Her Highness and the Bellboy

Her Highness and the Bellboy (1945)

Genres - Comedy, Romance  |   Sub-Genres - Romantic Comedy  |   Release Date - Jul 11, 1945 (USA - Unknown), Nov 11, 1945 (USA)  |   Run Time - 108 min.  |   Countries - United States  |   MPAA Rating - NR
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Review by Craig Butler

Her Highness and the Bellboy is a totally implausible little romantic comedy made worth watching by its cast. The Richard Connell -- Gladys Lehman screenplay is one of those silly concoctions that base its entire premise on mistaken assumptions of identity that in real life would be cleared up in ten seconds. It is, in other words, a story that is not intended to take place in reality, and those who can accept this fact will be more entertained than those unwilling to make this leap. But aside from its premise, the screenplay also suffers from a certain tepidness; this kind of material needs to sparkle, and Bellboy's, while not necessarily dull, is a bit pedestrian. An Ernst Lubitsch as director would have made a difference, but Richard Thorpe is a journeyman, not the elegant genius that Lubitsch was, and his work here is efficient at best and perfunctory at worst. Fortunately, Bellboy's cast is filled with some winning personalities that make up for many of the film's other deficits. Hedy Lamarr is not giving the performance of a lifetime here, but she does more than adequately and her charm and exquisite beauty go a long way toward making Bellboy work. Robert Walker is engaging and appealing, making a great deal of sense out of a part that at sometimes seems written for a man and at others for a boy, and June Allyson is surprisingly effective as the invalid girl. Allyson's dream ballet is a time waster, but it's quite well done. Rags Ragland is amusing, and Agnes Moorehead is quite welcome, even if she's not utilized very well.