CATCH A CLASSIC TCM Spotlight: Royal Treatments: Fictional Royals
TCM, beginning at 7 p.m.
The fictional lovestruck aristocrats in these swoony films may not run a real country, but they sure are royally entertaining. First up, Audrey Hepburn won an Oscar — and the hearts of American audiences — as restless European princess Ann, who escapes her stifling duties for a bit of adventure in 1953’s Roman Holiday (pictured). When a comic mishap lands Ann in the company of American reporter Joe Bradley (Gregory Peck), excitement and romance await. Peck himself was so taken with Hepburn’s performance that he insisted her name join his above the title in the film’s PR materials. Next, just before she became the real-life princess of Monaco, The Swan (1956) saw Grace Kelly play exiled Princess Alexandra, whose domineering mother presses her to marry Prince Albert (Sir Alec Guinness) and restore their noble status. But Alexandra’s heart may already be claimed. Pre-Code musical The Love Parade (1929) stars Jeanette MacDonald in her film debut as Queen Louise of Sylvania and Maurice Chevalier as rapscallion Count Alfred, who by turns charms and challenges his queen. Adapted from the 1924 operetta of the same name, The Student Prince (1954) sees stodgy Prince Karl (Edmund Purdom) of the small German kingdom Karlsburg shipped off to university to learn a more charming — and wife-winning — manner. But the plan backfires when young Karl discovers he enjoys student life over royal life and becomes smitten with winsome barmaid Kathie (Ann Blyth). Next up, Her Highness and the Bellboy (1945) stars Hedy Lamarr as lovelorn widow Princess Veronica, who travels to New York City to track down Paul MacMillan (Warner Anderson), the handsome American writer who captured her heart years before. Will a series of madcap events involving the hotel’s goodhearted, if misguided, bellboy lead to royal heartbreak — or a pair of storybook romances? And finally, past meets present (you, Harry and Meghan!) with Princess O’Rourke (1943), which sees Olivia de Havilland as another disenchanted royal who finds love American-style and must choose between her sovereign duties and the charismatic Californian she hopes to marry.