Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953)

Marilyn Monroe, Jane Russell, Charles Coburn

Directed by Howard Hawks

Available to stream on Amazon Prime

Ships Ahoy! Our films for November all take place (at least partially) on board ship. Our first pick is the classic Technicolor musical Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.

Glamorous song and dance girls Lorelei Lee (Marilyn Monroe) and Dorothy Shaw (Jane Russell) create a sensation on a ship bound for France in this quintessential 1950’s musical.

Why we love it: This is a fun film from start to finish. The musical numbers are great, Marilyn is beautiful, but Jane Russell holds the whole thing together. She’s just cynical enough to make it all work. We never get tired of watching this fun classic musical.

Fun facts:

• This film was originally intended for Betty Grable who was a huge star at the time and the original pin-up girl during World War II. As a well established star, she would have been much more expensive to cast in the film. (Marilyn was paid $18,000 for the movie whereas Betty Grable would have had to be paid $150,000.) Grable was also ten years older than Marilyn.

Jane Russell surrounded by "the Olympic Team"

• Jane Russell falls into the pool toward the end of one of her musical numbers with "the Olympic Team." It was a total accident but the director loved it and decided to keep it in the movie.

Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell

• Jane Russell received top billing in the movie and she really steals the show. In real life, Russell was much more professional and down to earth than Monroe was. She befriended the insecure Monroe and calmed her down, listened to her troubles, and helped her get along better with Howard Hawks who didn't have much patience with Marilyn and her insecurities.

• Both Russell and Monroe actually sing all of their songs (with one exception at the beginning of "Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend" where Marilyn's operatic sounding "no" is dubbed.)

Marilyn Monroe in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes

• This is the movie that really made Marilyn a star and, of course, has the famous musical number "Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend." Her success in this film gave future producers and directors an idea of how to cast her and show her off to her best advantage -- in addition to being a sex symbol, she had a great talent for comedy.

• As publicity for the film, Monroe and Russell had their hand and footprints put in the cement outside Grauman's Chinese Theater.

Photo of Marilyn and Jane from Photoplay 1953

• For reviews and articles from the time, go to the Fan Magazine Reviews page.

Featured cocktail

Gimlet

The first recipe for a gimlet was published around 1930. It became a staple throughout the British empire and then the rest of the world. In Raymond Chandler’s novel The Big Sleep, the fictional detective Philip Marlowe is a gimlet drinker. In the 1950s the gimlet was featured on Cunard ships’ cocktail menus.

2 oz (60 ml) gin

2 tsp (10 ml) Rose’s lime juice

Can be served straight up or on the rocks. If served in a cocktail glass, shake or stir ingredients and strain into the glass. If served on the rocks, pour the ingredients into a glass filled with ice and stir. In either case garnish with a wedge of lime.

Cheers to the Classics!