How to Marry a Millionaire

An over excited critic once wrote that seeing Monroe in Cinemascope was like being smothered in baked Alaska, and seeing this movie, you know exactly what he (I assume he was a he) was on about. The movie opens on the extreme verticals of New York skyscrapers and narrow city streets, then cuts to a wonderfully elongated horizontal Monroe streeeeeeeetched across the scene in an increasingly empty apartment (the girls sell their furniture to be able to pay the rent). This movie is dated and fluffy, but has several interesting elements that make it worth a look for anyone interested in movie history, any of the leads, or in passing a wet Sunday afternoon in a pleasant way. This was Grable's last performance. She knew Monroe was about to usurp her, but the two women both dealt with an uncomfortable situation in a professional way. There is a great narrative twist in the film too - Monroe plays a short sighted girl who finally meets the man to marry her when he tells her he likes her in her glasses. Unlike the usual cliched plot line, it is when Monroe keeps her glasses on that she is revealed to be beautiful. Her acting is this film is among her best, especially her vulnerable scene in the gold aeroplane, and the moment in the powder room when she looks at herself in the mirrors and explodes into five, raspberry satin dress covered Marilyn's is a visual pleasure the film and the viewer revel in (Monroe can't, not wearing her glasses at that point). This film is creamy, smooth, warm - just liked baked Alaska!!

I just had a wonderful opportunity to catch a screening of this film on a wide screen. What a treat!

Unfortunately, it wasn't the best print; lots of dust and scratches on reel changes, and the colors were quite faded, but these films simply must be seen on a wide screen with an audience to be truly appreciated. Of course, almost any movie is improved by seeing it at the Castro Theatre in San Francisco, and I consider myself fortunate to have had the opportunity.

Lauren Bacall has always been one of my favorite actors, and she and Powell do work wonderfully together. Monroe is also, always a delight - I think that she was a much better actress than she is generally given credit for. However, though I've seen this movie close to a dozen times before, I was really struck at the wonderful performance that Grable turned in. She was perfect! I haven't seen much of her other work, but in HTMAM, she shows herself to be a wonderful comedic actress, playing a "dim blonde" who really isn't that dim. What a revelation and what a delight.

I would definitely recommend this movie to anyone who likes old movies, but if you have a chance to catch it on a real movie screen - DO SO! You won't be disappointed.

Bacall, Grable, and Monroe, along with fabulous fashions and sets, and a few epic shots of NYC all contribute to making an otherwise very thin film just plain fun to watch. I'm not going to spend time analyzing the different personalities each of the three leads and their men are supposed to represent. The title pretty much tells the story and I will just say that this was a fun, easy, and pleasant way to spend a couple of hours.

Loco Dempsey, Pola Debevoise and Schatze Page, each one a pretty model, their goal in life?, to marry millionaires. They set themselves up in a top apartment and set about wooing any potential suitors, trouble is is that it's hard to tell the rich from the normal, and love may just have a say after all.

Betty Grable, Marilyn Monroe and Lauren Bacall play our three dubiously motivated ladies, each one putting a delightful stamp on each respective character. Filmed in CinemaScope, New York {and the girls Manhattan apartment}is beautifully realised and with the restored DVDs available, the colour positively gleams on the screen. The story itself is a fun one, tho at its core it's of course greedy and selfish, but this is a romantic comedy that plays out with delightful ease, and thankfully doesn't contain pointless filler scenes to purely showcase the actresses on show.

Monroe has never looked as pretty as she does here, some of her other films are obviously more famous, but she radiates sexiness and with her character being vision impaired, she gets to show the wonderful comedic talent that she definitely had. Bacall clearly is the best actor on show, so it's no surprise that she gets the best written part, at times bitter, intelligent and determined, her Schatze Page character is the glue binding the picture {and the girls} together. Betty Grable is solid without really impacting a great deal, with the boys {notably Rory Calhoun} offering entertaining support. How To Marry A Millionaire is simply a delightful movie that never over tries your patience, it's a fun ride with a little something for everyone, and it cheerily pays you off at the end. 7/10

This entertaining film has the three girls (Pola, played by Marilyn Monroe in specs; Schatze, played by Lauren Bacall and looking rather mumsy; and Loco, played by Betty Grable with those fabulous legs) setting up shop in an apartment, ready to reel in wealthy husbands.

The boys in question include David Wayne, Rory Calhoun, Cameron Mitchell, William Powell, and Alex D'Arcy. Trying to figure out the scheming girls is hard for them, especially when the girls are going all out to hide their real personalities!

This glitzy fluff is enlivened by real-life in-jokes - Betty Grable doesn't recognise a Harry James record (she was married to him at the time), and Lauren Bacall says she's mad about 'that old man in The African Queen'(real-life husband Bogart of course). Bacall comes out best of the girls although Monroe is always worth watching and Grable was effective decoration even towards the end of her career, as she was here (having been on screen for over twenty years at this point - her first appearance was in her teens in 'Hold 'Em Jail', I think).