The Swan (1956)

User Rating:

6.3/10   

Director:

Charles Vidor

Writers:

Ferenc Molnár (play)
John Dighton (writer)

Release Date:

26 April 1956 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance | Drama

Plot:

Princess Beatrice's days of enjoying the regal life are numbered unless her only daughter, Princess Alexandra...

Plot Keywords:

Princess | Tutor | Prince | Royalty | Deception

Cast

Grace Kelly	...	Princess Alexandra
Alec Guinness	...	Prince Albert
Louis Jourdan	...	Dr. Nicholas Agi
Agnes Moorehead	...	Queen Maria Dominika
Jessie Royce Landis	...	Princess Beatrix
Brian Aherne	...	Father Carl Hyacinth
Leo G. Carroll	...	Caesar
Estelle Winwood	...	Symphorosa
Van Dyke Parks	...	George
Christopher Cook	...	Arsene
Robert Coote	...	Capt. Wunderlich
Doris Lloyd	...	Countess Sibenstoyn
Edith Barrett	...	Elsa - Beatrix's Maid

Also Known As:

Der Schwan (Austria) (West Germany) [de]
El cisne (Spain) [es]
Il cigno (Italy) [it]
Joutsen (Finland) [fi]
Le cygne (France) [fr]
O Cisne (Brazil) [pt]
Svanen (Denmark) [da]
Svanen (Sweden) [sv]

Runtime:

104 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System) | 4-Track Stereo

Certification:

Australia:G | Finland:S | USA:Approved (certificate #17860) | West Germany:6

Filming Locations:

Biltmore Estate - 1 Approach Road, Asheville, North Carolina, USA

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

This was the second time in two years that Jessie Royce Landis played Grace Kelly's mother. The first was in To Catch a Thief (1955). These were the only two films in which both actresses appeared together.

Quotes:

Captain Wunderlich: What was she called?
Symphorosa: Oh, I can't remember.
Princess Beatrix: Yes you can dear, "Elaina the Iceburg."

Movie Connections:

Version of "Studio One: The Swan (#3.45)" (1951)

Princess Grace's "Swan Song"

Before her marriage to Prince Rainier, Grace Kelly made this next-to-last film for M-G-M, the royalty (though, alas, in somewhat of a decline from its glory days) of Hollywood's studio "system." I thought it, along with "High Society," a graceful exit for the lovely Miss Kelly, and M-G-M surrounded her with thorough professionals both before and behind the CinemaScope cameras. I especially enjoyed Alec Guinness, Jessie Royce Landis, and the wonderful Estelle Winwood, as well as Brian Aherne and Louis Jourdan. It's not available on DVD (and may possibly never be) and, I fear, the VHS version is formatted to fit the full screens of non-widescreen TVs. Too bad...It's a handsome production which, no doubt, won't visually impress very much when diminished by, ugh!, "formatting." What's wrong with "letterboxing," may I ask? Maybe it's the word itself!