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I really only know FERNAND GRAVET from his playing of Johann Strauss in THE GREAT WALTZ and was not overly impressed with his by-the-numbers impersonation of the great music master. So, truth be told, I wasn't expecting much from this little comedy co-starring him with JOAN BLONDELL, another so-so actress who occasionally had a bright role to play in films like A TREE GROWS IN BROOKLYN but usually had to be content with less than impressive roles in screwball comedies of the '30s and '40s.Considering that the script for THE KING AND THE CHORUS GIRL is penned by Norman Krasna and Groucho Marx, it's a shame the material lacks the sort of wit to be expected when those two minds collaborated. Let me put it this way--Gravet is supposed to be able to sit through a show with his eyes wide open but asleep. That's the way I felt forcing myself to stay with this "comedy".He sits patiently through KENNY BAKER's tenor solo at a nightclub in Paris on a huge art deco set but is soon transfixed by flirtatious bit of business from JOAN BLONDELL as a chorus girl flashing a mirror beam at his face and promptly decides he wants to have dinner with her.Blondell is introduced to EDWARD EVERETT HORTON as a Count and MARY NASH as a Duchess before her dinner date with Gravet, as King Alfred VII. The trouble is the bored king has fallen asleep.There's such a lack of wit in the writing that you may fall asleep too. Hard to believe that with this pleasant cast, Krasna and Marx couldn't do better. It's a screenplay that strains to be funny--but isn't.Gravet is more animated than usual in comedy, but is most convincing when he's bored. Blondell is prettily photographed and pleasant as the chorus girl but it's a role that's no stretch for any young actress. Wasted in a supporting role is JANE WYMAN (with French accent), who would later do another little Krasna comedy called PRINCESS O'ROURKE in a much better supporting role. The slim plot depends upon Blondell's resistance to the King's charm, determined as she is to be as unimpressed as possible. Their first meeting ends disastrously with Blondell finding his behavior boorish. It's the sort of theme that was much better done years later with Marilyn Monroe and Laurence Olivier in THE PRINCE AND THE SHOWGIRL.Summing up: Fernand Gravet tries hard but he's no Cary Grant in screwball comedy--and both he and Blondell needed a better script!
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