Les hommes préfèrent les blondes

Marilyn's "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" was one of the classic musicals of the 1950's... She comes into it looking like a winner, and leaves as one… The picture has been set fully by the tone of her personality… Her personality infuses every corner of the film as if she has even picked the scenery to work for her…

The movie rises above its pretext, its story, its existence as a musical, even its music, and becomes at its best a magic work, yet it is a light-hearted satire of the old adage that when a woman goes bad, men go right after her…

The film crowned Monroe in her position as the nation's new 'Love Goddess' with the promise of many sparkling hits to come, and Jane Russell's career continued, with less fanfare, but very successfully for several more years…

The story was simple: Dorothy (Jane Russell) and Lorelei (Marilyn Monroe) work together as entertainers and are also good friends… Lorelei's millionaire fiancé Gus Esmond (Tommy Noonan) sends the girls to France, but his father (Taylor Holmes) hires a private detective, Malone (Elliott Reid) on the same boat to spy on her during the trip… When the three meet, Dorothy falls for Malone, much to the chagrin of Lorelei, who cannot understand Dorothy's indifference to men with money…

On board, the girls get into trouble when they meet an old playboy Francis Beckman (Charles Coburn), a diamond merchant

You don't need to be a Marilyn fan to enjoy this wonderful film.

A great light hearted comedy that pairs up Jane Russell and Marilyn Monroe in their prime.

The performances are outstanding- Marilyn's precision comic timing along with Jane's dead-pan delivery make for an unforgettable comedy team.

At a time where men were leading the field for comedy pairings along comes Russell and Monroe and a better combination there is not!

The musical numbers are terrific especially Bye-Bye Baby and the classic Diamonds are Girls Best Friend.

The supporting roles are also well cast with the Charles Coburn as the Multimillionaire "Piggy" who has eyes only for Diamonds and Marilyn and the wonderful late Tommy Noonan as Marilyn's nerdish and gullible love interest Gus Edmond.

If you look beyond the surface which makes this film at first appear to be a seemingly stereotypical tale of young helpless women looking for rich husbands you will actually see a story of two strong and self-sufficient women looking for what they want in life, going out to get it and not settling for less!

But let's not make this any deeper than we need to... this is a FUN FILM... not meant to change the world but just to entertain you for a few hours-- AND THAT IT DOES!

High ranks from young and old... Gentlemen Prefer Blondes is great family entertainment.

Now, might I close with an Anita Loos quote about Marilyn Monroe in GPB:

"I did not write the role Lorelei Lee as Marilyn performed it in the film, but I sure as hell wish I had!"

Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell are so terrific in their musical comedy roles that they make the men (Elliot Reid and Tommy Noonan) look even more pallid than they are. But let's fact it. Nobody's watching them anyway when the spotlight is on Monroe and Russell as just "two little girls from Little Rock".

Fox knew what to do with the two lovelies when they cast them as the gold diggers aboard a ship bound for France with nothing on their minds but the pursuit of men with money. Jane has a wonderful song-and-dance routine with Olympic hopefuls in "Ain't There Anyone Here For Love?" and Marilyn gets to do a now-classic routine with "Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend". Charles Coburn has some amusing moments as an old-timer with a yen for Marilyn who has a yen for his wife's tiara. "I just love finding new places to wear diamonds", she says in that sweetly innocent Monroe voice. And Russell tops everything off with an imitation of Monroe in a courtroom that's guaranteed to draw chuckles.

It's all done up in vivid technicolor. The girls wear eye-popping costumes and look ultra glamorous together (exact opposites), and the songs aren't bad either. Pure escapist entertainment of the '50s kind with enough humorous moments to keep you entertained by the silly shenanigans. Fans of Monroe and Russell will love this one.

One of the funniest moments: Monroe stuck in a ship's porthole while a little boy holds a blanket around her as she makes small talk with Charles Coburn.

I think some people are too harsh on this movie. No, it doesn't saying anything revelatory about the human condition but that's not its intent. It is very good escapist fare. Monroe and Russell keep us enthralled with their glamor, song and dance numbers, and the occasional sharp one-liner. The plot is perfunctory. While Monroe is obviously the one most associated with the film in the public's consciousness, I personally think Russell is just as good if not better (I'm not saying that because I'm a brunet as well!) A question many Monroe fans ask is whether at this point onward in her career Monroe was playing Lorelei or whether in real life she 'was' Lorelei? Whatever the case, I recommend this movie if one is in the mood for glitzy glamorous Hollywood spectacle, 7/10.

Classic musical comedy directed by the great Howard Hawks and starring Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell. Marilyn's determined to marry a rich heir but his father has hired a private detective to prove the beautiful blonde's just after his money. Jane tries to protect Marilyn and keep her out of trouble while the two travel to Paris.

Marilyn's pitch-perfect as the gold-digging Lorelei Lee. She played the 'dumb blonde' better than anybody in movie history. It's impossible not to like her, even when she's doing things you might not agree with. Jane's never been better than here playing Marilyn's sassy man-crazy best friend. Charles Coburn is the horny owner of a diamond mine. Child actor George Winslow steals every scene he's in. Tommy Noonan is fun as Marilyn's fiancé. Elliott Reid is the weakest part of the cast as the private detective who falls for Jane. He's just so stiff and corny that I couldn't see what a great dish like Jane Russell could see in him. He looks like a Fed.

Lots of great lines and scenes. Possibly the best thing about the movie is just how gorgeous it looks. I'm not just talking about the leading ladies, who are both stunning. The Technicolor just pops off the screen. One of my favorite movies of all time. It'll make you smile from start to finish. Colorful, funny, sexy, with enjoyable performances and wonderful songs. Includes one of Marilyn's defining moments - "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend." An absolute must-see classic.