Cary Grant was discouraged with the roles he was assigned by Paramount Pictures. A case in point was May 1934's "Thirty Day Princess." He set out early in his film career to be the epitome of masculine glamour. But his parts after 15 movies were becoming repetitive. In this film, actress Sylvia Sidney plays a duo role of a princess of a small European country who's in the United States to drum up interest for a sizable loan for her kingdom. She also plays an unemployed actress, Nancy Lane, who looks just like the princess. The Royal highness becomes sick early on in her travels and Nancy is hired to secretly take her place. Grant plays a newspaper publisher who becomes smitten with whom he thinks is a princess. The two begin a love affair, but Nancy fails to tell him the truth. This is the only time Sylvia ever played in a comedic role.
"Thirty Day Princess," in spite of being a unique light-hearted rom-com, received reviews that were lukewarm. Grant was stung by some of the criticisms, where he felt his parts were requiring him to do little more than spend most of his time in formal white ties and tails. So upset at the roles he was assigned, he demanded from Paramount the ability to select his own parts. The studio basically ignored his requests. But things would turn for the better in the next year for Grant when Paramount loaned out the disgruntled actor to other studios. It was there that Grant began receiving more substantial roles.
"Thirty Day Princess," in spite of being a unique light-hearted rom-com, received reviews that were lukewarm. Grant was stung by some of the criticisms, where he felt his parts were requiring him to do little more than spend most of his time in formal white ties and tails. So upset at the roles he was assigned, he demanded from Paramount the ability to select his own parts. The studio basically ignored his requests. But things would turn for the better in the next year for Grant when Paramount loaned out the disgruntled actor to other studios. It was there that Grant began receiving more substantial roles.