Thursday, February 24, 2005
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953)
Director: Howard Hawks
* Warning the following analysis contains a discussion of the entire film – including the ending.
At the risk of sounding metrosexual – Gentlemen Prefer Blondes is fabulous. It is a Technicolor musical in the eye-popping spirit of Singing in the Rain. Gentlemen Prefer Blondes stars Marilyn Monroe as Lorelei Lee and Jane Russell as Dorothy Shaw, two showgirls on their way to Paris via cruise-ship – and there is your plot. Lorelei hopes to marry a rich man because he is rich and Dorothy is her friend – and there is your character development. Ernie Malone is a private eye hired by Gus Esmond’s father to dig up dirt on Lorelei so he can forbid his son from marrying. Malone manages a photo of Lorelei in the arms of an old diamond mine owner Sir Francis 'Piggy' Beekman – and there is your plot twist. In the final scene (as if I need to say it) Lorelei and Dorothy walk down the aisle to marry – and there, of course, is your resolution. The film has all the substance of a cream puff; yet, it is fabulous.
Most prominently Gentlemen Prefer Blondes has fantastic songs and musical performances (most famously Monroe’s Diamond’s Are a Girl’s Best Friend.) Though for my money Russell is the better musical performer. For me it is like Chicago where Catherine Zeta Jones, the brunette co-star, out performed (and out sex-appealed) the blonde, top-billed star. Rene Zellweger was that blonde in Chicago.
Next, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes is surprisingly sexy for 1953. Further (and I’m not sure about this) it displays more skin (both male and female) than any film that preceded it. The dresses Monroe and Russell wear in the opening scene still shock. Plus there are many cleverly placed and innocently spoken double-entendres (such as the girls discussing the bugle in Esmond’s pocket while he watches them perform). And most startling is the homoerotic dance number featuring basically nude male dances representing the US Olympic team. This is also the best song and dance number in the film – it is the sexy bookend to Monroe’s Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend toward the end of the film. (It would be interesting for a pop-culture historian to discuss if the homoerotic elements in Russell’s song were at all obvious to the 1950s audience – or if society as a whole was too closeted to even acknowledge it. I’m betting on the latter, otherwise I cannot imagine it getting past the censors.)
Director Howard Hawks makes the interesting choice to present Monroe’s character as self-consciously superficial and proud of it. A fitting choice, in that the film itself is self-consciously superficial – there is nothing (internal to the film) to consider after watching it. Monroe famously states, “It is just as easy to love a rich man as a poor man”, and that is all the film is about – her marrying the rich man.
There is, surprisingly, quite a bit to consider external to film – both culturally and within film history. Primarily is how boldly and without emotional conflict Monroe’s character espouses her life theory – get rich by marring a rich man, love be damned. Lorelei is unapologetic and open about her pursuit, disclosing her intentions not only to Dorothy but also to Esmond (and his Dad). The feature song and dance number Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend is Gentlemen Prefer Blondes version of Gordon Gekko “greed is good” speech in Wall St. (I’m sure historians could make a number of boring points about capitalism vs. socialism and 1950s cold war policy at this point.) Further Hawks makes sure Lorelei does not learn anything along the way. She does not fall in love with Esmond, nor does she find anything admirable in Esmond aside from his money. In a very odd way she is an unapologetic woman of her convictions, telling both her finance and his father, I’m marrying in for the cash and don’t you think I’m worth it?
But you really need not think beyond the screen to enjoy this film. It is pure candy – so just lean back, smile and take in the Technicolor sweets.
Should you see it? Fabulously on the big screen.
* Warning the following analysis contains a discussion of the entire film – including the ending.
At the risk of sounding metrosexual – Gentlemen Prefer Blondes is fabulous. It is a Technicolor musical in the eye-popping spirit of Singing in the Rain. Gentlemen Prefer Blondes stars Marilyn Monroe as Lorelei Lee and Jane Russell as Dorothy Shaw, two showgirls on their way to Paris via cruise-ship – and there is your plot. Lorelei hopes to marry a rich man because he is rich and Dorothy is her friend – and there is your character development. Ernie Malone is a private eye hired by Gus Esmond’s father to dig up dirt on Lorelei so he can forbid his son from marrying. Malone manages a photo of Lorelei in the arms of an old diamond mine owner Sir Francis 'Piggy' Beekman – and there is your plot twist. In the final scene (as if I need to say it) Lorelei and Dorothy walk down the aisle to marry – and there, of course, is your resolution. The film has all the substance of a cream puff; yet, it is fabulous.
Most prominently Gentlemen Prefer Blondes has fantastic songs and musical performances (most famously Monroe’s Diamond’s Are a Girl’s Best Friend.) Though for my money Russell is the better musical performer. For me it is like Chicago where Catherine Zeta Jones, the brunette co-star, out performed (and out sex-appealed) the blonde, top-billed star. Rene Zellweger was that blonde in Chicago.
Next, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes is surprisingly sexy for 1953. Further (and I’m not sure about this) it displays more skin (both male and female) than any film that preceded it. The dresses Monroe and Russell wear in the opening scene still shock. Plus there are many cleverly placed and innocently spoken double-entendres (such as the girls discussing the bugle in Esmond’s pocket while he watches them perform). And most startling is the homoerotic dance number featuring basically nude male dances representing the US Olympic team. This is also the best song and dance number in the film – it is the sexy bookend to Monroe’s Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend toward the end of the film. (It would be interesting for a pop-culture historian to discuss if the homoerotic elements in Russell’s song were at all obvious to the 1950s audience – or if society as a whole was too closeted to even acknowledge it. I’m betting on the latter, otherwise I cannot imagine it getting past the censors.)
Director Howard Hawks makes the interesting choice to present Monroe’s character as self-consciously superficial and proud of it. A fitting choice, in that the film itself is self-consciously superficial – there is nothing (internal to the film) to consider after watching it. Monroe famously states, “It is just as easy to love a rich man as a poor man”, and that is all the film is about – her marrying the rich man.
There is, surprisingly, quite a bit to consider external to film – both culturally and within film history. Primarily is how boldly and without emotional conflict Monroe’s character espouses her life theory – get rich by marring a rich man, love be damned. Lorelei is unapologetic and open about her pursuit, disclosing her intentions not only to Dorothy but also to Esmond (and his Dad). The feature song and dance number Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend is Gentlemen Prefer Blondes version of Gordon Gekko “greed is good” speech in Wall St. (I’m sure historians could make a number of boring points about capitalism vs. socialism and 1950s cold war policy at this point.) Further Hawks makes sure Lorelei does not learn anything along the way. She does not fall in love with Esmond, nor does she find anything admirable in Esmond aside from his money. In a very odd way she is an unapologetic woman of her convictions, telling both her finance and his father, I’m marrying in for the cash and don’t you think I’m worth it?
But you really need not think beyond the screen to enjoy this film. It is pure candy – so just lean back, smile and take in the Technicolor sweets.
Should you see it? Fabulously on the big screen.
