Gentlemen Prefer 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

Marilyn needs no introduction. Suffice it to say that she is perfect in what is probably the best of her "dumb blonde gold digger" roles, looks great, (As if it were possible for her to look less), has plenty of great and funny quotes, and sings the most famous of the Jule Styne-Leo Robin songs wonderfully. But let's not forget the brunette in the picture, Jane Russell, who has plenty of talent, comic timing, and yes, sex appeal herself. Her performance has a great sense of irony, she makes a great foil for Marilyn (Although it certainly is obvious that she really likes the girl), and gets ample oppurtunity to show off her own vocal chops in such songs as the low-key, showstopping duet "When Love Goes Wrong" and the somewhat kitschy "Ain't There Anyone Here For Love," sung while she wanders through a sea of Olympic atheletes wearing nothing but flesh-colored swimming trunks as they lift weights, etc., and then finishes off with a dunk in the pool that wasn't planned but was kept in the film upon viewing the rushes of the sequence. She herself is really great in both. And just how she manages to do a dead-on impersonation of Marilyn in a hilarious courtroom scene, then launch into a take-no-prisoners reprise of "Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend" while still keeping her blond wig and hat squarely on her head, I'll never know.

With such as these to hold out attention, the rest of the film doesn't seem like much, with the usual humdrum romantic plotline, the uninteresting supporting cast, and everything. But it's still a great musical comedy, based on the Broadway show that was in turn based on the famous Anita Loos novel. Howard Hawks' direction, while not as inspired as his "Bringing Up Baby" or "His Girl Friday" work, is lively, the costumes are great, the songs (Those that were retained from Broadway and those added for the film) are all great, and the script, while probably not including much of the wicked satire that the novel is praised for, (Unless I missed it), is funny enough. I should also mention the many classic shots of Marilyn and Jane walking side by side. What a contrast! Marilyn gives it all she's got, and Jane is so low-key about the whole thing she's reviting. What a great team these two ladies were! And, all things considered, what a great movie!

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!"

Anita Loos's famous novel and play Gentlemen Prefer Blondes was done as a musical and ran for 740 performances during the 1949-1951 season. It was the breakout role in the career on Broadway for Carol Channing. But for the screen version a pair of pulchritudinous sex symbols were cast as the showgirls looking for husbands, Jane Russell and Marilyn Monroe.

Two things were done for the film, most of the Jule Styne-Leo Robin score was scrapped and two numbers written by Hoagy Carmichael and Harold Adamson were added. Retained from the original score was Bye Bye Baby, Two Little Girls from Little Rock and the famous theme of goldiggers everywhere, Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend.

The second thing was to update the story from when it was originally written during the Roaring Twenties to the current Fifties. Still the two basic characters of Russell and Monroe remained the same. Both would like husbands, but Russell wants to marry for love, money would be nice though, but Monroe it's strictly mercenary.

The two men they have an eye on are millionaire son Tommy Noonan for Monroe and Russell has her eye on Elliott Reid. Monroe's mercenary ways nearly sink the two of them, but it all kind of works out in the end.

Lorelei Lee was Marilyn's breakout role as well. No big male star names are opposite here, she's only in a friendly competition with fellow sex symbol Jane Russell. Russell's contribution to the film is too often overlooked with Marilyn's legend looming over all. She more than holds her own against Marilyn and in fact unlike in some of her films, there was no friction at all with the two women.

I can see why Howard Hawks was attracted to this film. The women he has in his films are tough minded and more than capable of dealing in a man's world. That Jane and Marilyn are in abundance and boy do those women have a lot of abundance.

And in all the right places too.

A gold-digging, or rather diamond-digging, "dumb" blonde, played by Marilyn Monroe, and her singing gal pal, played by the vivacious Jane Russell, provide mutual support on a love boat cruise, where they flirt with, and woo, eligible and preferably rich, men, in this musical comedy from the early 50's. The story is thin and nonsensical. But that's OK, because the film's strengths lie in its comedic script, its dazzling musical numbers, and the inclusion of the visually stunning M. Monroe, as Lorelei Lee.

Superficially, Lorelei "seems" like a not very bright "babe", especially in some of her comments. For example, she counsels Russell's character by saying: "I want you to find happiness --- and stop having fun". But there is a subtle quality about Lorelei that suggests that she may be smarter than she lets on. One wonders if Monroe, who was quite intelligent and bookish in real life, was really acting in this film, or just being herself.

While there are several lively, and memorable, musical numbers, they are all lead-ins to the lavish, eye-popping musical finale. On a stage adorned in garish colors (orange, pink, and black mostly), a breathtakingly glamorous Monroe belts out the popular song: "Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend". Her singing (partially dubbed) is not quite as credible as the performance of Carol Channing in the Broadway version. Still, the film's finale is a cinematic spectacle, a veritable feast for the eyes and ears. "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" is not a heavy weight "message" film. It is instead a pleasant and entertaining bit of fluff, where the emphasis is on fun, music, and glamour.