dougdoepke On the whole, Walker carries this lengthy comedy-romance over a number of rough spots. As the irrepressible bell-boy, he's having trouble deciding between stepping up in the world with a real princess or stepping next door to discover the "princess" who's already there. As Jimmy Dobson, Walker is all boyish enthusiasm and charm. Good thing too, since LaMarr looks beautiful but glum, while the high-spirited Allyson is not allowed her usual bounce. So which will our bell-boy end up with—LaMarr's gorgeous princess or Allyson's invalided girl-next- door. Of course, coming at the end of WWII when the virtues of all things American were celebrated, the outcome's predictable-- Better to be among the land of the free than confined to a royal throne.It's a modern day fairy tale that importantly suggests not all princesses wear crowns. But the movie itself is uneven, lacking engagement from director Thorpe who does nothing to provide overall sparkle. Thus, a meandering storyline breaks down into a few amusing moments-- Jack Norton's drunk, Ragland's fractured English, Walker's clumsy enthusiasm. But the movie itself lacks overall style of the kind that would make it, and not just a couple of the performers, a success. (Hard to believe that the excellent comedic actor Rags Ragland would pass away only a year after this production.)

Catfishbunter ***Spoiler Warning*** This film is a light-hearted comedy which takes on the air of a fairy tale. In fact, it jumps right into the fairy tale motif with a "once upon a time" narration that tenuously connects a princess from an unnamed kingdom of ambiguous origins to a "grand city" that is unmistakably New York. The plot centers on a love triangle, or love quadrangle to be more precise, between the lovable bellboy, Jimmy Dobson, his physically handicapped friend Leslie, a (presumably) European princess, and a brooding European baron. The plot unfolds into a well-traveled trope: the princess is mistaken for a commoner, spends the day with a working class Joe, falls in love with him, and ultimately has to choose between a life as respected royalty or one where she follows her heart and marries beneath her station. Jimmy and Princess Veronica's fairy-tale ending is challenged, not only by the significant difference in social standing, but by the Veronica's dour ex-amour and by Jimmy's guilt for ignoring his sick friend and potential partner Leslie. In addition to the awkward love triangle, the film weaves through many mostly-unnecessary subplots and features a heaping helping of Albert, Jimmy's dimwitted porter friend. The film is largely forgettable in all contexts. Neither its romantic pairings (alternating between Jimmy and Veronica, Veronica and her baron, Jimmy and Leslie, and Albert and Leslie) nor its comedic bits (ranging from cringe-worthy one-liners to fights scenes meant to be humorous but evoking the dullest of physical comedy) work. The subplots are distracting, the dream sequence bizarre, and the ending unsatisfying. This is one fairy tale which should have been left on the shelf.The plot itself is bloated with so many unnecessary and distracting subplots (perhaps as filler for the lackluster main plot) that it is hard for the audience to care deeply about what happens. Examples of these distractions include Albert's penchant for petty crimes and Jimmy's desire to keep him out of the employ of a particularly brutish street thug, Leslie's illness which has left her crippled and Jimmy's desire to help her get better (apparently according to the doctor she is just sad and Jimmy's love can help her legs work again), Jimmy's financial woes and his desire to buy an expensive radio, Veronica's mysterious past with her ex-husband and ex-lover, the success of Leslie's Santa Claus painting business (really, that is really a sub-plot), and the exploits of a newspaper journalist writing a story on Jimmy and Veronica. Most of these distracting scenes are simply excuses for quips and one-liners or zany physical comedy, such as getting into an intendedly humorous fight with street thugs which was indistinguishable from a rugby scrum; at worst, they are unexplained and jarring departures from the story. The main story focuses on the relationship between Princess Veronica and Jimmy, and explores the clichéd scenario of a princess being mistaken for a common woman. This storyline has a proved track record, and has worked to great effect in Roman Holiday and even the animated film Aladdin, and excellent variations of this "princess and the commoner" theme, where a huge gap in social or cultural standing exist, include The Princess Comes Across, Ninotchka, Here is my Heart, and It Happened One Night. To varying degrees, these films worked, and ranged effectively from screwball comedy to heartfelt romance. The same cannot be said for Her Highness and the Bellboy. The fault for the film failing to match the artistic success of even its low-budget contemporaries lies with the script, but also with Hedy Lamarr's turn as the princess. Lamarr's princess lacks the spunk, charm, and exuberance of Audrey Hepburn's later portrayal of the archetype in Roman Holiday, yet she doesn't have the humorously distant detachment and ignorance of common culture seen in Greta Garbo's Ninotchka. Instead, she falls somewhere in between the two: not quite sober and reserved enough to be a funny foil for Robert Walker's Jimmy, and not quite excited or chipper enough to appear changed or affected by her romance with a bellboy. She is, in a word, boring. The fact that the princess maintains a servile relationship with Jimmy throughout the film hamstrings any attempt to make their love story believable. Similarly, Jimmy's unabashed altruism leaves his character a bit one-dimensional and renders his romance with either Veronica or Leslie problematic; he is always trying to save the girls, Leslie from her paralysis and Veronica from her responsibilities as a ruler.The film also feels cheap and technically deficient, with poor direction, even when compared to low-budget contemporaries. The lighting for the film is distracting, the film apparently used full frontal flood lighting which created an array of glints and glares throughout the picture, led to awkward shadows, and destroyed any illusion or reality. The sets for the castle are remarkably fake looking and the static city skyline in various scenes looks cheap and lazy. Leslie's dream sequence is a mixed bag: the fading technique and shots creating the illusion of her dream and ultimate ascension to the castle in the sky were well done, nothing revolutionary but a believable sequence of movie magic. The dream sequence itself, complete with a handicapped June Allyson dancing away with giant frogs, Santa Claus, chorus girls, and Rags Ragland's goofy king seems jarringly and bizarrely out of place with the rest of the film. The real strength of the movie is Robert Walker's performance as Jimmy. Walker is charismatic, likable, suave, and approachable. He shines through the film's weaknesses and shows chops as a leading man. Rags Ragland's performance as the oafish Albert likely garnered laughs when the film first aired, but his irreverent japes and madcap physical comedy routines have aged very poorly. At one point, Albert tells Leslie that he didn't mean to make her laugh. I don't think he will have to worry about that with modern audiences.

m0rphy It's always a great thrill for me to see a long awaited film for the first time.This is a very hard title to obtain since the movie rights appear to be owned by TCM and they have not seen fit to issue it commercially on video yet.Don't they realise there is a whole army of movie buffs out there wanting to see these films?Certainly it has never even been shown on TCM in the UK to my knowledge.It seems one's only hope is to record it off TCM in the U.S.A. when they choose to transmit it.I was fortunate in that my extensive American network was able to track down a copy to a dealer in the U.S. who specialises in rare videos.Well to the film!Robert Walker is very good playing light comedic roles.His timing is good and in the central role of the bellboy he is...well...loveable.Its a similar part he was to play in "One Touch of Venus (1948) with Ava Gardner who he likewise addresses as "your majesty".Its a modern fairy tale where a European princess (the devine Hedy Lamarr), comes to New York to search for her American long lost love and to escape for a time royal protocol and the royal groom the court wants to assign to her.Her real love is a columnist on "The Gazette" who hangs out in a low dive and bar writing his stories for the paper.There is a touch of the plot of "Roman Holiday (1960) with Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck in the storyline of the royal princess socialising and having a romantic relationship with a commoner.Due to a misunderstanding, the bell-boy thinks she loves him instead and he temporarily abandons his crippled girlfreind Leslie (June Allyson) who lives in the flat above his, painting dolls for a living. The main sub plot involves keeping his simple frind Albert from joining the local hoodlums since Albert was once in a boys reformatory and has picked up some rather unsavory company.When the king of Hedy's country dies she becomes Queen and has to return at once to her native country.Being a generous queen she invites the bellboy to come back with her and for one mad moment the bellboy thinks she is in love with him and he might even become king!!.Hedy is courageous and participates in a bar room brawl, even getting arrested by the cops, then giving the other arrested "dames" a valuable diamond-studded cigarette case as a keepsake of the evening.Her American boyfriend is also startled to see her carted off in the police wagon.Of course, we all knew from the first that the bellboy would end up with Leslie his crippled girl friend whose incapacity the doctor informs us is probably psychosomatic and not a purely physical disability.She just needs love (don't we all!).In a moment of truth Robert Walker sees the light and tactfully declines Hedy's offer of a passage on the boat back to her country.This inspires the new queen to abdicate at once as she wishes to live for love in the U.S. as well and become just a plain Mrs with the man she loves.So of course it all ends happily ever after.Hedy is of course utterly gorgeous to look at and in her prime.That genuine Viennese accent perfectly convincing us of her central European pedigree.She is attended by a duchess lady in waiting played by Agnes Moorhead who puts on a passable accent.Robert Walker is very effective in the role of the bellboy and his real love, June Allyson, warms to her part and even shows us a little dancing sequence.There is a very imaginative scene where she dreams that she can walk and meets her prince charming who transforms from a frog to a prince in a court presided over by a kingly Albert!I wonder, did Michael Powell get his idea for the dreamlike never ending stairway for "A Matter of Life and Death (1946)from the one shown in this sequence?Everyone is portrayed in a very sympathetic light so no one goes to bed unhappy.Good old fashioned Hollywood story telling at its best.I rated it 7/10.

spirit11 WARNING: This review may reveal portions of the film plot.If you are a fan of old films simply for the sake of their age, then this might be a film you would enjoy. Most others would not be impressed with this film.Unfortunately, the storyline is obvious, although I'll admit at the end of the film you aren't sure if the two people in love will figure it out in time. The movie seems to run a bit long as well, dragging out the inevitable ending.If all that sounds like this is a bad film, it isn't. It is a typical love story of the 40s film genre, however there really aren't any "bad guys" in this film, which might account for some of where the film seems to run long. You want to cheer for the hero, but there is no villain for the hero to fight against.All in all, the film is sweet, definitely what would be referred to as a "chick flick." If you catch it, that's fine, but you don't need to worry if you miss it.