The Princess Comes Across (1936)
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80% of users liked it
(284 ratings)
The 1936 comedy-mystery The Princess Comes Across might well have been inspired by a real-life incident during the silent-movie era, in which a crafty San Francisco stenographer hoodwinked the Hollywood elite into believing that she was a Spanish princess. Carole Lombard stars as an alluring Swedish… More The 1936 comedy-mystery The Princess Comes Across might well have been inspired by a real-life incident during the silent-movie era, in which a crafty San Francisco stenographer hoodwinked the Hollywood elite into believing that she was a Spanish princess. Carole Lombard stars as an alluring Swedish beauty who travels under the name of Princess Olga. Everyone whom she meets en route to America on the steamship Mammoth bows and scrapes to the Princess, while Hollywood anxiously awaits her arrival to star her in a big-budget film. Only the ship's bandleader, King Mantell (Fred MacMurray), refuses to defer to Olga, sensing that she may not be all she claims. Mantell's instincts are right on target: the "Princess" is a brass-nickel phony, a Brooklyn girl named Wanda Nash who has cooked up her royal guise with drama coach Gertrude (Alison Skipworth) as a publicity stunt to crash into movies. Unfortunately, a weaselly blackmailer Darcy (Porter Hall) gloms onto Wanda's true identity and offers to keep quiet in exchange for a huge cash settlment. At the same time, Darcy is attempting to shake down several other passengers on the Mammoth, including King Mantell. Inevitably, Darcy is found murdered in the "Princess"'s stateroom, and Wanda finds herself one of several likely suspects, among them Mantell. A quintet of international detectives, travelling to a convention in America, sets out to solve the mystery, which becomes even more mysterious when one of the detectives also turns up dead. Taking matters in his own hands, Mantell vows to clear Wanda's name, and in the course of things he realizes that he's madly in love with her--but will Wanda give up her hoax, and her future showbiz career, for Mantell's sake? Among the many highlights in this engagingly daffy film is Fred MacMurray's rendition of the enchantingly forgettable song "My Concertina." ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Directed By
- William K. Howard
- Written By
- Frank Butler, Walter DeLeon
- Genres
- Drama, Mystery & Suspense, Classics, Comedy
Unrated,
- In Theaters
- Jan 1, 1936 Wide
- On DVD
- Sep 12, 1995
- Studio
- Paramount Pictures
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Cast
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Carole Lombard
as Princess Olga
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Fred MacMurray
as King Mantell
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Douglas Dumbrille
as Lorel
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Alison Skipworth
as Lady Gertrude Allwyn
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William Frawley
as Benton
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Porter Hall
as Darcy
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George Barbier
as Capt. Nicholls
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Lumsden Hare
as Inspector Cragg
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Sig Rumann
as Steindorf
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Tetsu Komai
as Kawati
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Mischa Auer
as Morevitch
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Bradley Page
as The Stranger
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David Clyde
as Assistant Purser
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Edward Keane
as Chief Purser
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Tom Herbert
as Cabin Steward
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Monya Andre
as Woman
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Bennie Bartlett
as Ship's Bellhop
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George Chandler
as Film Man
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Andre Cheron
as French Couple
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Jean De Briac
as French Baggage Official
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Eva Dennison
as Gossip
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Eddie Dunn
as Reporter
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Dick Elliott
as Ship's Surgeon
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Charles Fallon
as French Baggage Official
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Pat Flaherty
as Officer
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Gaston Glass
as Photographer
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Creighton Hale
as Officer
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Harry Hayden
as Master of Ceremonies at Ship Variety Sho...
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Gladden James
as Ship's Official
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Paul Kruger
as Assistant purser
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Nanette Lafayette
as Woman in French Couple
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George Sorel
as Reporter
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Larry Steers
as Assistant purser
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Milburn Stone
as American Reporter
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Phil Tead
as Jones the American Newsreel Man
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Jack Hatfield
as Reporter
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Jacques Vanaire
as Reporter
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Keith Daniels
as Reporter
- Isabelle La Mal
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Bess Stafford
as Woman
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Jack Raymond
as Reporter
- Douglass Dumbrille
