Two elements noticeably kept "The Ambassador's Daughter" from becoming a classic: Norman Krasna's uninspired direction and Olivia de Havilland's age. I've always enjoyed Krasna's writing, finding it charming, witty, and slightly subversive. The script for this movie carries all of the "Krasna touch", but none of this is apparent from the lifeless direction. As a result, jokes were held too long, the actors stood around looking uncomfortable in long-shots, and it wavered between sharp social satire and frothy romantic comedy, touching neither elements successfully. As a result, Olivia de Havilland appears a bit out of place as a 40 year old woman, for the plot and direction kept trying to palm her off as someone 15 years younger.
Granted, de Havilland was beautiful and elegant, but she brought too much maturity and groundedness to the type of character who launch such a harebrained scheme and lead John Forsyth on a merry chase across Paris. I would have believed her portrayal of Joan had she been written as a widow or longtime spinster devoted to her father, rather than a sparkling, youngish role in which Audrey Hepburn, Grace Kelly, or Jean Simmons could have filled without a hitch. The rest of the cast gives a game performance, though as stated above, the direction really did them a disservice. Really wasted was Myrna Loy, who was only 10-12 years older than Olivia de Havilland, and was much too luminous and witty to be stuck in such a small part!
However, the main issue I had with this film was its inability to make up its mind. By the second half of the film, de Havilland and Forsyth are obviously very smitten, but a series of contrivances keep them apart. I also found the outrageous matchmaking mind-boggling, considering that de Havilland's character clearly had a fiancé (underused Francis Lederer) who we know nothing about to make us believe he is wrong for de Havilland. Ultimately, the direction, flat jokes, and under-written script leaves this a classic-that-could-have-been, and is a dull point in Krasna's long and celebrated career.
Granted, de Havilland was beautiful and elegant, but she brought too much maturity and groundedness to the type of character who launch such a harebrained scheme and lead John Forsyth on a merry chase across Paris. I would have believed her portrayal of Joan had she been written as a widow or longtime spinster devoted to her father, rather than a sparkling, youngish role in which Audrey Hepburn, Grace Kelly, or Jean Simmons could have filled without a hitch. The rest of the cast gives a game performance, though as stated above, the direction really did them a disservice. Really wasted was Myrna Loy, who was only 10-12 years older than Olivia de Havilland, and was much too luminous and witty to be stuck in such a small part!
However, the main issue I had with this film was its inability to make up its mind. By the second half of the film, de Havilland and Forsyth are obviously very smitten, but a series of contrivances keep them apart. I also found the outrageous matchmaking mind-boggling, considering that de Havilland's character clearly had a fiancé (underused Francis Lederer) who we know nothing about to make us believe he is wrong for de Havilland. Ultimately, the direction, flat jokes, and under-written script leaves this a classic-that-could-have-been, and is a dull point in Krasna's long and celebrated career.