The Swan

The Swan is a quiet movie abut love, set in a country palace of Hungary in the early part of the century. It has three attractions: Grace Kelly, Alec Gunniess, and a new twist on the old triangular plot.

The plot is bad, and getting worse, until at the end princess Kelly rejects her charming tutor in favor of the icy price Ginness. As a result of this anti-democratic twist, and the amazingly unholly-wood delicacy of the acting the movie becomes an adequate vehicle for the leading players.

Grace is well cast as the princess, and glides with shy detachment through the regal love affair, ever dressed in cool blue or white. After the first twenty minutes the audience begins to suspect that she is not acting at all.

Her intended price gets a polished treatment from Guinness, although the part wastes his comic talents. He manages to carry off the royal role with a smooth blend of awkwardness and calm courtship.

Unfortunately, the third party in this triangle has the unpromising role of a dashing young man on the intellectual trapeze who does not even get the bacon at the end. Louis Jourdan does little to salvage the part. He is, however, overshadowed by better acting in the smaller parts, especially by Estelle Winwood, who plays Grace's Aunt Synphorosa with the wit one would expect from Guinness.

The acting being as good as it is and the plot as bad as it is, the overall effect is an aristocratic grace of considerable charm, if you don't go expecting too much.