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Gentlemen Prefer Blondes

Marilyn Monroe: The Diamond Collection

  • Bus Stop
  • Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
  • How to Marry a Millionaire
  • Marilyn Monroe: The Final Days
  • The Seven Year Itch
  • There's No Business Like Show Business
    • Who would imagine that the same man responsible for To Have and Have Not, The Big Sleep, Red River and Rio Bravo was also the director of Gentleman Prefer Blondes? But let's not forget — the estimable Mr. Howard Hawks also directed Bringing Up Baby, His Girl Friday and the hilarious Ball of Fire with Gary Cooper and Barbara Stanwyck — Hawks knew how to direct women, and he sure knew comedy. Gentlemen Prefer Blondes is a triumph of a film, blatantly and unapologetically about sex, romance and savvy dames with phenomenal bodies who can sing and dance. Nightclub singers Dorothy Shaw and Lorelei Lee (Jane Russell and Marilyn Monroe) are "Just Two Little Girls From Little Rock," as the song says, on a luxury cruise to Europe, paid for by gold digger Lorelei's wealthy beau. Dorothy falls for the private detective who's secretly spying on Lorelei, and some messiness about possible stolen diamonds ensue. The plot is secondary to the joys of watching the delicious Russell and Monroe together — Russell as the smart, street-wise Dorothy who's holding out for true love, and Monroe as the smart dumb blonde who knows how to get what she wants. The musical numbers are sexy, funny and brilliantly executed — the frankly homoerotic "Ain't Anyone Here For Love?" features Russell cavorting with a group of gymnast/dancers in revealing, flesh-colored swim trunks, thrusting muscled legs and tight butts akimbo, and Marilyn's classic turn in "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend" still shows what a cut-rate poseur that Madonna person is. Watch this movie often — it will make you happy. Fox's DVD release of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes is clean and beautiful, with all that rich Technicolor restored in a new print (the original 1.33:1), while audio is crisp in remastered Dolby stereo, along with the original mono. Includes the Movietone newsreel footage of Marilyn and Jane pressing their body parts into the cement at Grauman's Chinese Theater and trailers for all films in The Diamond Collection. Keep-case.
    —Dawn Taylor

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