Starring Fran Drescher and Timothy Dalton Directed by Ken Kwapis Rated PG, with mild profanity Running time 107 minutes Jack gives this film a rating of 4 out of 10

(Feb. 6, 1997) -- The old Prince and the Showgirl concept gets a make-over, thanks to a Queens, N.Y., cosmetologist, in The Beautician and the Beast. Fran Drescher stars.

For her first leading role in a feature, TV's Nanny fits comfortably into a familiar formula as the working-class American girl who catches the eye of a handsome but cold-hearted head of state in Eastern Europe. He's played by English actor Timothy Dalton (late of the James Bond films).

Even the casting follows the formula -- The Prince and the Showgirl featured Marilyn Monroe opposite Englishman Laurence Olivier.

In this superficial variation, Drescher is Joy Miller, a beautician who teaches cosmetology to night school students in a New York City classroom. When hairspray catches fire and the school nearly burns to the ground, Joy becomes a hero by rescuing animals from a biology classroom.

Boris Pochenko (Dalton), the not-so-benevolent dictator of Slovetzia, meanwhile, has dispatched an aide to America to find a teacher for his children. The aide sees news reports about the heroic teacher and hires her, thinking her speciality is science.

"Teach science? I didn't even PASS science," Miller says, when the error is discovered.

By then, though, she's firmly in place as the family tutor in Slovetzia. Boris, a widower, wants his family and court to learn the ways of the West in the wake of the collapse of Communism.

The film follows Joy's efforts to use her beauty school background to teach a wide variety of subjects to Boris' four children. But she also spreads quite a bit of her street smarts and common sense. Though Drescher speaks in the most nasal voice this side of Mae West, Boris is charmed. And his harsh, dictatorial ways begin to melt.

Yes, Todd Graff's script also leans HEAVILY on the far-superior The King and I, and its predecessor, Anna and the King of Siam.

The Beautician and the Beast is at its best when it's being silly, whether Drescher is chasing a chicken around the kitchen or applying makeup with a spade.

Too often, though, the film takes itself a bit too seriously, especially when it explores political upheaval and betrayal within the government. Director Ken Kwapis does little to enliven these dull, solemn scenes. They bog down the film. And at 107 minutes, it is at least 15 minutes too long.

Drescher, though, is an appealing comedian who generates a lot of good-natured humor, while Dalton effectively conveys the mellowing of his character.

The film barely offers the technical values of an extended TV sitcom, but fans of Fran Drescher will almost certainly enjoy The Beautician and the Beast. The shoe fits this gum-snapping Cinderella -- it's just not a glass slipper.