the public perceived the "invasion" of Marilyn Monroe.
- Review the Marilyn Monroe Productions (MMP) Business Structure: Research how Marilyn and Milton Greene structured the company to understand why she had so much leverage over Olivier during filming.
- Examine the Photography of Milton Greene: Look at his behind-the-scenes shots from Pinewood. They tell a much more intimate, stressful story than the polished promotional stills ever could.