262. Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953)

Directed By Howard Hawks

Synopsis

Not that complex really. Gold-digger wants to marry rich guy, daddy won't let him, so she goes to wait for him in Paris where they are meant to be married with her friend, who is down to earth and not guided solely by money. Rich guy's father sends along a detective to get evidence that gold-digger doesn't love his son. Detective falls in love with gold-digger's friend. Eventually daddy is charmed by gold-digger and manages to marry his son, and friend marries detective.

Review

As my wife said, it's a cute film. And that is truly the appropriate word for it, not particularly great, not particularly bad, but cute. There's isn't much to learn from it unless the moral that gold-digging is actually OK.

The best moment is definitely the most famous one with Marilyn doing Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend, a really great track, perfectly choreographed. But then, I always like Jane Russell better than Marilyn and in this film Russell is really the more sympathetic of the characters, and the better actress as well.

There are some pretty funny moments in the film, such as the picture postcard 1950's gay scene musical in the pool. The grown up kid is also amusing for about a minute, but in the end it all boils down to cute. So yeah, enjoyable, not amazing.

Final Grade

8/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

The story line first appeared in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes: The Illuminating Diary of a Professional Lady, a 1925 novel by Anita Loos. It was adapted for the stage in 1926, and then a 1928 silent movie, starring Ruth Taylor, Alice White, Ford Sterling, and Mack Swain, which, as of now, is apparently lost. John C. Wilson directed the Broadway musical with Carol Channing as Lorelei Lee that served as the basis for this screen version.

Loos wrote a sequel to her novel entitled But Gentlemen Marry Brunettes, with further adventures of Lorelei and Dorothy. The 1955 Gentlemen Marry Brunettes used only the book's name and starred Russell and Jeanne Crain playing characters who were the daughters of Dorothy Shaw.

Diamonds: