Synopsis
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953) is a Howard Hawks musical comedy you can watch online on iFILM. Showgirl Lorelei Lee is sailing to Paris to marry into money, but her fiancé's father suspects she's after the family fortune and sends a private detective to catch her in the act. Her sharp-tongued best friend Dorothy Shaw comes along for the ride.
What makes the film hold up isn't the romance — it's Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell dismantling every dumb-blonde joke the script throws at them. This is where Monroe performed "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend" on screen for the first time, a number influential enough that Madonna rebuilt her entire "Material Girl" video around it decades later. Russell's deadpan comedy is the film's secret weapon; she matches Monroe line for line and never lets the picture tilt into pure spectacle.
Hawks turned what could have been a throwaway studio picture into a wry commentary on money, desire and who actually holds the power in any given room. Stream Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953) in good quality on iFILM.
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