Comment épouser un millionnaire

The film, the first filmed in CinemaScope, although the second to be released, remains as slick and witty as ever. While the three girls chase rich husbands they somehow end up marrying for love.

Personally for me it is Lauren Bacall and William Powell that standout...their witty knowing conversations are a true delight. Mr Powell shows just why he was so highly regarded. He has a magnificent calm and dignified presence beautifully complimented by Mrs Bogart's cool chic.

The film shows all the problems of early CinemaScope of course ...the lack of closeups because of optical distortions that would occur and enough light to sunbake under being necessary on the sets and a sound scheme with the stereophonic image shifting from side to side as characters moves across the screen.

The film is beautifully restored on the DVD with fine colour and sound.

The use of a 1:2.55 ratio means a truly WIDE screen ....which is shown off by the location shots of New York and the girls apartment which seems enormous!

The opening sequence/overture of course was designed to show off both the brand new wide screen and stereo sound. It seems slightly redundant now but is still a fabulous piece of music by Alfred Newman.

So turn the lights down, turn up the stereo and step back to 1953 and watch a consumate piece of entertainment

The opening prologue is an orchestra performance that has nothing to do with the rest of the movie. I began to wonder if I was watching the wrong movie. I've read they did this because it was the first movie shot in Cinemascope and they wanted to highlight the new stereophonic sound system. Seems to me it was unnecessary but times were different then I guess. Anyway, the plot is about three women on the hunt for husbands. Naturally, they would prefer rich husbands. Lauren Bacall plays the leader of the three -- she's the smart, sophisticated one. Betty Grable plays the ditzy, naïve one. A role Marilyn Monroe probably would have played just a few years later due to typecasting. Here Marilyn plays a sort of middleground between Bacall and Grable's characters. Not too bright and not too dumb. She wears glasses but frequently takes them off because she thinks men don't like girls who wear glasses. There are several amusing gags that come as a result of her poor eyesight. All three ladies are beautiful, of course. They are also very funny and immensely appealing. The men in the film are pretty good, too. Even the ones playing jerks, like the great Fred Clark. Cameron Mitchell, David Wayne, and Rory Calhoun play the three primary love interests and are all likable. William Powell, in his second-to-last film, is as classy as they come. The themes are a little dated but it's all light and fluffy so nothing to get indignant about, for those of you who might. It's a fun, enjoyable romantic comedy. Fans of the three leads will love it most.

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

I enjoyed this cute story of gold-diggers on the prowl. I agree with those who said that musical prologue was way too long -- it was eight minutes before the opening credits came on! This seemed the perfect setting for Marilyn Monroe to sing "Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend," but that gem was in another of her films. I don't agree with those who said Betty Grable was too old for her part. She merely *looked* old. I tried to figure out why. She was only 35 years old. She was still slim (possibly even slimmer than Lauren Bacall, who'd recently had her second child) and her face looked relatively youthful. So why did she look 45? I concluded it was the hair. That poodle cut was unflattering and added years. I also enjoyed Grable's coy reference to real-life husband Harry James and Bacall's to Bogart. All in all, a charming movie and a fun way to spend an hour and a half.

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).