A new review of an old movie, by The Movie Snob.
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (B-). The Magnolia Theater in Dallas continues to show classic movies on Tuesday nights, and I took advantage of the opportunity to see this 1953 release this past Tuesday. As I understand it, the movie was not based directly on the 1925 novel by Anita Loos (reviewed here), but on a stage musical version of the novel. Marilyn Monroe (All About Eve) plays Lorilei Lee, a blonde gold-digger from Little Rock, and Jane Russell (The Outlaw) plays her best friend Dorothy Shaw. The plot (Lee wants her rich dork of a boyfriend to marry her; his father doesn’t) is a fairly thin excuse for some passable musical numbers and a boatload of mild double-entendres. If you ever wondered where Madonna got the idea for her “Material Girl” video, look no further than Monroe’s show-stopping performance of “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend.” Not bad.
[…] For an old-fashioned nail-biter, see Sorcerer, starring Roy Scheider. I liked the old comedy Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, starring Marilyn Monroe. I enjoyed Soylent Green, starring Charlton Heston as a corrupt cop in a […]