Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953)

Far from Perfect, Far from Terrible

In other words,this film is a surreal ride.

Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

I just had the good fortune to see GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES on the big screen this evening (6/5/18) to commemorate the 92 birthday of Marilyn Monroe. This movie sent Marilyn to iconic Hollywood status - but what can't be denied is the POWER of Jane Russell's performance. And together their chemistry is pure perfection. This is not just Marilyn's film, (even with the brilliant staging and Marilyn's brilliant performance of "Diamond's Are a Girl's Best Friend), but it's Jane's movie too. She had a totally unique and original screen presence which matches PERFECTLY with Marilyn's unique and original screen presence. If you've never seen this movie, you'll probably want to watch it because of the eternal fame of MM (people know who she is without ever seeing one of her films), but you'll walk away loving Jane Russell just as much!

The Lovesong of Lorelei Bigrocks;Men that follow like a tedious regimentOf libidinous intentTo lead you to an overwhelming question...Oh, do not ask, "What is it?"Though love is grand, diamonds are exquisite.In the room the women come and go Talking of men with plenty of dough.Marilyn (no last name needed), iconic and larger than life, answered many of the popular questions of her time. Do men make passes at girls who wear glasses? Yes. Do gentlemen prefer blondes? Sometimes. If the dog is man's best friend, what is women's?Marilyn might not have been a great dancer, but she could move. She might not have been a great singer, but her voice was smooth as cocoa butter and memorable. Everyone remembers her cooing "Happy Birthday" to JFK. And her role as Lorelei Lee in "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" is iconic (just ask Madonna), especially in the number "Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend".She strutted and wiggled her way through that movie with Jane Russell as fellow chorine, Dorothy Shaw--a non-blonde. With her usual heart- of-gold portrayal, Marilyn proved that it was not only okay to dig for gold, it was logical. Besides, she might actually have loved the hapless schmuck she set her sights on.Taking full advantage of Technicolor, director Howard Hawks created a vibrant film that revels in the innocent lustiness of a Marilyn (her next film would be "How to Marry a Millionaire") and a Jane (who two years later would star in "Gentlemen Marry Brunettes"). Though the early fifties signaled a newfound sexual freedom, clearly the emphasis was still on marriage, whether the female lead was Doris Day or Marilyn Monroe.This is a lightweight film, admittedly, and it offers little in the way of heart-pounding romance, suspense or drama. Just two beautiful women on a casual mission to find a few carats if happiness.

Singers Lorelei Lee (Marilyn Monroe) and Dorothy Shaw (Jane Russell) travel to Paris by ship, but get more than they bargained for when the father of Lorelei's husband-to-be hires a private detective to keep tabs on Lorelei. On the journey, Lorelei gets herself many admirers and Dorothy finds herself falling in love with the private detective who's spying on Lorelei.This film certainly opens with a bang with a couple of colourful and lively musical numbers. However, it's once the musical numbers pass by and the 'narrative' takes over that the picture starts to suffer somewhat. The problem here is that the story itself is very weak and isn't particularly interesting. It doesn't help that more of the focus seems to be put on Lorelei's character who is both shallow and dim-witted - although the writers do at least show at times that her character may not be as dim as we think, but sadly examples of this are few and far between. I would have preferred it if Russell's character had been developed more as she was definitely the more interesting of the two characters.Marilyn Monroe isn't the greatest of actresses and this does show in this picture, but she is still OK here (basically playing another 'dumb blonde' like she did in Some Like It Hot). Jane Russell is much better and gives a much more natural performance. Her character is sassy, ballsy and lots of fun - it's just a pity that her character is underwritten here.Although it's an uneven film there are certainly laughs to be found here and there; the scene where Lorelei gets stuck in the window was funny and Jane Russell's take on Marilyn Monroe towards the end was priceless. The finale was nice even if the resolution to the story was a little lame and corny.All in all this isn't a 'classic' film or even a 'great' film - the story is too thin and there aren't enough laughs for it to have the words 'classic' or 'great' associated with it. However, it is fun at times, the musical numbers are lively and Jane Russell gives a very spirited performance. Gentlemen Prefer Blondes is an OK film, but just not all it's cracked up to be.

There can be no denying it - As it was so clearly evident here in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, the marvellous wonder of Technicolour and the dynamic radiance of Marilyn Monroe were, without question, made for each other.In this slick and sassy Musical/Comedy from 1953, Monroe plays showgirl, Lorelei Lee, a somewhat clueless gold-digger, who isn't all that concerned about a guy's age or looks, just as long as he's got plenty of cash to throw around in order to buy her expensive presents.Even though Monroe, as usual, looked positively sensational here, I personally think that her talent as an actress was totally wasted in this silly, shallow and preposterous film.With plenty of sexual innuendo squeezed into its dialogue, the highlight of this moderately entertaining picture was (again) the gorgeous Marilyn, in a hot-pink, strapless dress, doing a sizzling "Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend" number.The only reason to watch this film is to see Marilyn Monroe at her absolute loveliest.