Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953)
Howard Hawks classic musical comedy which quite literally cemented the star status of Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell.
The film with the iconic Diamonds are a Girls Best Friend musical number performed by Monroe which has gone down in history, and although Marilyn is perfect as the ditzy gold digging blonde it's Russell who steals the show for me.
How she kept a straight face delivering her wonderfully witty lines i'll never know, nor when she performed a musical number with the scantily dressed members of the all male Olympic athletics team. Never the less both stars are amazing and shine as brightly as the lavish song and dance numbers they perform and diamonds they long for. They look stunning throughout all magically captured in glorious Technicolor which simply bursts from the screen.
Hawks keeps the story ticking over nicely in it's streamlined ninety minute run time, capturing a wonderful chemistry between the stars which was sadly never replicated as this was their one and only film together.
Seventy years on Gentlemen Prefer Blondes remains a witty, sexy and extremely charming, not to mention visually stunning delight.
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