Gentlemen Prefer Blondes On TCM NOW!

Just tuned in! I have the Blu-Ray, but it's nice to see it on TCM.

Great film. Very watchable!

Love this scene...

Marilyn was so funny in this.

👍

This is a genuinely funny film that still holds up. Whoever wrote the screenplay far improved the Broadway musical it's based on. And Howard Hawks was a brilliant director of comedy.

Are they showing it in honor of the kid who played Henry Spofford III and died this year?

Sad.

We settled that quarrel in a hurry...

Do you think three sleeping pills are enough?

If you've nothing more to say, pray SCAT!

Lady Piggy: I think you'll find that I mean business!

Dorothy: Then why are you wearing that hat?

Bees don 't buzz, fish don 't bite, Clock won 't strike, match won't light!

OP always stands straight at Tiffany's.

This is choreography genius!

Les gendarmes! The police, zey are here!

He can't be left alone with that blonde man-trap!

My name is Amos Finch!

Jane KILLS me here.

I can be smart when it's important. But most men don't like it.

Now, Mr. Esmond, about what we were speaking ...

What a delight on a dreary Monday

"How do you put it around your neck?"

Remember, honey...on your wedding day it's okay to say 'yes'.

Thank you EVER so, OP!

IMDB lists Larry Kert as one of the chorus boys, but I couldn't pick him out (only George Chakiris.)

That was fun.

I'll dream about the Olympic team's swim scene tonight. Those swimsuits!

Hawks, who didn't direct the musical numbers, had no idea he'd turned out a camp classic full of gay undertones.

Did movie audiences in the 1950s realize they were watching (what was at least back then) one of the gayest musical number of all time?

Travilla Design those bathing suits too?

Loved Dorothy's bathing suit ensembles, too.

Those little black stripes on the men's bathing suits look like a quick added solution, once they saw how nude the men appeared on camera.

Jane's dancing here is perfect even though she's really just strutting around and swiveling her hips on the beat. Was that her own singing voice? She should have done more comedies.

Jane sang in a few of her pictures...

Oh, Piggy...!

The original book by Anita Loos is delightful as well, worth checking out of your local library.

I think that they both sang throughout entire film. Only exception, I believe, was Marylin's 'operatic' part during her solo GPB number in Paris.

That would be the opening bars of Diamonds are a Girls Best Friend.

Yep, and guess who dubbed that operatic solo!

Every song in this is fab. I love When Love Goes Wrong.

It is always enjoyable for a girl like I to watch this film.

R27- you are wrong about Hawks- lots of gay undertones in a great many of his films. " Red River"- between Clift and Ireland and Clift and Wayne. Lots of lez vibes in " His Girl Friday". And if someone doesn't fuck Ricky Nelson , in " Rio Bravo" I will. Cary Grant is so gay and manly in " Only Angels Have Wings" he mutes Jean Arthur's.

Don't forget Hawks masterpiece Bringing Up Baby!

R39 is totally right. Red River is gayer than Brokeback Mountain. The subtext in both dialog and situations is so obvious it's a centerpiece in the both the book and film versions of The Celluloid Closet. There's that wonderful scene where Clift and Ireland (playing a cowboy named "Cherry"!) compare their pistols:

"That's a good-looking gun. ... Can I see it?"

"And you'd like to see mine?"

"Nice! Awful nice! You know, there are only two things more beautiful than a good gun: a Swiss watch or a woman from anywhere. You ever had a good Swiss watch?"

And later:

"You want to place your brand on every rump in the state of Texas except mine."

"You don't think I'd do it, do ya?"

R33, years ago I found a copy of GPB signed by Anita Loos and Carol Channing, gave it to a friend for his birthday. The book is marvelous.

Such a wonderful movie, so entertaining!

Sisters!

"I did very well on Wall Street...and I never owned a share!"

WINK!

My bathing suit parts got all tingly when I watched that scene on TV as a young gayling R28.

She had the racquet in hand -- how could she not swat a few of those muscled butts shoved up in the air as she strutted through?

R44 You don't know what ermine is? It's a white fur that comes from a type of weasel (stoat or ermine.)

o marilyn

I love the way Jane Russell casually delivers so many of her lines as asides or under her breath, or into a highball glass...

R46, love, my question was in quotation marks AND I spelled 'ermine' correctly. Of course I know what it is, silly! I was teasing our youth!

Welcome to DL all the same! DL is an acronym for Datalounge, you see.

Here's a nice, long, loving look at the movie, written by Liz Smith

[quote]What were you doing while Piggy was barking like a seal ?

He wasn't barking; that's Swahili .........

[quote]"Sister, I'm the only 4-letter man on the team !

"Please, not another word ! I think you'd be ashamed to admit it !"

It was a given most of the original Broadway Styne-Robin score would be replaced. But why not have them write the new songs instead of Harold Adamson and Hoagy Carmichael (who were no slouches)?

The music in the background of the shipboard party is Adamson/McHugh's "How Blue The Night" from FOUR JILLS IN A JEEP (1944).

Because of this movie I've always desperately wanted to vacation on an ocean liner headed for Europe, France.

The deck chairs with their plaid blankets seem very romantic.

Didn't I Love Lucy rip off the comic bit where Marilyn gets stuck in the portal and pretends she is sitting in a deck chair with the plaid blanket tucked under her chin? Didn't Lucy do the same thing? Or did the ILL episode come first?

You see, sometimes life is very hard for a girl like l. Especially if she's pretty like l and has blonde hair.

[quote]Marilyn gets stuck in the portal

Oh, dear.

"Look! Round windows!"

....

Marilyn and Jane became good friends while making GPB. Marilyn was in the middle of her romance with Joe DiMaggio and she would ask for advice from Jane because Jane was married to a big football hero named Bob Waterfield at that time.

Whenever MM suffered a case of stage fright and balked at going to the set, Jane would go and get her so they could walk to the set together, giving MM a little more confidence in herself.

Jane could call on MM anytime for support for the charity, UNICEF. The charity for children that Jane headed up for a while.

Is it port hole??

I have a theory that MM's career was based on the kindness of other female actresses. Probably because she is never threatening. And they see her damage.

Shelley Winters roomed with Marilyn when they were both young starlets, and she said Marilyn had such profound abandonment issues that she would follow Shelley into the bathroom.

r62: That is a very astute observation. Betty Grable (the studios intended Lorelei), adored Marilyn and famously told her on the set of HOW TO MARRY A MILLIONAIRE: "I've had mine, honey. Go get yours!" And when Betty ran home when one of her daughters was seriously injured in a fall from a horse, the only person from the film to call and ask about the child was Marilyn.

I believe Betty Grable got the same encouragement from Alice Faye when she arrived at Fox to keep Alice in line, so perhaps Betty was repaying the kindness down the line. And Betty was probably thrilled that June Haver never posed a serious threat.

Betty was a Broadway Baby for a while at the beginning of her career and she was onstage with the old cowardly lion himself, Bert Lahr. He was not one to suffer any other actor getting any attention when they were on the stage together, but he adored Betty and loved her attitude and "earthiness."

In fact you will probably never read anyone dissing Miss Grable. Everybody seemed to love her.

"How To Marry a Millionaire" is also a great time at the movies. Betty and Marilyn work well together. La Bacall is the only thing wrong with it. She is way too old for that part and a lousy actress. Marilyn on the plane with her frequent co-star, David Wayne, is just delightful give and take.

And Holy Moly, Rory Fucking Calhoun is stunning in the movie. No wonder Guy Madison presented hole to him from time to time on their fishing trips.

R64

R65

Sounds like you've been on IMDb.com' 'Classic Films' board recently.

That's not fair to Bacall, r66! I think her soignee sultriness is a perfect counterpoint to the bubbliness of Grable and the kookiness of Monroe. And she must have still been still under 30 when the film was shot, several years younger than Grable and closer in age to Monroe.

Yes, I love them all in HTMAM, even Bacall. "I'll have that and that, and that and that, and that and that. And charge it."

ADORED the court room scene in GPB!

Bill Travilla, who designed the costumes for both GPB and HTMAM was a genius! The costumes in those films are unforgettable.

As much as I adore Jane and her imitation of Lorelei, I think the courtroom scenes drags the picture down...

No, r67, I'm just an old queen! We just know this stuff. *wink*

It must be the Christmas Spirit but not a negative word on GPB. It really is wonderful and just plain fun. Marilyn and especially Jane were never better or more beautifully filmed, IMO.

Me, too, r67.

The 1955 sequel, "Gentlemen Marry Brunettes," is just dire.

[R67]

I recognized my recent anecdotes to answer others on IMDb.com

"You do wear it on your head. I just love finding new places to wear diamonds..............."

Great musical. Loved MM in it! Was it Bill Clinton they were going to seek revenge on in the opening number?

r67: Boy, we *do* know stuff! :-) Our Generation..... :-)

This movie is perfection.

sexy!

Lol!

.....

-----

Dear… dear… dear, stop that! It's most distracting.

They were doing some tests for the CinemaScope process during the filming of GPB, and the "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend" number was slightly restaged and shot in the process to show exhibitors the how it looked.

The number was used in the Fox film MARILYN, a collection of scenes from her films released after her death. I wish it was on YouTube. The "film" itself doesn't seem to be available, but can you imagine that number in W I D E S C R E E N?

Oh, it is on YouTube.....but in pan and scan.....so not a real CinemaScope version.

You gotta have glorious Technicolor, breathtaking CinemaScope, and stereophonic sound!

As fabulous as MM is in this, Jane Russell never did anything this good - (or dare I say, classy) ever again. The two musicals Howard Hughes put her in after she returned to RKO are abysmal - Jack Cole couldn't help GENTLEMEN MARRY BRUNETTES (with Russell and ....Jeanne Crain).... r75 is spot-on.... but the film just after she made BLONDES in 1953 is in some ways even worse - the THE FRENCH LINE, a musical cheese-fest originally in 3-D (the poster is memorable) .

Here's an unforgettable number from it: "Well, I'll Be Switched (if I'm Not Getting' Hitched)"

The poster. Need we say more?

Robert Fuller, the hunky brunette cowboy from the 1960s TV western Laramie (and a DL fave) is a chorus boy/Olympian in the Bye Bye Baby number as the ocean liner bids Bon Voyage to cutie Tommy Noonan.

Sadly, he wasn't used in a beige swimsuit in Ain't There Anyone Here for Love?

Was Tommy Noonan gay?

Which of the chorus boys also was a nude physique model? I've seen the pic linked in threads before for this movie.

R91

I think FULLER was also in the DiAMONDS ARE A GIRL'S BEST FRIEND NUMBER too. One of JANE'S brothers was used in the BYE BYE BABY number.

[post redacted because linking to dailymail.co.uk clearly indicates that the poster is either a troll or an idiot (probably both, honestly.) Our advice is that you just ignore this poster but whatever you do, don't click on any link to this putrid rag.]

The original outfit for the Diamonds number was discarded as too sexy. At the link, costume tests.

[quote]"You can't fight it, honey, you can't fight it!"

I love Jane Russell in this movie....I find her even more entertaining than Marilyn.

That would be John Weidemann...stay tuned for nudes.

Gentleman Prefer John.

Don't get too much sun,baby.

[quote]but the film just after she made BLONDES in 1953 is in some ways even worse - the THE FRENCH LINE

Maybe the film stunk but Jane lays down her greatest moment in front of the camera with this bawdy little number: She really was a very funny,entertaining,sexy lady with a great,underrated singing voice.

They should have marketed the movie in "38DD" instead of just merely "3D"!

I don't think Tommy Noonan was gay, r91. John Ireland was his half-brother, btw.

Thanks for the beefcake!

I don't think that's actually Jane Russell singing in The French Line, even the spoken lines of that song sound dubbed. But it amazes me how in old Hollywood musicals there was a pride in shooting numbers with as few shots as possible, seen most brilliantly with Fred Astaire and Eleanor Powell, but even Jane, no dancer, manages those moves in only about 1/2 dozen shots. Today there would be 200.

I'm also fascinated by that original costume for Marilyn for Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend. With hindsight it seems all wrong and vulgar, yet at the time, it would have, no doubt, been a very;logical way to dress the character, who is a showgirl at the French Folies Bergere, after all. Who was the brilliant mind who put a stop to it and insisted (probably with much controversy) to go in an entirely different direction? I know Travilla designed the costumes but who had the idea (and power) to change it? Did they shoot the number in the original costume?

Ed Fury makes an appearance just at the end. He jumps in the water and Jane runs her hand in his hair in the last shot

No bows, honey, just eight bars and off...

What a great picture at r81. Jane couldn't wait to kick those shoes off for a little respite and MM enjoying a refreshing beverage from that classic vintage Coke bottle. They actually look like friends there.

They both seemed to have such natural, sexy chemistry with rugged Robert Mitchum. I wonder......

The reason studios junked so much of the score back then was to stick in their own songs, for which they had the publishing.

And George Chakiris is one of the dancers in the Diamonds number.

There.

[quote]I don't think that's actually Jane Russell singing in The French Line

Actually, I believe she was an accomplished singer and sang in many of her movies...including "The French Line".

[quote]And George Chakiris is one of the dancers in the Diamonds number.

And George Chakiris recently at age 80.....a little vampirous but looking pretty damn good all things considering. Nothing that taking a month off the Just for Men and a warmer foundation couldn't fix right up.

[quote]Ed Fury makes an appearance just at the end.

Ah hell...why don't we just go ahead and find out how many of the guys from that number have naked pix out there.

The 50s were a lot naughtier than one sometimes realizes.

Here's Ed:

This is a great thread with a lot of interesting info, lovely photos and some astute observations in the best DL tradition.

Merry Christmas to ALL!

Another thing I like about this movie is that the girls are truly pals, with no petty jealousies or cattiness between them.

Here's the other shot with Ed Fury

Speaking of Betty Grable, here's a precursor of the "Aint There Anyone Here For Love" scene : No Talent Joe

Sexay!

I believe that's beautiful John Weidemann again, cavorting with Betty at the 4:20 of the clip. Hard to say for sure because of the awful wigs the boys sport. That number is fun but desperately needs a better song to sell it.

What about Elliott Reid who played private eye Gus Malone? He was sorta sexy in a tweedy sorta way but Fox could have done so much better casting there. I would have loved to see someone like Jeff Chandler in that role opposite Jane.

Jane and Jeff came later in FOXFIRE.

One of the funniest moments: Monroe stuck in a ship's porthole:

......

MM& JR

.....

Tinkerbell

Man, that little nose bob and small chin implant really gave Marilyn the sculpted Goddess look in R122 she lacked as Norma Jean.....without it she wouldn't have been a star.

Good job 50s plastic surgeon!

It wasn't a small chin implant that she had done; it was a small piece of cartilage placed on her right mandible to even out her jawline.

Well whatever it was it made her career.

She also found out right before she died that the piece of cartilage was disintegrating, being reabsorbed. Check out photographs of MM' profile. Not so hot.

Lucy stuck in a port hole!

....

It's funnier with the plaid blanket.

I love the gymnasium set!

Honey, you'll hurt yourself!

1080p.