Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
Directed by Howard Hawks
Written by Charles Lederer based on the musical comedy by Joseph Fields and Anita Loos
1953/USA
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation
First viewing/Amazon Instant
#277of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die
[box] He’s your guy/ When stocks are high,/ But beware when they start to descend.
It’s then that those louses/ Go back to their spouses./ Diamonds are a girl’s best friend. – Lyrics by Leo Robin [/box]
This brightly colored musical looks more like something Frank Tashlin might have directed than anything by Howard Hawks.
Lorelei Lee (Marilyn Monroe) makes no secret of the fact that she is looking for a mate who will give her diamonds . Best friend Dorothy Shaw tries to keep her grounded with little success. Lorelei has found an ideal candidate in nebbish Gus Esmond Jr. Unfortunately, Esmond Sr. does not approve. So Lorelei decides to go to Paris in the hopes that absence will make Gus’s heart grow strong enough to overcome the objections. Dorothy is not about to leave Lorelei to her own devices.
Our heroines end up on a cruise ship where Dorothy, who is not so mercenary as Lorelei, collects quite a number of admirers from the U.S. Olympic Team. After she find out they are in training, Ernie Malone steps in to fill the vacuum. Secretly, Ernie is a private detective who has been hired by Gus’s father to dig up dirt on Lorelei. This is almost too easy to do as Lorelei is soon flirting with spritely Sr. Francis “Piggy” Beekman (Charles Coburn), the owner of a diamond mine. Complications and hilarity ensue.
While Russell and Coburn are very good, Monroe is the real reason to watch this film. I have seen her in several supporting roles to this date but this is the movie where her dumb-blonde sex-pot persona and talents as a comedienne emerge in full force. The plot betrays its theatrical origins with the characters bursting into song at a moment’s notice but lots of the numbers are enjoyable. “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend” is iconic.
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If you avoid digging too deep into the characters and their motivations this is a highly enjoyable movie. The songs are all spectacular. I had an “A-ha” moment when I finally connected the actress Marilyn Monroe with her outrageous reputation. This is where it comes from.
It is fun. I think Marilyn had more acting talent than she is given credit for.
She was incredibly talented! My favorite Marilyn Monroe movie is Don’t Bother to Knock. I saw it years and years ago and I was really surprised at how good she is. I try to watch it every three or four years. It always holds up! Elisha Cook Jr., Anne Bancroft, Richard Widmark, Jim Backus. I don’t consider it film noir but many people do because it’s such a compact, stylish thriller.
I guess she gave everybody a hard time while making Some Like It Hot but it sure doesn’t show on the screen. I think that’s my favorite performance of hers.
That’s good too!
Love the musical numbers. Especially those beefy boys! And, of course, DIAMONDS!
I like the musical numbers too. Paradoxically, I love Monroe in this while having a bit of a problem with the salacious fifties vibe the movie exudes. I have no problem with sex in my movies. It’s a kind of leering attitude I don’t like.
Unless Marilyn and Jane get to leer back?
Yes, and I guess they did at that!
Chuckle, chuckle. Howard Hawks always lets the girls leer, doesn’t he?