Movie Review : ‘Princess Caraboo’ Full of Wit and Charm

Witty and hilarious, “Princess Caraboo” is at once a romantic adventure and a comedy of manners in the finest tradition of British screen humor, a sophisticated entertainment that should be a delight for older children as well with its Cinderella-like story.

An outstanding international cast, impeccable period design, a lovely score and an inspired screenplay have been blended to perfection by astute director Michael Austin to create a lively and constant pleasure. Amazingly, the film is based on a true story.

The appearance of the mysterious Princess Caraboo in England on or near Good Friday in 1817 marked the convergence of two dominant social forces. Laws concerning begging, fraud and vagrancy had just been made extremely harsh while the Prince Regent, with his fanciful Brighton Pavilion in the midst of an elaborate remodeling, had made fashionable fantastic interpretations of Asian decor and clothing.

Consequently, when a proud, beautiful but dirty-faced young woman (Phoebe Cates) shows up in Bristol, wearing a turban and pants and uttering sparse phrases from a vaguely Southeast Asian dialect she is at once in mortal danger and in a position of great opportunity.

If she can be proven to be a fraud she faces death by hanging; if she catches the fancy of the nouveau riche, the aristocracy and especially the fatuous heir (John Sessions) to the throne himself, a fabulous life of luxury and privilege awaits her. The great thing is that the deliciously ambiguous Cates and the film itself keep us guessing right up to the climax.

Austin and his co-writer John Wells have succeeded on two important counts: first, in scattering the fewest possible tidbits of conjecture about the woman who calls herself Caraboo, and second, in showing just how rapidly people will weave them into a plausible, albeit far-fetched, narrative.

Very swiftly it is widely understood throughout the community that Caraboo really is a Southeast Asian princess who was kidnaped by pirates but who managed to jump ship in the Bristol Channel. Quite apart from the question of the authenticity of Caraboo’s identity, the film suggests just how badly people can want to believe in someone for myriad reasons.

Caraboo, in any event, finds shelter at a handsome Adamesque country estate rented by the Worralls (Wendy Hughes, Jim Broadbent). Mrs. Worrall, who has inherited money, is kind and elegant while her husband is a comically lusty, womanizing vulgarian, a greedy entrepreneurial banker of dubious financial stability.

Only human, Mrs. Worrall can’t help but take some pleasure in the social cachet that having a real princess under her immense roof has brought her. By contrast, Worrall intends to exploit Caraboo’s presence to better his financial position in any way he can.

Along for the fun are such sterling players as Kevin Kline, as the Worralls’ splendidly haughty Greek butler; John Lithgow, as a pedantic Oxford linguist intent on exposing Caraboo as a fraud; and, most important, Stephen Rea as a shrewd but caring Bristol journalist suspicious yet protective of her. (You may spot at a garden party lush Jerry Hall and spindly Murray Melvin, amusingly teamed as Lord and Lady Motley.)

While it is a joy to see these and other actors create a polished, witty ensemble, “Princess Caraboo” has as its most unusual accomplishment the ability to make us conscious of the important political and financial role fashion can play in society and individual destiny, a phenomenon rarely implied outside films on Louis XIV, who deliberately gathered the rich and powerful at Versailles and then depleted their coffers via the absurdly fancy attire they were expected to wear.

To this end production designer Michael Howells and costume designer Tom Rand have made crucial, major contributions as the film charts the gradual, ever-incresing overlay of exoticism in decor and clothing inspired by the exquisite princess.

* MPAA rating: PG, for some mild sensuality and language. Times guidelines: It has a few suggestive moments, treated discreetly. ‘Princess Caraboo’

Jim Broadbent: Mr. Worrall

Phoebe Cates: Princess Caraboo

Wendy Hughes: Mrs. Worrall

Kevin Kline: Frixos

John Lithgow: Professor Wilkinson

Stephen Rea: Gutch

A TriStar Pictures and Beacon presentation of a Longfellow Pictures/Artisan Films production. Director Michael Austin. Producers Andrew Karsch, Simon Bosanquet. Executive producers Armyan Bernstein, Tom Rosenberg, Marc Abraham. Screenplay by Austin & John Wells. Cinematographer Freddie Francis. Editor George Akers. Costumes Tom Rand. Music Richard Hartley. Production designer Michael Howells. Art director Sam Riley. Set decorator Sascha Schwertd. Running time: 1 hour, 36 minutes.

* In general release throughout Southern California.