West-German postcard by Krüger, no. 902/14. Photo: West-German postcard by Krüger, no. 902/14. Photo: Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (Howard Hawks, 1953).
Italian programme card for Il Cinema Ritrovata 2011. Photo: Marilyn Monroe, Charles Coburn and Jane Russell in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (Howard Hawks, 1953) with.
British postcard by Santoro Graphics, London, no. C213. Photo: Marilyn Monroe in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (Howard Hawks, 1953).
American postcard in the Demac Collection. Photo: Jane Russell in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (Howard Hawks, 1953).
Showgirls and rich men
Lorelei Lee (Marilyn Monroe) and Dorothy Shaw (Jane Russell) are colleagues and good friends. They work as showgirls and have the attention of several - often rich - men. Lorelei is even engaged to wealthy Gus Esmond (Tommy Noonan), who will do anything for her.
When Gus wants to take Lorelei to France to get married, he is stopped by his father who does not trust Lorelei. The disappointed Lorelei goes to France by boat anyway and asks Dorothy along. What she does not know, however, is that Esmond's father has sent a private detective along to catch Lorelei in adultery. However, the detective, Ernie Malone (Elliott Reid), falls in love with Dorothy, while Lorelei gets warm feelings from British Sir Francis Beekman (Charles Coburn), nicknamed 'Piggy', the owner of a diamond mine.
When Lorelei is flirting with the married Piggy, Malone secretly takes pictures of them. However, he is spotted by Dorothy and she and Lorelei steal the film from the camera. In gratitude, Piggy gives his wife's diamond tiara to Lorelei. But Malone later reveals that he also took tape recordings. Dorothy now pretends to be in love with Malone.
Once in France, Piggy's wife Lady Beekman (Norma Varden) accuses Lorelei of stealing the tiara. When Gus Esmond learns of this, he revokes Lorelei's credit card. Destitute, the girls now have to work in a nightclub. However, Piggy steals Lorelei's tiara and when the latter is arrested by the police and wants to return the jewel, she is in good trouble.
Gus comes to France and Dorothy tells him to help Lorelei buy a new tiara. In the meantime, she takes Lorelei's place, wearing a fake blonde wig and trying to buy time in court. Malone and Gus's father (Taylor Holmes) have to testify against Lorelei. However, Dorothy tells Malone that she will hate him forever if he does and he withdraws. Lorelei/Dorothy is acquitted and the real Lorelei manages to convince Gus's father that she is not stupid and vain and he gives his blessing for marriage.
American postcard by Classico San Francisco, Inc., no. 105-009. Photo: Twentieth Century-Fox. Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (Howard Hawks, 1955). This scene is cut from the actual film. You can still see Lorelei and Dorothy wearing these costumes in the Paris nightclub scene when Gus comes to ask Lorelei for an apology. Of course, Lorelei and Dorothy answer with their 'Diamonds are a girl's best friend' number.
American postcard by Classico, San Francisco, no. 105-010. Photo: Twentieth Century-Fox. Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (Howard Hawks, 1953).
American postcard by Classico San Francisco, Inc., no. 105-011. Photo: Twentieth Century-Fox. Jane Russell in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (Howard Hawks, 1955).
American postcard by Classico San Francisco, Inc., no. 105-013. Photo: Twentieth Century-Fox. Charles Coburn, Marilyn Monroe, Jane Russell, Norma Varden and Elliott Reid in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (Howard Hawks, 1955).
But I'm still the blonde
The screenplay for Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953) was inspired by the book 'Gentlemen Prefer Blondes: The Illuminating Diary of a Professional Lady' by Anita Loos. It was based on a sea voyage Anita Loos made from the US to Europe. The book was adapted for the stage in 1926 and made into a silent film in 1928, starring Ruth Taylor and Alice White. In 1949, a Broadway musical based on the book was produced under the title 'Gentlemen Prefer Blondes'. It was directed by John C. Wilson and Carol Channing played the role of Lorelei Lee. The musical was a great success and played 740 times on Broadway. Charles Lederer based his screenplay on Loos' book and the musical.
The musical was originally bought by 20th Century Fox to star Betty Grable. But Grable was earning $150,000 per film and the studio began to look around for a cheaper sex symbol. Soon their eye fell on Marilyn Monroe, who had just given an impressive performance in Niagara and was only getting $18,000 per film. To prevent all the pressure falling on Monroe, Jane Russell was chosen for the role of Dorothy. Russell who had been around much longer than Monroe was a star and received $200,000 for her role. When Monroe heard that not she but Russell was the star, she said, "but I'm still the blonde." She was upset at the disrespect she received from the studio, especially when attempts were also made to cast Judy Holliday as Lorelei.
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes was a musical and Monroe now had to sing as well as dance. Gwen Verdon was appointed as Monroe and Russell's dance coach. Monroe had already sung and danced very creditably in Ladies of the Chorus (Phil Karlson, 1948). Marilyn’s voice was used in Ladies of the Chorus to good advantage, especially in the number 'Every Baby Needs a Da-Da-Daddy'. Marilyn also took dance lessons from Nico Charisse in 1949. For Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, she worked again extremely hard to master the dancing needed for the film. Every night, after everyone had left the studio, Monroe went to practice to learn the steps for the next day.
Unfortunately, this meant she got too little sleep and was regularly late when recording began in the morning. Howard Hawks became impatient, especially as Monroe often refused to come out of her dressing room as well. According to Jane Russell, this was due to stage fright and she did her best to accompany Monroe from the dressing room to the set. The two women soon liked each other and became friends, with Russell protecting Monroe from the outside world. She found Monroe "shy and sweet" and much more intelligent than some people thought.
Director Howard Hawks thought otherwise. Monroe often held back the production with her lateness and other quirks. For instance, she insisted that recorded scenes already approved by Hawks had to be re-filmed because she was not satisfied. Hawks was mad and when the studio asked if he could get along, he sarcastically said, "you can replace Monroe, rewrite the screenplay and hire a new director". The studio itself also had reservations about Monroe. They thought about having her voice re-recorded by Marni Nixon because they thought Monroe's sound was silly. Nixon thought this was ridiculous and advocated using Monroe's voice precisely because it suited the character of Lorelei so well.
In the end, Nixon only sang in the "no, no, nos" at the beginning of the song. By now, Jane Russell had been in the film business for so long that the studio did not dare to take her on. However, Russell did provide an unexpected stunt when she accidentally fell into the pool during filming. The troubled Hawks saw the incident while showing the raw, unedited dailies. It made him laugh a lot and he decided to include the scene in the film. The ship on which Lorelei and Dorothy travel to France is the SS Île-de-France. The studio used sets from the film Titanic (Jean Negulesco, 1953) that had been used shortly before.
The film did well in cinemas, turning a $12 million turnover. Critics were also generally appreciative of the film. The new Monroe and Russell duo was praised and the studio had big plans to cast both actresses together again. In the end, however, it would remain with this film. In 1955, the sequel was released under the title Gentlemen Marry Brunettes, without Monroe but with Russell and Jeanne Crain. It was not a success.
American postcard by Classico San Francisco, Inc., no. 105-014. Photo: Twentieth Century-Fox. Marilyn Monroe, Jane Russell and Elliott Reid in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (Howard Hawks, 1955).
American postcard by Classico San Francisco, Inc., no. 105-015. Photo: Twentieth Century-Fox. Marilyn Monroe, Jane Russell and Elliott Reid in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (Howard Hawks, 1955).
American postcard by Classico San Francisco, Inc., no. 105-016. Photo: Twentieth Century-Fox. Marilyn Monroe, Jane Russell and Elliott Reid in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (Howard Hawks, 1955).
French postcard, no. Réf. Marilyn 97. Marilyn Monroe in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (Howard Hawks, 1953).
West-German postcard by Krüger, no. 902/13. Photo: publicity still for Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (Howard Hawks, 1953).
Sources: Wikipedia (Dutch) and IMDb.
This post was last updated on 10 December 2022.
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