You won't be disappointed!

A lot more amusing than I thought it would be.

In truth, any opportunity to see the film on the big screen is welcome.

The movie really just wants to entertain people.

I just had the good fortune to see GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES on the big screen this evening (6/5/18) to commemorate the 92 birthday of Marilyn Monroe. This movie sent Marilyn to iconic Hollywood status - but what can't be denied is the POWER of Jane Russell's performance. And together their chemistry is pure perfection. This is not just Marilyn's film, (even with the brilliant staging and Marilyn's brilliant performance of "Diamond's Are a Girl's Best Friend), but it's Jane's movie too. She had a totally unique and original screen presence which matches PERFECTLY with Marilyn's unique and original screen presence. If you've never seen this movie, you'll probably want to watch it because of the eternal fame of MM (people know who she is without ever seeing one of her films), but you'll walk away loving Jane Russell just as much!

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953) is a Comedy/Musical/Romance starring Marilyn Monroe as Lorelei Lee and Jane Russel as Dorothy Shaw. The 2 showgirls, Lorelei and Dorothy, are on their way to Paris via a transatlantic cruise working as showgirls while being followed by a private detective. On their way, they chat up as many eligible men as possible. This movie is a wonderful classic because of the remarkable performances, authentic costume designs, and wonderful musical numbers.Marilyn Monroe will steal your breath away at the start of the show. She is not only stunning. She also portrays her character in an excellent manner. Lorelei is a smooth, soft-speaking, dramatic, well-dressed woman who is very interested in money and all the pretty things it will buy her. She is also able to convince people of her opinions even if they are commonly disapproved opinions. Her best friend, who she considers to be an amazing and loyal friend, Dorothy, is quite the opposite. Dorothy is not interested in money, and especially not in men with money as is shown when she first meets Ernie and she is angered when he tries to brag about his wealth. She also portrays her character as an intelligent, strong- willed and tough woman.The costumes are great. I just love the 1950s era. All of the men are dressed classy in their suit and ties. The women are wearing gorgeous elegant sparkly long dresses and long gloves. In one scene, Dorothy is wearing an expensive looking black dress and her curled black hair and dazzling earrings look so beautiful that you will want to get into a time machine and go back to the 1950s. When she puts the girly white robe around Ernie, it is quite funny.I thoroughly enjoyed all of the songs of the film and I like to listen and sing to them even when the film is over. The songs are sweet and sultry and very clear. As Lorelei and Dorothy sit together at a table in the restaurant, Lorelei begins to sing. After the tempo begins to increase and more people join in the song until Lorelei and Dorothy are singing up-tempo and in unison. The two give a stunning performance together by dancing and acting to this song. By the end of the song, the tempo slows down and the audience is watching them drive off.I would recommend that anybody who enjoys Musicals to take the hour and a half to watch this one. If you enjoyed movies like Grease or Mamma Mia because you like to sing along to catchy and entertaining songs, then this movie is for you. I enjoyed this film as much as I usually enjoy musicals, especially ones that were made decades before I was born. If you like old films, like Breakfast at Tiffany's or other old films that star a beautiful and class maiden like Monroe, then you will probably enjoy it. The film is not just for adults, older children may be able to enjoy this film as well. Overall, I thought that this movie was beautiful and it's among my favourites. The ending was superb and the romances of the lead characters were intriguing and sweet. I'm always a fan of the musical genre and I thought that this movie did it right. It had me rooting for the main characters, imagining their thoughts, singing along to the songs, marvelling at the gorgeous costumes and set designs, and becoming captivated by the performances of Marilyn Monroe and Dorothy Shaw.

This talented pairing of Jane Russell and Marilyn Monroe was made in movie heaven. It appears on many lists of "must see" films. Based on a somewhat naughtier 1925 book and a 1949 Broadway Musical (starring Carol Channing). It's intended to be a farce, and more of an entertainment than a true musical, as the story is certainly not to taken seriously. Every time the two girls perform, something magical happens and there are several good musical numbers. "Diamonds are a Girls Best Friend" is the signature Monroe musical number of all time. An unbelievable cast including the "USA Olympic Swimming Team". Although many critics called the swim team's performance "gay", my wife just loves it. Charles Coburn as "Piggy" is the original "dirty old man" and squeezes Marilyn tightly while imitating an anaconda snake in a tall tale about his African Safari. He lets her wear his wife's famous diamond tiara to keep her quiet and she naively believes that he gives it to her as a gift. A police chase travels to France to find the "stolen" and missing diamond-encrusted crown. The boy millionaire is quite annoying, and so is her nerdy fiancé, but skipping over that nonsense still can't spoil the magic of this wonderful classic movie, with the reddest and pinkest Technicolor anyone has ever seen!

This was Marilyn's first musical comedy, and my favorite, partly because is includes Jane Russell as an equal, making a musical comedy team. Generally, when you have a comedy team, you want them clearly differentiated from each other, both physically and personality -wise, but not so different that they can't relate to each other. Here, their hair color is as different as can be, Jane is a little taller, has a more elongate face, and MM tends to often quint her eyes vs. Jane's round eyes. Jane tends to be forthright and loud. Marilyn tends to be more devious, often with a naïve little girl persona. This contrast is most vividly displayed in how they sing "Bye Bye, Baby". Jane is prancing around in front of a men's Olympic team, singing loud and up tempo. MM then sings it slowly, softly, sexily, with feeling, to her shy nerdy fiancé(Gus), who is prohibited by his father from sailing to France with Marilyn. Besides his father being rich, Marilyn feels comfortable with Gus because he's shy, brings her gifts all the time and is easily manipulated. Also, Jane's attitude in what she most wants in a husband superficially is as different from Marilyn's as their hair color. Marilyn is a gold-digger first. If they happen to be young, handsome and/or athletic, as Jane likes, that's an added bonus.The script has Marilyn traveling to Paris, as a showgirl. Jane, also a show girl, accompanies her as a sort of chaperone, charged with trying to keep her out of compromising situations, to satisfy Gus's father, who suspects she is just a dumb blonde gold digger, who doesn't love Gus. Gus's father secretly sends a detective(Mr. Malone) to check up on Marilyn's doings. Thus, Jane and Malone have opposite goals as relates to documenting some scandalous incident. At first, Jane hates him, but then she realizes she's attracted to him.Malone takes a seemingly compromising photo of Marilyn being embraced by an elderly monocled diamond mine owner(Charles Coburn, as Piggy). By trickery, the girls steal the roll of film and have the picture developed to show to Piggy, inducing him to give Marilyn his wife's expensive tiara(headpiece) to keep her quite about the apparent incident. Apparently, even without the photo, Malone communicates what he saw to Gus's father. As a result, his financial support of the girls is cut off and Gus tells Marilyn their relationship is finished. Well, Piggy's wife discovers her tiara missing, and assumes Marilyn stole it, because she was so impressed when shown it. In turn, Marilyn discovers it missing from her jewelry box....The rest of the story I leave for you to discover for yourself, except to say that there is a predictable happy ending.Despite the most memorable song being "Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend", we might think of the theme song being "Two Little Girls from Little Rock", since the pair sing it in the very beginning, before the title shows up, and again at the end. Marilyn sings "Diamonds are..." in a lavish stage production, dressed in flashy pink, as are the chorus dancers, Marilyn being surrounded by their male partners. This is later followed by Jane's very dynamic version in a courtroom, with blonde wig, to resemble Marilyn whom she was impersonating. This scene will probably be the comedic highlight of the film for you.The 3 songs I have mentioned in the above were composed by Jule Styne and Leo Robin for the prior stage version of this story. Two lesser songs were composed by Hoagy Carmichael and Harold Adamson for this film version: "When Love Goes Wrong", sung by Marilyn, and "Anyone Here for Love?", sung by Jane in the presence of the Olympic team.Malone asks J.R. how 2 girls so different in their attitudes toward men can be such good friends? I don't remember her response, but I will say they trust each other and don't compete for the same men.Marilyn is characterized as being ignorant about most things, but claims she tries to act dumb, because that's what men want.Available as part of the Marilyn Premier DVD Collection, as well as on it's own.The subsequent "Gentlemen Marry Brunettes" I haven't seen, but is said to be a spoof of the musical comedy genre, with Jane sometimes trying to imitate Marilyn. It's rating is very low, but some reviewers say it is nonetheless quite entertaining.