Her Highness and the Bellboy (1945) User Reviews (24)

Walker- loveable, Lamarr - devine

[m0rphy · 7/10 · 9 February 2004]

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.

sweet, lovely film

[blanche-2 · 7/10 · 10 December 2005]

Hedy Lamarr is a princess in love with a commoner - and Robert Walker thinks he's the commoner - in "Her Highness and the Bellboy," a delightful 1945 movie that costars June Allyson and Rags Ragland. Walker is one of Hollywood's most tragic stories - a talented actor whose personal problems led to a year-long institutionalization and later, his sudden death shortly after his brilliant work in "Strangers on a Train." Here, he is energetic, fast-talking, and adorable as Jimmy, a clumsy bellhop assigned to Princess Hedy while she's in New York with her aunt (Agnes Moorhead). Hedy is fantastically beautiful, as always, though her part isn't very showy compared to the others. June Allyson plays an invalid who lives upstairs from Jimmy and his buddy, played by Rags Ragland. She's very young, pretty, and sweet as a lonely young woman whose life is brightened by the constant entertainment of these two men. She's in love with Walker, and when he develops a crush on Lamarr, her heart breaks. Lamarr is in love with a columnist, (a wooden Warner Anderson).

This movie seemed on the long side, but it's very warm and entertaining fare. Six years later, Walker will look as if he's aged 20 years. He's a light that went out too soon, and it's nice to remember him at his most vibrant.

Walker & Lamarr Were Fantastic Together

[whpratt1 · 6/10 · 25 April 2007]

Never realized that Robert Walker, "Strangers On A Train", ever played the role as a bellhop named Jimmy Dobson who gets involved with a Princess Veronica played by Hedy Lamarr who was so very beautiful and charming in 1945. Jimmy Dobson escorts Princess Veronica around the hotel and through out New York City and introduces her to Frankfurter's in Central Park. However, the Princess is really looking for a man in New York City after being divorced from another man. June Allyson,(Leslie Odell) is a young sweet charming girl who is bed ridden and is very much in love with Jimmy Dobson and there is a conflict between these two woman. This is a very cute film and the entire cast did a great job in their acting and comedy acts. Enjoy.

There's nothing wrong with a little 'happily ever after', though sometimes it is strenuous...

[moonspinner55 · 7/10 · 25 April 2008]

Hedy Lamarr plays a foreign princess who travels with her entourage to New York City in the hopes of meeting up again with a former flame who writes a daily newspaper column (and detests royalty!); while staying in a swank hotel, the princess is befriended by a boyish, charming bellhop who develops a crush on her, despite the fact he's also playing big brother/boyfriend to a bed-ridden girl who lives in his walk-up. Very odd romantic comedy seems to lay the character eccentricities on a bit heavily...but once the mechanisms of the plot take hold, the players seem more at home within this scenario, which is jaunty and friendly more than funny. As the bellboy, Robert Walker doesn't seem to know whether to play his role like a grown-up or a klutzy kid--so he does both; he's very ingratiating with his double-takes and exasperated looks (he gives the hotel receptionist a beaut!), and a lengthy scene early on--with Walker reading a fairy tale out loud to his girl, and indeed the neighborhood--is very tricky yet easily pulled off by the actor. Lamarr is less successful; her royal visitor doesn't require a lot of joy or spontaneity, and she isn't reluctant to show her emotions, but still she's an awfully grim beauty, harboring love's disappointments. June Allyson has the strangest role, that of an invalid girl who can walk but chooses not to (?), but she beams like Judy Garland and her smile is a welcome relief after too much of Lamarr's scowling. There's a nice musical dream sequence that seems a little padded, yet the hotel staff, Agnes Moorehead's Countess, and Walker's cohorts are all a very likable bunch. Not a completely successful fantasy, but a well-produced, well-paced one with lots of happiness to go around. *** from ****

An unexpected charmer

[HarveyA · 7 October 2011]

I turned this on almost reluctantly. Nothing else was on. I stuck with it and I'm glad I did. It's light, charming and totally predictable, but its stars make it much more than expected. Hedy Lamarr is, as everyone else says, gorgeous. She's what a European princess SHOULD look like, although few ever have. James Walker is a complete surprise to me. He's exuberant and very likable. But for me, it was June Allyson who stole the show. I've always thought she was cute and sweet, but in this movie, she's really lovely. There's no one in the movies today who's remotely like her, although I suppose comparisons might be made to an early Meg Ryan. She completely unaffected and natural. I would imagine that when this movie was released, every boy wanted a girlfriend like her.

Jimmy neglects the ever-pathetic Leslie in this odd flick.

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 26 August 2016]

Robert Walker plays Jimmy, the nice-guy bellboy from the film's title. He works at a hotel and spends most of his free time hanging out with Leslie, a disabled lady who has some weird disease. According to the Doc, she didn't get enough love as a child and as a result she apparently can't walk!! Sounds like she could use a good psychotherapist! Regardless, through the course of the film Leslie's heart is broken as Jimmy begins to spend less and less time with her and more with a beautiful Princess staying at the hotel (Hedy Lamarr). The Princess likes Jimmy and has asked the manager that he be assigned as her personal aid. However, through the course of the film, Jimmy overhears a conversation and thinks the Princess is in love with him! She IS in love with a commoner...but it sure ain't Jimmy! What's to happen with poor Leslie...and poor Jimmy...and the poor Princess...when she gets arrested?!

Most of this film is very nice, though occasionally the film drops the ball. First, there's the bizarre illness which can only happen in a Hollywood flick! Second, there's a very long and irrelevant dream sequence which just would have been better left out of the movie. Despite these complaints, the film is generally very nice-- sort of like a modern fairy tale and with some nice performances. Well worth seeing even with its flaws.

An average film

[spirit11 · 6/10 · 13 September 2000]

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.

Nice comedy romance with two short-career stars

[SimonJack · 7/10 · 28 February 2023]

This is a warm comedy and romance film with a very good cast that incudes two young stars who wouldn't have very long careers on the silver screen. As one or more other reviewers have noted, though, it's a bit strange for the time and setting and what it doesn't show. The film was made during World War II and released before the end of the war. Yet there's no sign of the war anywhere, including and especially the absence of any men in uniform. Well, that aside, the film has a nice story - sort of a mixture of smaller plots and some fantasy rolled together.

Austrian-born Hedy Lamarr plays a princess from one of those Hollywood mythical eastern European countries. But, she's been lonely and doesn't want to marry the count who's sort of been picked out for her, and she brings her entourage to the U. S. A. She hopes to rekindle a romance she had in the past with an American she had met in her home country. Of course, all of her court members are against her marrying a "nobody."

But, while she's staying at the unnamed swankiest New York hotel, she sneaks out to go for a walk on her own and bumps into Jimmy Dobson, a bellhop. He mistakes her for a new maid and discovers that she's a stranger and from a foreign country. So, he takes her under wing. On returning to the hotel after introducing her to hotdogs for lunch, he finds out that she's royalty. But, instead of his getting fired, he becomes her personal aid.

Now, before all this, Jimmy has been watching after an invalid neighbor, Leslie Odell, who lives with her aunt. June Allyson plays the young woman who had been a dancer but a shock of losing her parents left her unable to walk. Jimmy also acts like a big brother to Albert Weever, a not-too-bright but good-hearted thug of sorts. That's to keep him out of trouble. Albert had a bit of a record and some tough neighborhood boss wants Albert in his gang to pull a heist of some sort But, Albert likes Jimmy and sticks with him, and he also likes Leslie.

Well, with this somewhat convoluted plot of a few subplots, there's romance in the air. Leslie pines for Jimmy, Jimmy pines for the princess, the princess pines for her former beau, Paul MacMillan, Baron Faludi pines for the princess, and Albert himself pines a little for Leslie. The pining is further complicated by Jimmy's mistaken belief that the princess pines for him, and deep down, he really pines more for Leslie

It all works out in the end, but one has to watch the film to see how. The humor is mostly situational, with a peppering of some funny lines here and there. I mentioned two short careers - they were Lamarr and Walker. She was in 35 films and he in just 22 Lamarr was born in Austria and got her start in cinema in Berlin. She was discovered early and brought to the U. S. by MGM. She was one of the real beautiful women of Hollywood then. Not the glamorous but the natural beauties. She had some good roles and was popular to the time of this film, but her career waned after WW II and by the late 1950s she was done in films. She was married half a dozen times and died at age 85 in Florida living on a very small income.

Robert Walker was a very talented actor who had some very good roles. He could play comedy and drama equally well. He came from a broken family, which affected him emotionally for a long time. He played roles of characters who often suffered from anxiety and depression - his very problems. He died from an adverse reaction to a sedative that his psychiatrist administered after a bout of high anxiety.

In "The Princess and the Bellboy," Rags Ragland gives a superb performance as Albert, and June Allyson gives a very good performance as well. Here are some favorite lines from the film.

Jimmy Dobson, "Good evening, Miss Odell. How ae you this evening?" Aunt Gertrude Odell, "Poorly." Jimmy: Aw, that's too bad. I guess working nights doesn't agree with you." Aunt Odell, "Neither does workin' days."

Jimmy Dobson, "Well, you're a stranger here. A babe like you with a face like that - you've gotta be awfully careful in a world like this." Princes Veronica, "Careful of what?" Jimmy, "Ohhhh, things." Princess, "Things?" Jimmy, "Well... men. I'm sorry to say, but we can't be trusted."

Albert Weever, "I brought you some flowers - eh, fornot-me-gets." Leslie Odell, "Than you, Albert. I love fornot-me-gets."

Aunt Gertrude Odell, "I wish I'd been born a princess. Instead, I was born tired."

Wonderful, affected me a lot more than I was expecting.

[Liza-19 · 10/10 · 1 December 2000]

One of the best movies I've ever seen - and I've seen thousands. What I was expecting to be an empty but sweet chick flick turned into a really sweet story about appreciating the friends you have around you.

I have to say, this film has to have some of the best performances I've ever seen! Robert Walker is his usual adorable self, but I was greatly surprised and impressed by June Allyson's performance. This is my favorite of hers, as she is just so incredibly sincere and easy to love as Walker's invalid girlfriend, Leslie. Rags Ragland gives a brilliant performance as Albert, the slow, but loving friend.

Hedy Lamarr is of course, lovely, but she and Agnes Moorehead seemed to be totally overshadowed by Walker, Ragland, and Allyson who seem to steal the show right out from under them!

It's really a beautiful movie, that makes you think of who your friends really are.

***

[edwagreen · 7/10 · 5 January 2015]

This film did not begin to take off until the near end of it.

Robert Walker plays a bellboy who falls for Princess Hedy Lamarr. He actually thinks she is smitten with him, while she is really in love with a columnist.

June Allyson plays a girl that he knows who is unable to walk and grows increasingly jealous as Walker becomes enamored with the princess.

Real comedy sets in when Walker takes the princess to a low regarded place and a fight breaks out. Lamarr is arrested along with the other patrons.

Walker, at times, had the ability to speak as if he were Walter Denton (Richard Crenna) of Our Miss Brooks fame.

Charming performers in synthetic, creepy comedy

[rhoda-9 · 5/10 · 18 August 2017]

If a movie gives you Hedy Lamarr to look at, it seems churlish to complain. But even the presence of one of the most beautiful women who ever lived, plus the adorable June Allyson and the endearing Robert Walker do not begin to compensate for the hideously vulgar and phoney goings-on.

This routine princess-falls-in-love-with-ordinary-American comedy is joined with a love story between Walker and Allyson, the woman he really loves without realising it. Nothing wrong with that, but she is paralysed from the waist down. Why? Because--the doctor gives us his medical opinion--in childhood she was not loved enough!

Can you imagine the feelings of parents of crippled children on hearing such a thing? Back in the Forties, most people would have thought such a question absurdly oversensitive, but now it's a matter of common decency. Not only that, there is a long dream sequence in which Allyson imagines herself, in a feathered evening gown, dancing with Walker. Worse yet, at the end she actually begins to walk! and starts dancing with him! In the absence of a FAIRY princess to wave a magic wand, this is repulsively vulgar and cruel.

Not only that, but Allyson is portrayed in a manner right out of cheap Victorian sentimentality. She does not sit in an ugly wheelchair but reclines on a couch, rising from it only when Walker, visiting her in the evenings, carries her to the roof for some fresh air. I wonder if any kid in the audience ever piped up, "How does she go to the bathroom?" She has a lovely flat, full of antiques and beautifully kept, which is understandable, as she works at painting dolls, and earns as much as--$3 a day! Poor June! She spends the whole film in cotton pyjamas or a floor-length, high-collared, puffed-sleeve nightie, while Hedy gets to float around in one fabulous evening gown after another.

Some more hypocrisy: The princess wants to see some low life, so Walker, very reluctantly and apologetically, takes her to a place where the floor show is a couple in 19th-century costume, singing "Wait Till the Sun Shines, Nellie." Positively decadent! One man punches another, leading to the kind of phoney free-for-all that happens only in the movies. I have always wondered why, if two men start fighting in a saloon, other men should suddenly start fighting each other all over the place, and women should whack them over the head with bottles. Never happens when fights break out in the low dives I go to.

A 'Feel-Good' Movie! Very Refreshing

[wndlz · 8/10 · 2 September 2006]

Some viewers may view this film as just another old-fashioned movie. To me, this was very clean, fresh, and genuinely funny and entertaining film. There are no complicated gimmicks or special effects, but it exemplifies the best traits of human beings; optimism, good humor, romantic love, and the kind of respect that a decent human being would show, in all of their relationships. If anything, it would be nice if we could seriously ponder these values as being worthy, instead of dismissing them, as being old fashion or downright sappy. Hedy was the personification of regal elegance, but with a warm heart; Robert Walker, was very likable and funny; June Allyson, Rags Ragland, were as warmly effective as the two leads. A very positive and sensitive film. Too bad these qualities make this a 'chick flick' in today's world. I know there was a time, when a family could enjoy a movie like this, without feeling weird, because their adrenaline drives were not being satisfied by glorified violence, and a general disrespect for anything decent or human.

Bellboy gets around

[bkoganbing · 6/10 · 24 January 2019]

This charming fantasy got a lucky break when Mickey Rooney got drafted and couldn't do Her Highness And The Bellboy. I don't think the film would have worked as well with him as it does with Robert Walker in half of the title role.

The other half belongs to Hedy Lamarr as a visiting princess from some Ruritanian country in Eastern Europe. She's staying at the swank hotel where Walker is employed as a bellboy. One afternoon she decides to go out incognito and runs into Walker doing his dogwalking thing for some of the guests. They hit it off.

In one of those Hollywood coincidences Walker just happens to know newspaper columnist Warner Anderson with whom Lamarr had some history back in the old country before her family got wind of it. Walker also has some involvement with crippled June Allyson from the neighborhood.

On these plot premises a nice romantic tale is spun and these players along with others who support them. Outstanding in the supporting cast is Rags Ragland as Walker's good natured lunkhead friend.

My big criticism here is that June Allyson might have gone overboard with the sweet innocence. But that's how MGM cast her back in the day.

It also had to have been taken for granted that this was set in the immediate past before World War II. There's nary a mention of it in this film that came out in 1945.

Still after over 70 years the film retains a nice sheen of innocence that is charming.

Surprised by positive reviews

[bruno-32 · 3/10 · 27 January 2011]

Back in its day, when first released, it was panned by the critics, and I was in agreement. Robert Walkers character was too obnoxious for my taste. Rags Ragland too dopey, reminded me of the real Dopey of the seven dwarfs. Hedy, gorgeous as ever, was completely wasted in this farce...and she supposedly turned down "Gaslight" for this? The cast was first intended to be Mickey Rooney as Jimmy, with Hedy. Hedy was pregnant at the time of the filming, resulting in most head shots of her, which was her best feature anyway, and limited viewed in the movie. June Allyson, a newcomer at MGM, was being highlighted for future films. She had the best part,if there was such a thing in this movie. This movie would definitely go under the category of a chick flick, results most women liked it. I went cause I am a fan of Hedy, and was disappointed..not in her, who could, but in her small, insignificant part.

A Modern Fairy Tale, American Style

[dougdoepke · 14 August 2016]

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.)

Smile

[boblipton · 6/10 · 13 November 2023]

Robert Walker is a bellboy at a fancy New York hotel who catches the attention of visiting princess Hedy Lamarr. He thinks it's love. This causes him to pay less attention to bedridden girlfriend June Allyson.

It's a very odd combination of pre-War fairy tale and MGM gloss, with Miss Lamarr almost immobile, leaving Walker to do most of the acting here. Considering his marriage to Jennifer Jones was being demolished by David Selznick, it's hard to believe he could give such a light-hearted performance. Even the MGM swank doesn't stand in the way. Given the end of the Second World War, people must have been hungry for such old-fashioned, simple fairy tales, because it did very well for Metro at the box office. With Carl Esmond, Agnes Moorhead, Ludwig Stossel, and Rag Ragland.

RINGS THE BELL

[mmthos · 7/10 · 4 May 2021]

Bright, sprightly musical comedy bout a bellhop's (Robt. Walker) flirtation with a princess (Hedy Lamar) in the Grand Hotel where he works, while his crippled girlfriend (June Allyson} stays cooped up, miserable, at home. Walker had quite the career as a charming comedic leading man till his wife Jennifer Jones ran off with David O Selznick and he drowned himself to death in drink and drugs. Miss Lamar radiates her usual unearthly beauty, and admirably plays an innocent from a let-em-eat-cake world, charmed and seduced by Walker's working-class warmth. Miss Allyson is in a real downer of a role, trapped in her chair, painting endless Santa Claus dolls (!) while the rest frolic, but her situation does afford a dreamy over-produced dream sequence aria and ballet in which a frog turns into her prince charming (Walker). Rags Ragland also has a fun role as a hopelessly misspoken lug with a heart of gold, and Agnes Moorehead plays the royal aunt, desperately trying to uphold standards, appalled by such dalliance between the princess and a pauper.

Eventually Bellboy breaks free of his thrall to the benignly beguiling princess, comes back to his senses and his crippled love, by which miracle she is cured, and they all live happily ever after.

Heartfelt with light comedy

[mrlee1 · 9/10 · 2 October 2006]

I saw This 1945 Movie on TCM and loved it. If it was available on DVD I would own it. It's a heartfelt story with June Allyson "Leslie O'Dell" as an invalid that lives in the same apartment building and is secretly in love with Robert Walker "Jimmy Dobson" who works as a clumsy bellboy in a posh hotel. Hedy Lamarr "Princess Veronica" is a beautiful princess that is staying at the hotel where he works as the bellhop. This cute fantasy thickens as he is assigned to take care of the princess's needs, and develops a crush on the princess. Agnes Moorehead "Countess Zoe", is the princess's watchdog who is very protective of her. The Princess is really in love with a columnist. This is where a little light situation comedy occurs, but, the real true love wins out with June Allyson, at the end.

This picture also features a song "Honey" which back in 1928, Rudy Vallee had a hit with. I wish I could get a copy of June Allyson's rendition of it, she did in the flick, no soundtrack is available.

A Forgettable Fair Tale

[Catfishbunter · 4/10 · 11 August 2015]

***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.

I loved the movie and would like to own it.

[gloriaballard · 10/10 · 11 February 2001]

I saw this movie when I was a teenager and I loved it.Of all of June Allyson's movies this ONE stayed with me all these years. I would like to see it again and if possible ,own it. I have asked at the video store for ten years if it has come out yet in video and the answer is always NO. Will it ever come out in video?

reverse rom-com

[SnoopyStyle · 4/10 · 23 February 2021]

Princess Veronica (Hedy Lamarr) lives in a big castle and is terribly lonely. Jimmy Dobson (Robert Walker) is a bellboy at a luxury hotel in New York City. His friend Albert Weever keeps getting into trouble with a bad crowd. He's dedicated to paralyzed girlfriend Leslie Odell (June Allyson) and then Princess Veronica comes into his life.

There is only one way to go with Jimmy and the princess. They need to be platonic friends. The movie could stretch out his misunderstanding of her as a maid. He could take her around and help her acclimatized to the city. Leslie could also misunderstand his relationship with the princess as long as it is truly a misunderstanding. He needs to be her Cupid trying to set her up with various people. If only Albert is not such a thug, he would be perfect match in story terms for her. Whenever Jimmy is head over heels for the princess, I kept thinking about Leslie. When Leslie cries, I cry. It's a horrible look and horrible as a rom-com. This is a reverse rom-com.

I am including a youtube of "HONEY"

[flarepilot · 9 August 2015]

One of the interesting songs in this film is, "HONEY" (I'm in love with you, HONEY). It is very hard to find a copy of this, especially with lyrics, so I offer this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9v-1MTlIK_w

go to 13:40 and watch a pair of charming dancers (barbara boylan and bobby burgess) with an original dance to this song, the lyrics are plainly hearable in the background.

A nice film for a Sunday afternoon. Well photographed, charming in almost all aspects.

Raggs Ragland is great. He always is especially with his, "ONEST" (won- st) which gets me every time.

This was released during WW2, though very close to the conclusion.

Sweet Movie

[Rasberryrain82 · 10/10 · 29 August 2006]

I just saw this movie last night on TCM. I thought it was really sweet and funny. I would also like to own it on DVD.It's about this princess who isn't happy because she's not with the one she loves.She visit's new york hoping to find him. Meanwhile you have this Bellboy named Jimmy and his friend Albert take care of this pretty woman named Leslie who can't walk. Jimmy ends up being the princess's personal attendant. She wants Jimmy to help her find Paul the one she loves which Jimmy doesn't realize he's doing so he thinks the princess likes him. Jimmy is fond of her so he end's up spending most of his time with her then Leslie. Leslie is very much in love with Jimmy and wants him to be happy. Jimmy later realizes that he does loves Leslie in return and so he stay's with her to love her and help her walk again. The princess wants to be with Paul so she wants to give up royalty for him. Sweet movie.

Love quadrangle with Hedy Lamarr

[ksf-2 · 8/10 · 25 April 2008]

(Poss Spoilers) Rags Ragland steals the show as the comedic sidekick working in a New York hotel. Too bad they didn't give Agnes Moorehead a bigger part..has a smallish speaking part as Lady in Waiting. "Her Highness" has some elements of Queen Christina from 1933, and maybe even Sullivan's Travels '41. Seems to have been remade as Roman Holiday 1953, with a few changes. Weird dream sequence by Leslie (June Allyson), which didn't really add anything to the already long plot. Leslie is unable to walk, and works from her apartment, and may require more than medications to be able to walk again. This is a love triangle (rectangle ?) story involving a Princess from a foreign land who falls for Jimmy the bellboy (Robert Walker) . Of course, both Jimmy and the Princess (Hedy Lamarr) already have admirers in their lives, so things get complicated. Also a running gag where Jimmy spouts the names of cities in rapid mumble, which gets them out of a couple jams. And I SWEAR that's Shemp Howard that brings them to their table when they go back to Jake's for a night on the town, although he's not mentioned in the cast list. They look at each other and the Maitre D' keeps doing double takes. Lots of fun stuff going on. The drunk in the bar was Jack Norton, who made a career by playing the drunk in Bank Dick, Day at the Races, and Jezebel, and so many more. The only really serious side of the plot is how Albert (Ragland) gets mixed up with a bad gang, and Jimmy keeps trying to get him to keep better company.... this part of the plot is never really resolved, but the princess seems to learn a lesson in love right at the last minute. Like Rags says, "they all lived happily ever after", although its ironic that he says this, since he is the only one sitting down while everyone else is up dancing. A good MGM show directed by Richard Thorpe, who had just directed Lamarr in White Cargo. Both films play now & then on Turner Classic Movies.