Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953)

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953), directed by Howard Hawks.

A film famous not for much in its plot -- it's a musical, after all -- as for the color, costumes, jewelry, general glamour and most specifically for its pairing of sex symbols Jane Russell and Marilyn Monroe. Marilyn plays the material girl while Jane is (voraciously) looking for love. A happy film: I can't help but marvel and laugh.

When I was young Russell seemed much older than Monroe, but there is only five years difference between them. Although witty and charming, Russell seems tougher and has a masculine side to her power. The biting wit comes naturally to her.

If I haven't seen the films for a while I get the title confused with How to Marry a Millionaire (1953) (same year!), which could easily describe both movies.

Marilyn's tour-de-force "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend" is iconic, one of the famous images of cinema, often quoted. Nicole Kidman's version in Moulin Rouge (2001) was particularly fine. Monroe did most of her own singing, with a little supplemental dubbing from Marnie Nixon.

I'd forgotten: after that number Russell does a Monroe impression and then reprises the song in a funny, unglamorous way.

Hoagy Carmichael contributes two songs.

Based on a stage musical which was from a 1925 novel. A silent version from 1928 is presumed lost.

I don't think the director made any other musicals, apart from A Song Is Born (1948), an adaptation of his own Ball of Fire (1941). I give him and writer Charles Lederer credit for the wit and innuendo, but some of it probably comes from the stage play and novel.

Lovely Blu-ray image, although made grainless with DNR. The costumes, jewelry and glamorous stars are all knockouts.