Comedy

Romance

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes

20th Century Fox

United States of America

English

Français

Jane Russell

Marilyn Monroe

Charles Coburn

Elliott Reid

Tommy Noonan

George Winslow

Marcel Dalio

Taylor Holmes

Norma Varden

Howard Wendell

Steven Geray

David Ahdar

Alex Akimoff

Aladdin

John Alban

Gordon Armitage

Virginia Bates

Mary Ellen Batten

Harry Baum

Mary Bayless

Kip Behar

Eumenio Blanco

Herman Boden

Jack Boyle

Paul Bradley

Tex Brodus

William Cabanne

Peter Camlin

Harry Carey, Jr.

Steve Carruthers

Albert Cavens

George Chakiris

Spencer Chan

Jack Chefe

Beulah Christian

John Close

Robert Cole

Joan Collenette

Paul Cristo

Roy Damron

Drusilla Davis

George Davis

Jean De Briac

Josette Deegan

Jean Del Val

Bobby Diamond

Deena Dikkers

Jack Dodds

Dan Dowling

Harry Evans

Joe Evans

Adolph Faylauer

Bess Flowers

George Ford

Robert Foulk

Alex Frazer

Raoul Freeman

Joel Friend

Robert Fuller

Ed Fury

Kay Garrett

Kenneth Gibson

Joe Gilbert

June Glory

James Gonzalez

Herschel Graham

Bennett Green

Stanley Hall

Sam Harris

John Hedloe

Bill Hickman

Chuck Hicks

George Hoagland

Stuart Holmes

Casse Jaeger

Dorothy Kellogg

Colin Kenny

Larry Kert

Tommy Ladd

Richard LaMarr

Judy Landon

Joan Larkin

Henri Letondal

Carl M. Leviness

Shirley Lopez

Robert Locke Lorraine

Herb Lurie

Warren Mace

John Marlin

Alphonse Martell

Matt Mattox

Bert May

Frank McLure

Russell Meeker

Buzz Miller

Harold Miller

King Mojave

Ray Montgomery

Alvy Moore

Roger Moore

Howard Hawks

Anita Loos

Joseph Fields

Charles Lederer

Sol C. Siegel

Harry J. Wild

Hugh S. Fowler

Claude E. Carpenter

Travilla

Lyle R. Wheeler

Joseph C. Wright

Ben Nye

Lionel Newman

Charles LeMaire

Herbert W. Spencer

Earle Hagen

Bernard Mayers

E. Clayton Ward

Roger Heman Sr.

Paul Helmick

Ray Kellogg

Allan Snyder

Don Torpin

Malcolm Stewart

Earl Gilbert

Clyde Taylor

James Blakeley

Lyman Hallowell

Harold Adamson

Leo Robin

Jule Styne

Ken Darby

Eliot Daniel

Hoagy Carmichael

Jack Cole

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes 1953, sharp and very clued into the times.

Other than Ridley Scott's brilliant Thelma And Louise 1991, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes has to rank as one of the finest films where the girls actually out buddy buddy the men!!

It would seem that a chief complaint with the film is that it has no similarity to Anita Loo's Broadway musical? And whilst I'm one for pounding on films for missing out crucial parts of source novels, I have no frame of reference as regards this films original source so therefore view with untainted eyes as it were.

Viewing it these days you have to admire the cheek of it all. I mean it really shouldn't work because on the face of it this is just a couple of showgirls taking a trip, but the blatant use of stereotypes for these two ladies is deftly funny. Monroe is absolutely perfect for the role of Lorelei, a woman purely out for the sparkle of diamonds and a man's bank balance, she is as much shallow as she is to die for gorgeous. Jane Russell is also sublime here, her Dorothy Shaw is witty and sophisticated and very protective towards her friend, yet she also needs to be loved and this shines out amongst the sarcasm and sharpness dripping off of her tongue.

The film works on more than one level, it's a sugar and sweet musical with glamour girls to feast my eyes upon, but also it works as a sharp piece of work when taking into account the era it was made. The 50s (my research and my parents led me to believe) were very much the time of family values being paramount, yet around the time of this pic's release, sex was becoming more of a topic to the people of the street. Playboy with Marilyn on the center was about to turn heads, and of course Kinsey and his report was just around the corner. So upon watching Gentlemen Prefer Blondes now I can't help thinking that Howard Hawks had his finger firmly on the pulse by throwing away the big show time of the source, and then making a film that saw the wind of change with people's attitudes.

Not a masterpiece by any stretch of the imagination, but we get some tidy numbers from the girls and some sharp dialogue coupled with hilarious visual comedy. A very smart and astute film that's knowing of the times that were a changing, and featuring a dynamic female duo to rank with the best that cinema has to offer. 7/10

CinemaSerf

Well there's a transatlantic voyage, a missing tiara, a private detective; a pair of sparkly dancers and a little courtroom drama - so something for just about everyone as we follow the antics of two American showgirls trying to make a living after the war. "Dorothy" (Jane Russell) and "Lorelei" (Marilyn Monroe) are working their passage as the latter woman takes a bit of a breather from her incredibly wealthy but just a little possessive fiancé "Gus" (Tommy Noonan). It's his millionaire father who is distinctly suspicious of his son's choice of bride so he's the one who hires the PI and so you just know there are going to misunderstandings galore on that front. Meantime, "Dorothy" has managed to attract the attentions of the American Olympic squad - a lot of fit, scantily clad young men who make her feel like a million dollars. Despite them being offered different temptations along the way, the two stick together like glue in the original depiction of "sisterhood"! To be honest, the story isn't the best - it's an hybrid of lots of familiar scenarios all stitched together rudimentarily with the purpose of delivering an amiable vehicle for two women who do know how to entertain. 'Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend" is the show-stopper from Jule Stein and Leo Robin amidst an otherwise rather unremarkable array of rather formulaic song-and-dance numbers, but these two do their own singing and synchronise perfectly as they dance their way through half a dozen numbers en route to a denouement that allows Norma Varden to get up onto her most snooty hind legs and for Charles Coburn to complete his few enlivening scenes as this thinnest of stories sails along effortlessly but, I have to say, forgettably. It is a classy looking film and oozes a charm that's well worth a gander.

Original Trailer

Robert Weide on GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES

Best Movies

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes

Cast & Crew

Videos

Cast

Jane Russell

Marilyn Monroe

Charles Coburn

Elliott Reid

Tommy Noonan

George Winslow

Marcel Dalio

Taylor Holmes

Norma Varden

Howard Wendell

Box office

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