Review: Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953)

IMDb Synopsis: Two singers, best friends Lorelei Lee and Dorothy Shaw travel to Paris pursued by a private detective hired by Lorelei's fiancé's disapproving father to keep an eye on her, a rich, enamoured old man and many other doting admirers.


I've mentioned a few times on my blog before that I'm not a huge Marilyn Monroe fan. This is for a number of reasons, mainly because she's never appealed to me and I find her extremely overrated. However, I did really enjoy her in How to Marry a Millionaire, so I decided to watch Gentlemen Prefer Blondes since it's one of her most popular films and I've heard nothing but goods things about it. Needless to say, my high expectations were met.


This film is mostly remembered for Monroe singing "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend". But more is memorable than just the song- her acting is great, too. I was quite surprised at how much I enjoyed her performance, as well as Jane Russell's. There's also a great supporting cast, which includes Charles Coburn, Tommy Noonan and Norma Varden.


Howard Hawks is responsible for directing many of my favorite films, including To Have and Have Not, The Big Sleep, Ball of Fire and His Girl Friday, just to name a few. This was my first time viewing one of his Technicolor pictures, and his direction is top-notch (which is no surprise). 


Overall, I found Gentlemen Prefer Blondes to be a surprisingly delightful film. Now I'll finally get around to seeing Some Like It Hot and The Seven Year Itch.

5/5 stars