Spotlight

Spotlight Date: 27-June-04
Spoiler Rating: Medium

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953)

For some reason I feel like I should criticize "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" for its simplistic depiction of men, women, and what happens when they rub up against each another. This is, after all, the movie that brought us Marilyn Monroe's famous rendition of "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend" and whose main characters rely on deceit to obtain their ends without ever seeming to repent it. Haven't we progressed in the last 50 years? Shouldn't the story of two bodacious showgirls angling for mates on the high seas now feel horribly out-of-date? Maybe. But for out-and-out glamour and goodhearted spunk, I like the movie nonetheless.

Monroe headlines as the aptly named Lorelei Lee, a self-aware bombshell who plays into men's dumb blonde fantasies to get at their money (and what money can buy). Jane Russell plays her platonic better half, Dorothy Shaw, an equally savvy and curvaceous brunette whose ambitions lean more toward having a good time and keeping Lorelei's insatiable greed in check. Dorothy's loyalty and resourcefulness are put to the test when they across the Atlantic as the final ordeal in Lorelei's quest to get her doormatish, rich fiancé (Tommy Noonan) to the altar. While Dorothy flirts with the US Olympic swimming team and romances an unassuming fella with a dangerous secret (Elliott Reed), Lorelei lays siege to the bumbling and susceptible Sir Francis Beekman (Charles Coburn), who owns one of the world's largest diamond mines. Everybody's hopes and dreams nearly come crashing down when they reach France, but determination, true love, and hormones carry the day.

The better to show off their feminine accomplishments (and allow for the maximum number of costume changes), "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" features several engaging musical numbers performed by the two multitalented stars. (The pink-and-red-hued "Diamonds" piece really is a showstopper.) Just as these help lighten the underlying cynicism of the story overall, so does Monroe's natural appeal earn Lorelei some indulgence; it's difficult to find fault with something truly charming. With a skill that extends beyond charisma, Monroe also manages to make cunning seem compatible with simplicity and practicality. She is greatly aided in this (along with the rest of the cast) by clever exchanges of dialogue that typify the work of director Howard Hawks. For example, it's a little sick but undeniably funny when Dorothy tells Lorelei she needs to get $15,000 out of her beau and Lorelei quickly calculates that such a sum will take exactly an hour and forty-five minutes.

In the end, "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" uses the yin and yang represented by Lorelei and Dorothy to satisfy all the cravings of a popular audience. On the one hand, its broad stereotypes make relationships seem easy (males want to be fawned over by pretty females, females want to be well recompensed by males, and nobody need fuss with deeper compatibility); on the other hand, its message about the power of love (and marriage) to overcome obstacles sanctions the concept of sexual politics as a whole. No matter how they play, everybody wins, and I guess that kind of "feel-good" story will never go out of style.

Copyright © 2004 The Jujube (M. I. Kim). All rights reserved.