Gentlemen Prefer Blondes

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953)

Starring Jane Russell, Marilyn Monroe, Charles Coburn, Elliott Reid, Tommy Noonan

Directed by Howard Hawks

Written by Charles Lederer

Click here for my Letterboxd review

Click here for my original RyMickey's Ramblings review

The RyMickey Rating: B-

The Seven Year Itch

The Seven Year Itch (1955)

Starring Marilyn Monroe and Tommy Ewell 

Directed by Billy Wilder

Written by Billy Wilder and George Axelrod

Click here for my Letterboxd review

The RyMickey Rating:  D

Movie Review - We're Not Married

We're Not Married (1952)

Starring Ginger Rogers, Fred Allen, Marilyn Monroe, David Wayne, Eve Arden, Paul Douglas, Mitzi Gaynor, Eddie Bracken, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Louis Calhern, and Victor Moore

Directed by Edmund Goulding

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

We're Not Married is absolutely mindless entertainment, but goshdarnit, it won me over shortly after it started.  Admittedly, I knew nothing about this flick, but simply added it to my Netflix Instant queue after I watched My Week with Marilyn earlier this year since this happened to star Monroe.  Little did I know that this short eighty-minute film would be a series of short ten to twenty minute vignettes revolving around the central premise of a newly appointed justice of the peace (a delightfully semi-senile Victor Moore) failing to properly marry five couples during his first week on the job.  Two years later, it's unearthed that these initial marriages are nullified and we soon discover what happens to each of the five couples after they get the letter detailing that they aren't really betrothed.  Will they want to stay together?  Or will they discover that this is an easy way out of an unhappy situation?

Not knowing this wasn't a full movie, but rather a series of short stories, I was surprised when the film shifted to a completely different "married" couple thirty minutes in and I worried that the movie wouldn't be able to sustain the humorous success it achieves in the first tale featuring Ginger Rogers and Fred Allen as a bickering twosome who only married in order to make a significant profit hosting a radio show posing as a lovingly hitched couple.  Fortunately, my worries were irrational and, for the most part, each tale manages to be amusing (although none quite match the comedic levels Rogers and Allen reach in the opening act).

You must keep in mind that you're watching a 1950s version of romance here...we're not delving deep in any shape or form, but we are treated to amusing sketches that are different enough to hold interest.  Sure, the flick could've maybe been trimmed by one tale (the third act in particular starring Eve Arden and Paul Douglas doesn't really add much to the movie as a whole), but We're Not Married is charming nonetheless and definitely worth a look if you're in the mood for an old-fashioned comedy.

The RyMickey Rating:  B

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+

Movie Review - Don't Bother to Knock (1952)

Don't Bother to Knock
Starring Marilyn Monroe, Richard Widmark, and Anne Bancroft
Directed by Roy Ward Baker

This one was "recommended" to me by Netflix after I recently watched another Marilyn Monroe film, Niagara. With it being a very short 75 minutes, I figured why not give it a shot. As of now, I still stand by the fact that Monroe isn't necessarily a great actress, but she's got a certain je ne sais quoi that completely captures my attention when she's on camera.

The movie begins with a young Anne Bancroft sitting at a hotel bar, preparing to perform her nightclub act. While singing, her ex-boyfriend, Jed (Widmark) walks in hoping to rekindle their relationship. Jed is denied and goes up to his room at the hotel.

Now we jump to a completely unrelated storyline with a young woman named Nell (Monroe) meeting the Jones's -- a family for whom she's babysitting for this evening. As the mom and dad go downstairs to the hotel ballroom, Nell puts the young Bunny Jones to bed and begins to dance around the suite. Jed happens to see Nell from across an alleyway in between the "U-shaped" hotel and he calls her up after she flirts with him in the window. Nell invites Jed over to the room, but soon Jed (and we the audience) discover that Nell may not be sane and may, in fact, be dangerous to herself and others.

Monroe is quite good here. Sure, she still uses her squeaky voice, but she brings depth and substance to her Nell. While some of her lines are simply silly, she manages to elevate herself above the melodrama that's present in 1950s films like this.

The real problem with the film (similar to that of Niagara) is the story that's unrelated to Monroe bogs down the movie. Anne Bancroft (in her first movie) is fine as is Richard Widmark as Jed, but their story is pretty much worthless. It simply pads the already short running time which could have been even shorter.

Still, if anyone's got the "on demand" Netflix option and you're looking for a quick black-and-white psychological drama (I know...everyone's looking for one of those), this one's worth putting in the queue.

The RyMickey Rating: C

Movie Review - Niagara (1953)

Niagara
Starring Marilyn Monroe and Joseph Cotten
Directed by Henry Hathaway

This is only the second Marilyn Monroe movie I've seen (Some Like It Hot being the first), and I must say she's one sexy lady...and she knew it (as did her director who told her to sashay every single time she walked). She exudes such an alluring quality that the viewer can't help but be fixated on her. Fortunately, that fixation doesn't detract from this film noir.

Monroe plays Rose Loomis who is married to the older George (Joseph Cotten) and they both realize that they are in a completely loveless relationship. A trip to a motel overlooking Niagara Falls doesn't do a thing except cause Rose to fall in love with another man whom she meets on the side. Instead of rekindling things, Rose plots to kill George with the assistance of her lover. As is the case in many noirs, things don't go according to plan.

There's really two storylines going on here -- one involving Monroe and Cotton and another involving another married couple that befriend Rose. Unfortunately, this other couple take up the bulk of the story, becoming the "detectives" in the tale and, truth be told, they're just not very exciting. The flick is fairly short (under 90 minutes), but it feels much longer because of this "other couple" -- it felt like it could've ended much before it actually did.

Whenever Monroe's on the screen, however, it's absolutely entrancing. I've heard criticism that Monroe wasn't a great actress, just a great sex symbol. Maybe that's true (as I've said, I haven't seen nearly enough of her films to make a judgment), but she was really pretty darn good in this. And as far as the story goes, it's a decent noir...just not a great one.

The RyMickey Rating: C