The Ambassador's Daughter (1956)

Director:

Norman Krasna

Writer:

Norman Krasna (writer)

Release Date:

26 July 1956 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance

Plot:

Joan Fisk, daughter of the American ambassador to France, is bored with entertaining the wives of visiting...

Plot Keywords:

Soldier | Senator | Army | Model | Fashion

Cast

Olivia de Havilland	...	Joan Fisk
John Forsythe	...	Sgt. Danny Sullivan
Myrna Loy	...	Mrs. Cartwright
Adolphe Menjou	...	Sen. Jonathan Cartwright
Tommy Noonan	...	Cpl. Al O'Connor
Francis Lederer	...	Prince Nicholas Obelski
Edward Arnold	...	Ambassador William Fisk
Minor Watson	...	Gen. Andrew Harvey

Runtime:

103 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | French

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.55 : 1

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

Finland:S | Sweden:Btl

Filming Locations:

Paris, France

Company:

Norman Krasna Productions

Trivia:

Edward Arnold and Adolphe Menjou shared the same birthday: February 18th, 1890.

Goofs:

Factual errors: The Senator's wife stated her husband was a "boy wonder" elected to the Senate at age 28. The Constitution requires a minimum age of 30.

Quotes:

Cpl. Al O'Connor: [O'Connor and Sullivan have tickets to the ballet] I'll buy the tickets, let's go someplace else.
Sgt. Danny Sullivan: You've never been to the ballet. How do you know you won't like it?
Cpl. Al O'Connor: I've never been skinned alive either. I've got an opinion.

Not enough Myrna Loy!

THE AMBASSADOR'S DAUGHTER is a generally well made film with a great cast. The story and direction though are uninspired and workman-like and robs the story of any vitality. In more capable hands, this film would have been a charmer but the producers were clearly aiming for average. It just doesn't sparkle as it should be and because the pacing or tone, which should have been lightning fast and sharp for this kind of story, is lackadaisical, this big studio production feels and looks exactly like an episode of THREE'S COMPANY. One that takes place in Paris.

The great thing about this movie is Myrna Loy. Whenever she's on screen the movie comes alive. Loy, who starred in the great THIN MAN movies, has a knack for delivering light and funny dialogue and her timing here is perfect. She easily eclipses the whole cast, which includes Olivia De Havilland, John Forsythe, Adolphe Menjou, Tommy Noonan! Thank god Myrna was in this film or else it would have been totally forgettable. Well, the location shooting was also great.

All in all, I enjoyed watching THE AMBASSADOR'S DAUGHTER for what it was but it could have been much better, a classic in fact. Now it's just average.