The Ambassador's Daughter is a 1956 film directed by Norman Krasna.
Joan Fisk (Olivia de Havilland) is the daughter of and secretary to William Fisk, the US ambassador to France. Ambassador Fisk is receiving a United States Senator, Jonathan Cartwright, and Cartwright's wife (Myrna Loy, making the transition to character actress). Sen. Cartwright has heard a lot of stories of all the drinking and debauchery that American soldiers get up to in Paris, and is agitating to make the city off limits to GIs. Ambassador Fisk and Joan both think that would be a terrible blow to Army morale, and hope to change the Senator's mind.
Enter Sgt. Danny Sullivan (John Forsythe), a GI on weekend leave in Paris with his buddy Al. Danny and Al wander into a charity fashion show where Joan is one of the models showing off dresses. Danny assumes that lovely Joan is a French fashion model, and invites her out for a date. Joan has a fiance, a Russian prince, but in an effort to prove that American soldiers are not all horny drunkards, accepts the invitation. Will they fall in love? (Of course.)
Tropes:
- Accidental Misnaming: If there were any doubt that Nicholas is a Disposable Fiancé, it's confirmed when Joan carelessly kisses him good night with a "good night, Father." Mrs. Cartwright figures this out In-Universe.
- At the Opera Tonight: The climax, where Danny finally finds out the truth about Joan, takes place at a performance of Swan Lake.
- Binocular Shot: Seen when Al, looking around the ballet with opera glasses, spots Joan and the rest of her party in a box.
- Disposable Fiancé: It's perfectly obvious that Prince Nicholas will prove no obstacle to Joan and Danny's romance, as shown when he barely even blinks at the news that his fiancee is going to go out on a date with a GI.
- Distracted by the Sexy: Al, entering a building through a revolving door, sees a hot model exiting through that same door. He gawks at her and winds up doing a 360 through the door and exiting again.
- Eiffel Tower Effect: The very first shot of the movie is a pan down the Eiffel Tower from top to bottom, establishing the setting.
- Extremely Short Timespan: Except for the brief epilogue, the whole story takes place in a day, as Danny and Joan meet and have a whirlwind date, have a less satisfactory date the next morning, and meet again at the ballet that night.
- Fashion Show: Danny meets Joan at one of those lunchtime fashion shows where the models wander among the tables so the diners can view them close-up. This movie is notable for a lot of 1950's-era Gorgeous Period Dress, especially Christian Dior designs of the "New Look" variety.
- Meet Cute: Joan notices Danny when he yells at a waiter for a $50 cover charge at a restaurant (he didn't realize it was a charity event). Danny in his turn mistakes Joan for a French woman, which Joan rolls with for a while.
- Moral Guardians: Senator Cartwright, who is rather priggish, and wants to ban GIs from Paris because they keep drinking and whoring.
- No Full Name Given: Myrna Loy's character is never addressed by name and is listed in the credits only as "Mrs. Cartwright."
- Noodle Incident: When Mrs. Cartwright wonders if Joan can handle Danny, she says she could do it with her hands tied behind her back. Mrs. Cartwright says "I wouldn't try it that way dear. I'll tell you a sad story someday." Whether or not Mrs. Cartwright had a Bondage Is Bad experience in her youth is never revealed.
- Not What It Looks Like: Joan, at a fashion show, is trying to coax Sen. Cartwright into buying a very expensive dress for his wife. Danny, at the same fashion show, hears this conversation and concludes that Joan was asking for the dress for herself and that the Senator is her Sugar Daddy.
- Sleeping Single: Both the Paris police chief and his wife, and Senator and Mrs. Cartwright, sleep in separate beds per 1950s style.
- Time-Passes Montage: A montage shows Danny and Joan hitting various Paris clubs, with neon lights and musical acts coming and going from the screen.
- Title Drop: When Joan observes that the soldiers at the USO were always perfectly polite when she danced with them, Sen. Cartwright says that of course a GI will be polite and respectful "to the ambassador's daughter at a USO dance."
