Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953)

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953) is a dazzling musical comedy directed by Howard Hawks and starring Marilyn Monroe, Jane Russell and Charles Coburn. The film is based on the 1949 Broadway musical of the same name, which was inspired by the novel 'Gentlemen Prefer Blondes: The Illuminating Diary of a Professional Lady' by Anita Loos. Immediately, the film was a huge success in cinemas. The song 'Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend' sung by Monroe in the film became a classic and inspired later artists such as Madonna, Kylie Minogue, and Nicole Kidman.


West-German postcard by Krüger, no. 902/14. Photo: West-German postcard by Krüger, no. 902/14. Photo: Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (Howard Hawks, 1953).


Italian programme card for Il Cinema Ritrovata 2011. Photo: Marilyn Monroe, Charles Coburn and Jane Russell in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (Howard Hawks, 1953) with.


British postcard by Santoro Graphics, London, no. C213. Photo: Marilyn Monroe in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (Howard Hawks, 1953).


American postcard in the Demac Collection. Photo: Jane Russell in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (Howard Hawks, 1953).

Showgirls and rich men

Lorelei Lee (Marilyn Monroe) and Dorothy Shaw (Jane Russell) are colleagues and good friends. They work as showgirls and have the attention of several - often rich - men. Lorelei is even engaged to wealthy Gus Esmond (Tommy Noonan), who will do anything for her.

When Gus wants to take Lorelei to France to get married, he is stopped by his father who does not trust Lorelei. The disappointed Lorelei goes to France by boat anyway and asks Dorothy along. What she does not know, however, is that Esmond's father has sent a private detective along to catch Lorelei in adultery. However, the detective, Ernie Malone (Elliott Reid), falls in love with Dorothy, while Lorelei gets warm feelings from British Sir Francis Beekman (Charles Coburn), nicknamed 'Piggy', the owner of a diamond mine.

When Lorelei is flirting with the married Piggy, Malone secretly takes pictures of them. However, he is spotted by Dorothy and she and Lorelei steal the film from the camera. In gratitude, Piggy gives his wife's diamond tiara to Lorelei. But Malone later reveals that he also took tape recordings. Dorothy now pretends to be in love with Malone.

Once in France, Piggy's wife Lady Beekman (Norma Varden) accuses Lorelei of stealing the tiara. When Gus Esmond learns of this, he revokes Lorelei's credit card. Destitute, the girls now have to work in a nightclub. However, Piggy steals Lorelei's tiara and when the latter is arrested by the police and wants to return the jewel, she is in good trouble.

Gus comes to France and Dorothy tells him to help Lorelei buy a new tiara. In the meantime, she takes Lorelei's place, wearing a fake blonde wig and trying to buy time in court. Malone and Gus's father (Taylor Holmes) have to testify against Lorelei. However, Dorothy tells Malone that she will hate him forever if he does and he withdraws. Lorelei/Dorothy is acquitted and the real Lorelei manages to convince Gus's father that she is not stupid and vain and he gives his blessing for marriage.


American postcard by Classico San Francisco, Inc., no. 105-009. Photo: Twentieth Century-Fox. Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (Howard Hawks, 1955). This scene is cut from the actual film. You can still see Lorelei and Dorothy wearing these costumes in the Paris nightclub scene when Gus comes to ask Lorelei for an apology. Of course, Lorelei and Dorothy answer with their 'Diamonds are a girl's best friend' number.


American postcard by Classico, San Francisco, no. 105-010. Photo: Twentieth Century-Fox. Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (Howard Hawks, 1953).


American postcard by Classico San Francisco, Inc., no. 105-011. Photo: Twentieth Century-Fox. Jane Russell in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (Howard Hawks, 1955).


American postcard by Classico San Francisco, Inc., no. 105-013. Photo: Twentieth Century-Fox. Charles Coburn, Marilyn Monroe, Jane Russell, Norma Varden and Elliott Reid in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (Howard Hawks, 1955).

But I'm still the blonde

The screenplay for Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953) was inspired by the book 'Gentlemen Prefer Blondes: The Illuminating Diary of a Professional Lady' by Anita Loos. It was based on a sea voyage Anita Loos made from the US to Europe. The book was adapted for the stage in 1926 and made into a silent film in 1928, starring Ruth Taylor and Alice White. In 1949, a Broadway musical based on the book was produced under the title 'Gentlemen Prefer Blondes'. It was directed by John C. Wilson and Carol Channing played the role of Lorelei Lee. The musical was a great success and played 740 times on Broadway. Charles Lederer based his screenplay on Loos' book and the musical.

The musical was originally bought by 20th Century Fox to star Betty Grable. But Grable was earning $150,000 per film and the studio began to look around for a cheaper sex symbol. Soon their eye fell on Marilyn Monroe, who had just given an impressive performance in Niagara and was only getting $18,000 per film. To prevent all the pressure falling on Monroe, Jane Russell was chosen for the role of Dorothy. Russell who had been around much longer than Monroe was a star and received $200,000 for her role. When Monroe heard that not she but Russell was the star, she said, "but I'm still the blonde." She was upset at the disrespect she received from the studio, especially when attempts were also made to cast Judy Holliday as Lorelei.

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes was a musical and Monroe now had to sing as well as dance. Gwen Verdon was appointed as Monroe and Russell's dance coach. Monroe had already sung and danced very creditably in Ladies of the Chorus (Phil Karlson, 1948). Marilyn’s voice was used in Ladies of the Chorus to good advantage, especially in the number 'Every Baby Needs a Da-Da-Daddy'. Marilyn also took dance lessons from Nico Charisse in 1949. For Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, she worked again extremely hard to master the dancing needed for the film. Every night, after everyone had left the studio, Monroe went to practice to learn the steps for the next day.

Unfortunately, this meant she got too little sleep and was regularly late when recording began in the morning. Howard Hawks became impatient, especially as Monroe often refused to come out of her dressing room as well. According to Jane Russell, this was due to stage fright and she did her best to accompany Monroe from the dressing room to the set. The two women soon liked each other and became friends, with Russell protecting Monroe from the outside world. She found Monroe "shy and sweet" and much more intelligent than some people thought.

Director Howard Hawks thought otherwise. Monroe often held back the production with her lateness and other quirks. For instance, she insisted that recorded scenes already approved by Hawks had to be re-filmed because she was not satisfied. Hawks was mad and when the studio asked if he could get along, he sarcastically said, "you can replace Monroe, rewrite the screenplay and hire a new director". The studio itself also had reservations about Monroe. They thought about having her voice re-recorded by Marni Nixon because they thought Monroe's sound was silly. Nixon thought this was ridiculous and advocated using Monroe's voice precisely because it suited the character of Lorelei so well.

In the end, Nixon only sang in the "no, no, nos" at the beginning of the song. By now, Jane Russell had been in the film business for so long that the studio did not dare to take her on. However, Russell did provide an unexpected stunt when she accidentally fell into the pool during filming. The troubled Hawks saw the incident while showing the raw, unedited dailies. It made him laugh a lot and he decided to include the scene in the film. The ship on which Lorelei and Dorothy travel to France is the SS Île-de-France. The studio used sets from the film Titanic (Jean Negulesco, 1953) that had been used shortly before.

The film did well in cinemas, turning a $12 million turnover. Critics were also generally appreciative of the film. The new Monroe and Russell duo was praised and the studio had big plans to cast both actresses together again. In the end, however, it would remain with this film. In 1955, the sequel was released under the title Gentlemen Marry Brunettes, without Monroe but with Russell and Jeanne Crain. It was not a success.


American postcard by Classico San Francisco, Inc., no. 105-014. Photo: Twentieth Century-Fox. Marilyn Monroe, Jane Russell and Elliott Reid in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (Howard Hawks, 1955).


American postcard by Classico San Francisco, Inc., no. 105-015. Photo: Twentieth Century-Fox. Marilyn Monroe, Jane Russell and Elliott Reid in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (Howard Hawks, 1955).


American postcard by Classico San Francisco, Inc., no. 105-016. Photo: Twentieth Century-Fox. Marilyn Monroe, Jane Russell and Elliott Reid in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (Howard Hawks, 1955).


French postcard, no. Réf. Marilyn 97. Marilyn Monroe in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (Howard Hawks, 1953).


West-German postcard by Krüger, no. 902/13. Photo: publicity still for Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (Howard Hawks, 1953).

Sources: Wikipedia (Dutch) and IMDb.

This post was last updated on 10 December 2022.

Jane Russell

American film actress Jane Russell (1921-2011) was one of Hollywood's leading sex symbols in the 1940s and 1950s. She became an icon with her first film role in Howard Hughes' The Outlaw (1943). Her biggest hit was the musical Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953) in which she played Dorothy Shaw opposite Marilyn Monroe's Lorelei Lee.


Vintage postcard. Photo: George Hurrell. Publicity still for The Outlaw (Howard Hughes, 1943).


Belgian collectors Card, no. A 50. Photo: Paramount. Jane Russell in The Paleface (Norman Z. McLeod, 1948).


Yugoslavian postcard by Sedmo Silo / IOM, Beograd. Photo: Jane Russell and Brad Dexter in The Las Vegas Story (Robert Stevenson, 1952).


Italian postcard by Bromofoto, Milano, no. 378. Photo: Paramount Films. Jane Russell in Son of Paleface (Frank Tashlin, 1952).


German postcard by Krüger, no. 902/16.

Sex appeal is good - but not in bad taste

Ernestine Jane Geraldine Russell was born in 1921, in Bemidji, Minnesota. She was the  only daughter of the five children of Geraldine (née Jacobi) and Roy William Russell. She had four younger brothers: Tom Russell, Kenny Russell, James H. Russell and Wally Russell. Her father had been a first lieutenant in the U.S. Army, and her mother an actress with a road troupe. When Jane was two, her family moved to Southern California where her father worked as an office manager.

Russell's mother arranged for her to take piano lessons. In addition to music, she was interested in drama and participated in stage productions at Van Nuys High School. Her early ambition was to be a designer of some kind, until the death of her father in his mid-40s, when she decided to work as a receptionist after graduation. She also modeled for photographers, and, at the urging of her mother, studied drama and acting with Max Reinhardt's Theatrical Workshop and with acting coach Maria Ouspenskaya.

In 1940, Jane Russell was signed to a seven-year contract by film mogul, Howard Hughes. She made her film debut in the Western The Outlaw (Howard Hughes, 1943), a story about Billy the Kid (Jack Buetel) that went to great lengths to showcase Russell's voluptuous figure. The film was completed in 1941, but it was not released until 1943 in a limited release. Hughes' battles with the censors resulted in the film spending three years on the shelf before finally gaining wide release in a cut version in 1946.

During that time, Russell was kept busy doing publicity and she became known nationally. The film and the controversy turned her into an icon. She was a popular pin-up photo with servicemen during World War II. Wikipedia cites Russell:  "Sex appeal is good - but not in bad taste. Then it's ugly. I don't think a star has any business posing in a vulgar way. I've seen plenty of pin-up pictures that have sex appeal, interest, and allure, but they're not vulgar. They have a little art to them. Marilyn's calendar was artistic."

Russell did not appear in another film until 1946, when she played Joan Kenwood in Young Widow (Edwin L. Marin, 1946) opposite Louis Hayward, released through United Artists. The film went over budget by $600,000 and was a box office failure. In 1947 Russell delved into music before returning to films. She sang with the Kay Kyser Orchestra on radio, and recorded two singles with his band. Then, she played Calamity Jane opposite Bob Hope in The Paleface (Norman Z. McLeod, 1948). The film was a sizeable box office hit, earning $4 million. She later also played Mike 'the Torch' Delroy opposite Hope in another Western comedy, Son of Paleface (Frank Tashlin, 1952). It was also a hit.

In between, Howard Hughes cast Russell opposite Robert Mitchum and Vincent Price in the Film Noir His Kind of Woman (1951). The film was originally directed by John Farrow in 1950, but would be re-shot by Richard Fleischer the following year. Russell did two more Film Noirs: The Las Vegas Story (Robert Stevenson, 1952) with Price and Victor Mature, and Macao (Josef von Sternberg, 1952) with Robert Mitchum. His Kind of Woman and Macao were minor hits but both involved so much re-shooting through the interference of Hughes that they lost money.


West-German postcard by Krüger, no. 902/14. Photo: Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (Howard Hawks, 1953).


Italian programme card for Il Cinema Ritrovata 2011. Photo: publicity still for Gentlemen prefer blondes (Howard Hawks, 1953) with Marilyn Monroe, Charles Coburn and Jane Russell.


American postcard by Classico, San Francisco, no.105-010. Photo: Twentieth Century-Fox. Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (Howard Hawks, 1953).


American postcard in the Demac Collection. Photo: Jane Russell in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (Howard Hawks, 1953).


German postcard by Krüger, no. 902/25.

Sex symbols used to an interesting, paradoxical effect

Most famously, Jane Russell played Dorothy Shaw in the hit musical Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (Howard Hawks, 1953) opposite Marilyn Monroe as Lorelei Lee. The film was a huge success, Russell's biggest hit since The Outlaw, making over $5 million.

Brendon Hanley at AllMovie: "On the surface, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes is a brassy, garish, colorful musical comedy featuring two rather lightweight actresses, Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell. Ultimately, however, director Howard Hawks uses the nature of the material and the glossy stars to an interesting, paradoxical effect. The film lacks strong masculine characters and any sort of traditional morality; it's dominated by the superficial. The two main characters are sex symbols who, in true Hawksian fashion, have their sex-appeal turned on its head."

Back at RKO she was in Howard Hughes's production The French Line (Lloyd Bacon, 1954), a musical which also starred Gilbert Roland. The films penultimate moment showed Russell in a form-fitting one-piece bathing suit with strategic cutouts, performing a then-provocative musical number titled 'Lookin' for Trouble'. Wikipedia: "In her autobiography, Russell said that the revealing outfit was an alternative to Hughes' original suggestion of a bikini, a very racy choice for a movie costume in 1954. Russell said that she initially wore the bikini in front of her "horrified" movie crew while "feeling very naked."" The film earned $3 million.

Hughes also produced Underwater! (John Sturges, 1955), an adventure film with Russell and Richard Egan at RKO. It made $2 million but because of its large cost was a financial flop. Her contract with Hughes eventually ended in February 1954. Russell co-starred with Clark Gable in The Tall Men (Raoul Walsh, 1955) at Fox, one of the most popular films of the year, with earnings of $6 million. Her own production company Russ-Field produced Gentlemen Marry Brunettes (Richard Sale, 1955), a sequel to Blondes in which Russell starred alongside Jeanne Crain, for release through United Artists. It was not as successful as the original.

Russell made Hot Blood (Nicholas Ray, 1956) with Cornel Wilde at Columbia and The Revolt of Mamie Stover (Raoul Walsh, 1956) at Fox, in the latter playing a role meant for Marilyn Monroe. None of these films were particularly successful. Russell again returned to music while completing several other films in the 1960s.

Jane Russell starred in more than 20 films throughout her career. Her final film was Darker than Amber (Robert Clouse, 1970), a film adaptation of John D. MacDonald's suspense novel, starring Rod Taylor as Travis McGee. Russell often played cynical, 'tough broads,' and in 1971, she starred in the Broadway musical Company.

In 1985, she published the autobiography 'Jane Russell: My Path and My Detours', in which she noted that she had an affair with John Payne in 1942. The affair ended when Jane realised that she was still in love with her high school sweetheart, football player Robert Waterfield, whom she married in April 1943.

Russell married three times, and adopted three children. Her first marriage with Bob Waterfield ended in a divorce in 1968. Two months after her divorce, Russell married actor Roger Barrett; the marriage ended when he died of a heart attack only two months later in November, 1968. She married real-estate broker John Calvin Peoples in 1974, living with him until his death from heart failure in 1999. Her three adopted children are Tracy Waterfield, Thomas Waterfield and Buck Waterfield.

Russell was unable to have children, after a botched abortion in her teenage years left her infertile. Later, she opposed the use of abortion in any circumstance including rape or incest. She championed the passage of the Federal Orphan Adoption Amendment of 1953, which allowed children of American servicemen born overseas to be placed for adoption in the United States. In 1955, she founded World Adoption International Fund (WAIF), the first international adoption program. Through her organisation, Russell has placed 51,000 children with adoptive families.

She retired to Santa Maria, California, after the death of her third husband in 1999 to be close to her youngest son. In 2006, at age 84, she put together a musical show entitled 'The Swinging Forties' that played twice a month at the Radisson Hotel. The show featured herself and about a dozen local Santa Maria residents, including a choir director, lay preacher and retired police officer. She formed the show out of boredom and because there was nothing much going on in town for the older folks to do.

Jane Russell died at her home in Santa Maria of a respiratory-related illness in 2011. Although rumours circulated that she was buried at Santa Barbara Cemetery, Russell was in fact cremated at Santa Barbara Cemetery and her ashes were scattered at sea.


Spanish card, no. 256.


Spanish postcard, no. 280.


Spanish postcard.


British postcard in the Picturegoer Series, no W 247. Photo: United Artists.


French postcard by Editions du Globe, no. 473. Photo: 20th Century Fox.


French postcard by Editions P.I., Paris, no. 23 H. Photo: H.P.S.


French postcard by Editions P.I., Paris, no. 3359. Photo: Paramount. Publicity still for Son of Paleface (Frank Tashlin, 1952).


Dutch postcard by Foto archief: Film en Toneel, no. AX 269. Photo: RKO Radio Films.


West-German postcard by Kunst und Bild, Berlin, no. A 108. Photo: RKO Radio.


West-German postcard by Kunst und Bild, Berlin, no. A 465. Photo: RKO Radio Film. Publicity still for The Las Vegas Story (Robert Stevenson, 1952).


West-German postcard by Kunst und Bild, Berlin, no. A 957. Photo: RKO Film.


French postcard by Editions P.I., no. 479. Photo: Paramount Pictures Inc., 1953.


Italian postcard by Bromofoto, Milano, no. 1028. Photo: Dear Film. Publicity still for Gentlemen Marry Brunettes (Richard Sale, 1955).


Vintage postcard, no. 359. Photo: Columbia Pictures. Jane Russell in Hot Blood (Nicholas Ray, 1956).


French postcard by Huit, Paris, no. A 8. Photo: 20th Century Fox / ISV. Jane Russell in The Revolt of Mamie Stover (Raoul Walsh, 1956).


Dutch or Belgian postcard, no. AX 293. Photo: United Artists.


French postcard.


German postcard by Krüger, no. 902/15.


German postcard by Krüger, no. 902/24.

Sources: Brendon Hanley (AllMovie), Denny Jackson (IMDb), AllMovie, Wikipedia and IMDb.