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A pink gown and “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend”– these are the remnants of the 1953 classic Gentlemen Prefer Blondes that have latched onto pop culture. It feels impossible to speak about this film without starting with this sequence and that gown. It feels like every celebrity under the sun has referenced the pink Travilla gown that Marilyn Monroe wears: from Margot Robbie to Miss Piggy herself. It even has a Wikipedia page! 

Granted, the “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend” sequence in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes truly is the highlight of the film. There’s a level of detail– from spraying gray onto the temples of the male dancers to Monroe’s two-toned gloves to covering all the female dancer’s heads with black fishnets so Marilyn would be the sole blond. It’s one of the greatest musical sequences of the Golden Age of Hollywood. Beyond the visually stunning red and pink, Lorelei’s (Marilyn Monroe) entire philosophy is laid out in the sequence. Her ideology being that, above everything else, she craves wealth from marriage. A diamond is more stable than a fleeting romance. There’s a saying with musicals, “You sing when you can no longer speak.” And when the people around Lorelei do not understand her perspective, she delivers this doctrine of wealth-seeking in performance. That is what Lorelei Lee uses for the men around her– she turns to performance. Such is the nature of being a woman in 1950’s America. 

There’s a shot in “Diamonds” that has always stuck in my mind. The music pauses, and a single spotlight shines on Monroe as she reaches for the sky. The camera shoots her from below, and for a moment, there’s a sense that Lorelei has power. It’s a striking moment that adds drama to the sequence. Maybe that’s what all this has been for Lorelei, some kind of grasp for power in a world that refuses it for women like her. 

Jane Russell’s later surprise rendition of “Diamonds” further satirizes the Lorelei philosophy. It’s almost as if the audience is being told to not take this all too seriously. But, this sequence takes place during a moment in which men and jealous women are abusing the legal system to punish our protagonists, so there still is a sense of rebellion in this sequence. Dorothy (Jane Russell) disrupts these proceedings in Marilyn drag with camp and sparkle like any good showgirl. 

I remember leaving my first viewing of this film remembering it’s many moments of camp and hilarity. From the implication of a name like “Piggy” to quips like “If we can’t empty his pockets between us, then we’re not worthy of the name Woman,” the film thrives on the sexual innuendo typical of a 60’s sex comedy. The musical itself is incredibly tight, with just five songs. The highlights are “Diamonds” of course, but the Russell-led “Ain’t Anyone Here For Love” has surprising queer subtext as explored in The Celluloid Closet. 

While the film is not necessarily modern in its politics, it is notable for its empathy for archetypes of past stories. The “gold digger” and “dumb blonde” are satirized here. Still, these characters are centered in this story. There is a very real sense of sympathy for these women. Hawks also subverts typical tropes, such as the fact that Lorelei isn’t really dumb at all. 

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

At the end of the day, Howard Hawks is creating comedy out of women navigating patriarchal power structures. Women have little power in this film, and this creates conflict. These women are forced to scheme as money is easily taken from them by the men in their lives. Lorelei’s line, “It’s men like you who made me the way I am” seems to be delivered with a comedic tone, but it rings true for the character. Ultimately, Hawks depicted women with more agency in the earlier Bringing Up Baby and His Girl Friday– arguably due to the various writers’ inability to imagine a woman both sexual and empowered.  

The film is most forward in its politics in its depiction of Dorothy and Lorelei’s sisterhood. The two women never fight over a man. Dorothy (Jane Russell) defends Lorelei and looks out for her friend– stating, “Nobody talks about Lorelei but me.” Despite the film not being particularly feminist, it still remains one of the most important explorations of gender during the classical period of cinema. 

Unfortunately, Gentlemen did not receive any Oscar nominations. 1953 was dominated by From Here to Eternity’s depiction of World War II brotherhood and the iconic wins for the delightful rom-com Roman Holiday. Of course, the Oscars failed to recognize Russell and Monroe’s incredible comedic work. This is during the period when the Oscars split the cinematography and technical categories between black and white and color films. One can imagine Gentlemen deserved praise for its gorgeous Travilla costumes and colorful art direction. While the Oscars’ failure to recognize Russell and Monroe for their work feels to be their most obvious oversight in retrospect,in all likelihood in 1953 it probably felt like a particular oversight to not nominate “Diamonds Are A Girl’s Best Friend.” 

In fact, the core three– Hawks, Russell, and Monroe– were never shown much love by the Academy in their lifetimes. Hawks was awarded a deserved honorary Oscar. Russell and Monroe were ignored by the Academy, save for a gig or two presenting an award. Monroe was “honored” by the Academy in a different way; with My Week With Marilyn’s (2012) two nominations in Actress and Supporting Actor and Blonde’s (2023) sole nomination in Lead Actress. 

It speaks to the cultural conversation around acting that two women were nominated for playing Marilyn Monroe (one in an exploitative mess), while Monroe herself was not afforded this love for her work. Gentlemen was a part of an incredible breakout year for an ingénue who made it to Movie Star. In 1953 alone, Monroe starred in Niagara, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, and How to Marry a Millionaire. This is an incredible run of films, two of which were in the top ten grossing films of 1953. Unfortunately, her comedic work, while praised at the time, is generally not considered on the same level as dramatic work.This includes the dramatic work Monroe herself would later embark on. This was during the rise of Strasberg and the Method, an acting technique seemingly at odds with the persona-based work Monroe is doing here. Marilyn’s later dramatic work, aided by her Method teachings, is incredible, and the efforts she would take to empower herself and grant herself agency in her career are admirable. Yet, I still find Gentlemen to be one of her strongest performances when looking at her entire career. In Gentlemen, Monroe perfects the “blond bimbo”- ditzy, sexual, beautiful, and above all, funny! Monroe elevates the material by always being in on the joke, and committing forcefully to every gag and fluid movement of her lips. She perfects a character as iconic and recognizable as Chaplin’s “The Tramp” in this film. 

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes is often shown on Turner Classic Movies, check it out! It’s a great introduction to the period, and is very accessible to audiences. It’s also a look at an incredible performer’s comedic magnum opus, wrapped up in a technicolor, witty farce about gender. It’s a lot more than a film about “well-dressed whores”, that’s for sure.