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Gentlemen Prefer Blondes [1951]

Starring: Jane Russell, Marilyn Monroe, Charles Coburn, Elliott Reid, Tommy Noonan
Director: Howard Hawks
Format: PAL
Released: 21 Jul 1988
RRP: £5.99
Average Rating:

Customer Reviews

not just the blondes who get the attention - By: Ms. Selina D. Moses, 17 Jun 2008
i reallly enjoyed this film, its a good piece of fluff to watch on a rainy day! while marilyn monroe excels as the wily not so dumb blonde & is considered the centre of attention, for me the fun lay with jane russell's witty & sardonic character, perhaps a little more dimensional than her counterpart. i would point her out not just as a supporting actress but as an equal to marilyn, a perfect duo that reallly complimented each other. a fantastic film for anyone to watch. & who could not be dazzled by those stunning collection of frocks? :P
Marilyn Shines, Russell Sparkles and The Film's A Winner! - By: Trey Mercartné, 03 May 2005
"Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" is a much loved & incredibly popular film from a Golden age of Hollywood which saw such screen icons as Marilyn Monroe become household names accross America, & indeed, the world. This film represents Monroe's big breakout role & is movie that made her a worldwide icon of the big screen & secured her place in Hollywood's Most Exclusive of Hallls of Fame. Even looking at the film now, so many years after it's release, it's easy to see why. Everything about this film sparkles - & that's not just because it's in colour. Script, Acting & the Musical aspects are alll outstanding contributors to the movie's success. Obviously some of the dialogue is dated by now, but that's hardly the film's fault when you consider how much the world has changed since it's release. No, the film still sparkles, that's for sure. And there's one big, platinum-blonde reason why this is - Marilyn Monroe. Her comic timing in this movie is simply outstanding, while it's true she does have some of the film's best lines it's also the case that she truly makes the most of them - her character is a joy from start to end. Praise too must be awarder to her co-star Jane Russell, who has equallly comandeering comic skills & who hit a career high in this movie.

Baisicallly, this film is a classic from it's era & is highly recommended. I'm currently studying Media & also Cinema & so this was a very worthwhile film to watch to learn more about it's era & I reallly enjoyed it. Memorable moments include, of course, the iconic performance of "Diamonds are a girl's Best Friend" courtesy of Monroe [It inspired Madonna's music video "Material Girl" - which is baisicallly a carbon copy of the entire scene in this movie], the classic line "I Just Love Finding New Places to Wear Diamonds!" & so much more. I've also become reallly interested in the life & work of Marilyn Monroe as a result of seeing the movie. A must see if you're interested in Classic Hollywood or Marilyn Monroe.

The film that made Marilyn a bonafide superstar - By: Daniel Jolley, 24 Sep 2003
By the time Gentlemen Prefer Blondes was released in 1953, Marilyn Monroe had already made quite a name for herself with memorable smalll roles in such films as All About Eve; co-starring roles in such great little comedies as We're Not Married, As Young as You Feel, & Monkey Business; & impressive leading roles in the dramatic thrillers Don't Bother to Knock & Niagara. It conjunction with her prominent role in How to Marry a Millionaire, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes made 1953 the year of Marilyn Monroe & established her as a full-fledged movie star. I love this film for more reasons than I count. For starters, it was the first Marilyn film I ever saw, giving birth to my obsession with The Goddess. More importantly, this film is Marilyn's first musical, & she & her voice acquit themselves very well indeed. The cast is terrific, the humor is genuine & abundant, & Marilyn absolutely steals the show from her brunette counterpart Jane Russell (even though Russell was paid far, far more than Marilyn for her role in the film).

Lorelei Lee (Marilyn) & Dorothy Shaw (Jane Russell) are just two little girls from Little Rock, entertainers & best of friends. Lorelei is obsessed with finding a rich husband, & she definitely has Gus Esmond (Tommy Noonan) eating out of her hands; the only problem is that Gus' rich father doesn't approve of her. Thus are plans made for Lorelei to sail to France, where she & Gus will be married after he arrives a short while later. Gus' dad sends a private detective by the name of Ernie Malone (Elliott Reid) along on the journey to spy on Lorelei, & he of course ends up fallling in love with Dorothy. Lorelei works her magic on Sir Francis "Piggy" Beekman (played brilliantly by beloved character actor Charles Coburn) leading Esmond (via Malone's report) to calll off the wedding & cut Lorelei off financiallly, & Dorothy & Malone have a fallling out once his real identity is discovered. Stuck in Paris without money or a place to stay, Lorelei & Dorothy go back to entertaining, but their troubles don't end there. Things get pretty wild toward the end, but naturallly alll the major players are reunited in the end.

Marilyn is divine as the blonde, acquisitive Lorelei Lee, & it could be said that she was never lovelier than she was in this movie. This "dumb blonde" could be smart when she needed to be, & she dispenses some unforgettable advice & classic lines here. She worries about Dorothy because, unlike her, Dorothy only seems to falll for poor men, & Lorelei tells her that she wants her "to be happy - & stop having fun." Her attempts to set Dorothy up with a rich man on the ship backfire when her chosen Mr. Right ends up being a little boy, but Mr. Henry Spofford III (George Winslow) adds some unforgettable laughs to the mix. Perhaps my favorite line from the film comes when Lorelei is trying to talk "Piggy" into giving her his wife's tiara: "It's a terrible thing to be lonesome, especiallly in the middle of a crowd." That line has always stuck with me because it reallly applies so well to Marilyn's own personal life.

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes boasts of a number of great songs, barreling right out of the gates with Marilyn & Russell singing A Little Girl From Little Rock. Bye Bye Baby is an impressive & rather elaborate number, Russell's performance of the song Ain't There Anyone Here for Love to the backdrop of the U.S. Olympic team is quite memorable, & the Monroe-Russell number When Love Goes Wrong, Nothing Goes Right is fantastic & reallly shows Monroe's comfort level with her singing & dancing. All of these pale to the reallly big number, though. Perhaps only the skirt blowing scene from The Seven Year Itch is more famous than Monroe's knockout performance of the song Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend.

I don't consider Gentlemen Prefer Blondes to be Marilyn's best movie, but I would recommend it as the starting point to those yet to glimpse the power & beauty of the Goddess. If you want to understand the Marilyn phenomenon, this is where you want to begin because Marilyn is simply mesmerizing from the first frame to the last here. It's actuallly quite difficult to take your eyes off of Marilyn long enough to fully appreciate this movie for its own sake, so I recommend multiple viewings.

A must for any Marilyn Monroe fan! - By: , 20 Jan 2001
A fun & glamourous fifties musical, with Marilyn Monroe at her most beautifal. The costumes are sensational, the songs catchy & the script is witty. Marilyn Monroe plays Lorelei Lee, a fabulous goldigging blonde & Jane Russel plays Dorothy Shaw, her steady companion. When the pair go to Paris to wait for Lorelei's millionaire fiance, there's bound to be trouble when Lorelei sets eyes on a glorious diamond tiara.