Pluskylang Great Film overall

Onlinewsma Absolutely Brilliant!

AnhartLinkin This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

Billy Ollie Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

mark.waltz Those who know veteran actress Sylvia Sidney mainly for her pathetic waifs ("An American Tragedy", "Dead End") or crotchety old ladies ("Damian: The Omen II", "Beetlejuice") will find her uniquely different here in a dual role-as a European princess in America on a good will tour and her American actress look-alike, asked to understudy the princess on the tour when she gets the mumps. The actress character is close enough to Sidney's characters in the sense that she is down on her luck, seen early on manipulating the doors of an auto-mat window containing a turkey dinner which ends up going to the dogs anyway. As she takes on the life of the princess, she falls in love with reporter Cary Grant while a missing person's report is filed for the actress. Will she manage to continue to fool the press as the lisping suitor of the real princess is manipulated to question her validity as the noble royal?Rarely cast in comedy during her leading lady era, Sidney stands out in two key comic scenes: first breaking the champagne glasses in continuous toasts while posing as the princess, and later acting all tough when detectives pick her up while searching for the missing actress. It's nice to see her in something other than slum clothing, and at times, she is photographed very exotically, almost appearing to be Asian. Grant is amusing in romantic support, while Edward Arnold is delightfully befuddled, in total shock when his guests follow Sidney's lead in tossing his prized champagne glasses over their shoulders as she toasts everything but the royal cattle. Henry Stephenson, as the King of the struggling country, is wisely droll, and Vince Barnett steals every moment he is on screen as the doomed to be dumped suitor. An early writing assignment for future director Preston Sturges, at times this seems more appropriate for Paramount's other leading ladies, but Sidney does a fine job, making this a somewhat delightful surprise.

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.

bkoganbing Although Thirty Day Princess is part of a recently released early Cary Grant collection on DVD, it is actually a film in which Sylvia Sidney stars and gets her turn at a dual role. In both parts Sylvia acquits herself well indeed.King Henry Stephenson of the Balkan country of Taronia and international banker Edward Arnold meet in a mud-bath at a European resort spa. The king negotiates a loan with Arnold to be paid with bonds, but who to sell the bonds? It is agreed that the princess and heir to the throne Sylvia Sidney will undertake a goodwill tour of the USA to sell those bonds.But right at the beginning of the tour, the princess develops the mumps and is quarantined for thirty days. A dead ringer actress also played by Sidney is hired by Arnold to step in.Newspaper publisher Cary Grant doesn't like Arnold or bankers in general on principle. Remember this is the Depression and the New Deal was taking shape. He investigates the situation personally, but starts falling for the princess who he knows is out of his class. But Sidney who is a down and out actress who will be giving up her role like Cinderella shortly knows that the wealthy Grant is out of her's.How all this gets resolved is what you see Thirty Day Princess for. It is primarily a show for Sylvia Sidney though a young Cary Grant has some good scenes for himself there. He was not yet a movie legend, but gave every indication of becoming one.

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.