Movie Review - Gentlemen Prefer Blondes

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953)

Starring Jane Russell, Marilyn Monroe, Elliot Reed (detective), Charles Coburn (Piggy), and Tommy Noonan 

Directed by Howard Hawks

***This film is currently streaming on Netflix***

I think I can genuinely say that I'm a fan of Marilyn Monroe.  This is movie #4 I've seen of hers and while she seems to be playing the ditzy blonde in all of them, she plays that part so darn well that it's impossible not to appreciate what she brings to the screen.  Exuding a sex appeal that's palpable nearly sixty years later, she's a real treat to watch.  In Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Monroe is paired with the brunette Jane Russell and the duo who portray a pair of singers play off each other so well that it's near impossible not to be entranced by them.

Monroe is the sultry, soft spoken Lorelei Lee and Russell is the sassy, sometimes brash Dorothy Shaw and as the film begins, the singers embark on a cruise to Paris.  Lorelei is engaged to be married to Gus Esmond (Tommy Noonan), but Gus's father feels that Lorelei is just after the Esmond family fortune.  Because of that, the elder Esmond sends private eye Ernie Malone (Elliot Reed) on the cruise to secretly watch over Lorelei.  Little does the investigator realize that he'll find himself falling in love with Dorothy.  This ends up creating some difficulty for Ernie because he soon discovers that Lorelei is schmoozing it up with diamond mine owner Francis 'Piggy' Beekman (Charles Coburn).  What Ernie sees as a woman cheating on her fiancé, Lorelei just sees as playful flirting in order to get her hands on some of Piggy's diamonds because, after all, diamonds are a girl's best friend.

And that iconic song is just one of many that pepper the film.  And it's in those songs that the film falters a bit.  The premise I described above is absolutely winning and every single actor is truly fantastic.  But when Gentlemen Prefer Blondes becomes a musical, it just doesn't work.  I think the director realized this at a certain point because for about forty minutes in the middle of the film, there's nary a musical number.  It's not that all the songs are bad, but they only work when used in a diegetic manner.  When Lorelei sings "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend" at a nightclub, it's a complete success (and an iconic film moment, at that), but when Dorothy breaks out into song as she watches the men's Olympic gymnastic team work out on the cruise ship, it's a true failure (and a moment that brings the movie to a complete stop rather than be a showstopping number).

Still, for the most part, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes is a true classic.  I genuinely guffawed quite a few times and found myself wishing the film wouldn't end after its too quick ninety minutes.  This one's well worth checking out.

The RyMickey Rating:  B+