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13 out of 14 people found the following comment useful :-
Kelly's Swansong, 18 February 2002
Author: JoeytheBrit from www.moviemoviesite.com

MGM delved deep into it's back catalogue to find a fitting subject with which to cash in on Grace Kelly's impending royal marriage, and came up with this bygone relic from the silent era.

That the movie was outdated even in the mid-fifties is undeniable - these kind of movies were, for the most part, typical of 30's and 40's Hollywood - not an era in which Presley was swivelling his hips, and the space race had begun in earnest. At the very least, this movie would seem to have been more suited to the light-musical treatment rather than the uneasy mix of comedy and drama with which the audience is presented.

Nevertheless, the movie starts promisingly with the accent on comedy for the first 45 minutes or so. Guinness makes Prince Albert a highly likeable character initially, although his character becomes darker as the film progresses, and his motives questionable (watch his face as he studies Princess Alexandra after making his poignant speech at the end of the movie to see what I mean). Unfortunately, both Kelly's and Jourdan's characters are one-dimensional puppets who quickly become tiresome as the more dramatic aspects of the plot take over and the film begins to drag.

I did like the movie's ending very much; it's refreshingly original and somewhat downbeat for it's era and genre.

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9 out of 11 people found the following comment useful :-
Princess Grace's "Swan Song", 14 April 2003
Author: Greg Couture from Portland, Oregon

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!

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10 out of 14 people found the following comment useful :-
Sophisticated wit, sentimental tragedy of a girl who will not compromise, 26 November 2005
8/10
Author: fiendo-2 from United States

Charming and witty comedy of a uncompromising princess and two suitors -- the penniless tutor and the worldly Prince. Wonderful casting throughout, though Grace Kelly is, as always, less an actress than a beautiful presence. Audrey Hepburn would have been ideal, and should have been cast in the Kelly role. I'm a fan of Agnes Moorhead, but more impartial viewers may find her a bit much. The Molnar play upon which the film is based is pretty much intact and holding its own. This is an unusual offering for a Hollywood film -- not quite a Ruritanian romance, not quite a Shavian exercise in philosophical banter, but containing the sentimentality of the one and the badinage of the other along with a bit of the Gallic savoir faire of Giradeaux and Annuilh.

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4 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :-
A Charming Story!, 11 July 2004
Author: vestavia1 from Alpena, MI

I read a review proclaiming Grace Kelly was a young girl from Wisconsin, who made a hit in Hollywood, and became a real life princess. The Philadelphia, Pennsylvania native met her Prince at a photo match arranged by Paris Match in Monte Carlo, Monaco. She later transcended the realm of film and married the reigning prince of one of Europe's oldest principalities. Grace Kelly, later HSH Princess Grace of Monaco was as lovely as she was talented. She totally restructured Hollywood, giving it an old world elegance. This is the same charming appeal she brought to the film, "The Swan." She plays Princess Alexandra who finds herself torn between obeying her overpowering mother and marrying her cousin, Prince Albert, or following the dictates of her own heart. The battle for her heart is waged by two dashing gentlemen, the prince, Alec Guinness, and the poor but respectable tutor, Louis Jourdan. It is a movie that is entertaining and for those with a romantic disposition!

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4 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :-
A beautiful, funny movie, knows how to capture your heart!, 27 June 1999
Author: anonymous from Geneva Switzerland

A lovely movie!! Starring the lovely Grace Kelly (Princess Alexandra), the wonderful actor Alec Guinness (Prince Albert), and last but not least, the young and wonderful dashing Louis Jourdan (Tutor/Professor, Nicholas Agi), the trio knows how to make a lovely film. Alexandra is to be married to the Prince, to restore the lost throne, and then at a Ball, she falls inlove with Nicholas while dancing with him. She has to make a hard choice; either marry the man she loves, or become a queen with Prince Albert. There are funny parts, allot of Royalty, and is beautifully filmed, and a really good movie. 2 thumbs up!!

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3 out of 3 people found the following comment useful :-
A lovely Film, 5 June 1999
Author: anonymous from São Paulo, Brazil

Alec Guinness and Grace Kelly and Louis Jourdan make a beautiful trio.

A very beautiful of Princess Alexandra who's to be married with the Crown Prince Albert, and instead falls inlove with the charming,handsome Tutor/Professor Nicholas Agi(Louis Jourdan). There's one choice she has to make: either let down the throne to marry the Professor or to restore the lost throne with the Prince. A good, funny beautiful movie, Two thumbs up!

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4 out of 5 people found the following comment useful :-
Good melodrama, 4 November 2002
7/10
Author: funkyfry from Oakland CA

Excellent romantic interlude film, with shining performances of a wonderful, witty, and intelligent story and script. Sad and funny.

Guinness is perfection as the gentlemanly "fish" prince, and Jourdan and Kelly convince as lovers separated by circumstances of birth. Realistic, somwhat perplexing conclusion with a lovely soliloquy delivered with style by Guinness. A delight!

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5 out of 8 people found the following comment useful :-
Grace, 4 February 2004
5/10
Author: Ben_Cheshire from Oz

Delightful, witty screenplay. A collection of perfectly constructed moments of awkwardness, beautifully photographed by Ruttenberg and Surtees (who did Oklahoma, The Graduate and Last Time i Saw Paris between them) and perfectly shot by Charles Vidor. A fun performance by Alec Guinness as Prince Albert who visits Grace Kelly's princess on a tour of all the princesses in the country, in search of a wife. Louis Jordan, as the young professor, contender for the princess's affections, is very good and looks like a young Colin Firth.

Grace Kelly looks lovelier than ever, and is quite excellent in the role of her life - the role she played for the statesmen of Hollywood. She was just a little girl from Philadelphia who looked like a princess, so they asked her to learn to speak like a princess. And she did. They sent her tapes of elegant speech, and gave her tuition in elegance - and she played the part perfectly. The fun, flirtatious girl she was remained hidden from the public by the press, who in those days co-operated with the Hollywood political establishment. For all the public knew, Grace Kelly was merely a beautiful, elegant woman who played herself on screen. This was not the case. Like Humphrey Bogart, she was not originally like her on screen persona, but like Cary Grant, she eventually became it - through outside circumstance, when she was proposed to by Prince Rainier of Monaco, who met her on a publicity stunt visit. Here, Grace took the elegant persona of Dial M for Murder and Rear Window a step further, anticipating what it would be like to be an actual princess. In less than a year she would know from personal experience, but in The Swan she predicts the feeling perfectly, coming off looking completely genuine. She depicts the confusion of the princess beautifully, the awkwardness and uncertainty despite best intentions. She reveals her feelings at once in the "box him on the ears" speech beautifully - watch her eyes. Such a tender, genuine moment.

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6 out of 10 people found the following comment useful :-
The Swan Swims, 29 October 2003
10/10
Author: smithy-8 from New Jersey

This is Alec Guinness's best romantic movie. "The Swan" is about two guys in love with a princess. Prince Albert (Alec Guinness) battles with the tutor (Louis Jourdan) for Princess Alexandra's (Grace Kelly) affections. All three are beautiful and perfect in their roles.

The supporting cast is great and the movie looks beautiful in color. It is a lovely story that will always put you in a good mood. You get the feeling the cast liked each other. This was Princess Grace's final movie before she married Prince Rainier. What is nice, is that Princess Grace kept her friendship with Mr. Guinness until the end of her life.

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6 out of 10 people found the following comment useful :-
Delightful Cast in Comedy, 28 February 1999
7/10
Author: harry-76 from Cleveland, Ohio USA

A most attractive cast heads this most pleasant Molnar drawing room comedy. The appearance of Sir Alec Guiness is a special treat.

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