July 15, 2008 marks the 55th anniversary of the Gentlemen Prefere Blondes premiere!
Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell star as "two little girls from Little Rock" in the Howard Hawks film Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. Lorelei Lee (Marilyn) is a blonde who is smart when she needs to be and is on the prowl for diamonds. Dorathy Shaw (Jane) is Lorelei's smart bestfriend who is more interested in love than bank accounts.
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes is most famous for Marilyn's performance of Diamond's Are A Girls Best Friend, which has become her anthem. However, in reality Marilyn wore rhinestones. The number was later re-shot in Cinemascope, to be used as part of a Cinemascope demonstration held on the Fox lot in March of 1953. Producer Darryl F. Zanuck told Daily Variety that it only took 3.5 hours to shoot the number in Cinemascope versus four days for the original film version. The film-going public finally saw the CinemaScope version ten years later when it closed Fox's documentary tribute to MM, "Marilyn".
The premiere of GPB was held on July 15, 1953 and was released in the US three days later. Although Marilyn was "the blonde" in the film, top billing and the top dollars were given to Jane Rusell, who was a bigger star at the time. Fox Studios originally had Betty Grable in mind as Lorelei Lee but after the success of Niagara they decided to use Marilyn not only because she was the next blonde sex symbol but because it would be less expensive for them to cast Marilyn who would receive $1,250 a week (final sum of $18,000). Grable was making $150,000 per film. A song called Down Boy was written for Marilyn to perform in GPB but was rejected. Grable ended up singing it in 1955's Three for the Show.
Marilyn and Jane got along very well and unfortunetly GPB would be the only film the two would star in together, despite their obvious chemistry on screen. Jane seemed to be the only one who could coax Marilyn out of her dressing room and on to set, even picking her up and driving her to the studio. Jane affectionately called Marilyn "Blondie" and has never spoken negatively of the late star.
Jane performs the song Ain't There Anyone Here For Love? while being surrounded by toned and buff-bodied men from the US Olympic team. In one scene the Olympic swimmers were to dive over Jane and into the pool. However, one diver ended up accidentally taking Jane in the pool with him! Jane emerges from the pool (with her drink still in her hand) effortlessly. Howard Hawks decided to keep the take and put it in the film. I wrote Jane a letter in April 2008 and received a personally signed publicity photo of her and Marilyn from GPB on June 9, 2008. Click here to view.
Tommy Noonan plays the shy Gus Esmond, a rich man who adores Lorelei and seems to be blinded by her gold-digging ways and plans to marry her. While Lorelei and Dorathy enjoy a cruise to Paris, Private Detective Ernie Malone, played by Elliott Reid, keeps tabs on Lorelei and takes a personal interest in Dorathy.
Tommy Noonan's son, Tim Noonan, contributed the following to Ms-Monroe.com: "My father, Tommy Noonan, played in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes as Gus Esmond, the nebbish boyfriend of Marilyn. This, he felt, was the best role of his career. He garnered loads of publicity from the movie, and he worked practically non-stop until his untimely death at the age of 47. I want to thank all of the fans of the film for keeping Marilyn's, and through it, my father's memory alive. In the end, all we take with us are our memories, so from the heart, I thank you all."
On June 25, 1953, Marilyn and Jane left their prints in cement outside the famous Grauman's Chinese Theatre. The I in Marilyn's name was adorned with a large rhinestone that was later stolen. Marilyn's cement was also painted yellow, for obvious reasons. Many people from around the world fit their hands into Marilyn and Jane's imprints and find it hard to believe that two of Hollywood's most glamours stars were once there.
Fifty five years have now passed since the release of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and the film is still a favorite of fans around the world. Filled with a great cast, comedic scenes, catchy songs and gorgeous costumes, GPB is a film no fan should do without and captures Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell at their best.
Special Thank You to Tim Noonan for his contribution.
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Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell star as "two little girls from Little Rock" in the Howard Hawks film Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. Lorelei Lee (Marilyn) is a blonde who is smart when she needs to be and is on the prowl for diamonds. Dorathy Shaw (Jane) is Lorelei's smart bestfriend who is more interested in love than bank accounts. 
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes is most famous for Marilyn's performance of Diamond's Are A Girls Best Friend, which has become her anthem. However, in reality Marilyn wore rhinestones. The number was later re-shot in Cinemascope, to be used as part of a Cinemascope demonstration held on the Fox lot in March of 1953. Producer Darryl F. Zanuck told Daily Variety that it only took 3.5 hours to shoot the number in Cinemascope versus four days for the original film version. The film-going public finally saw the CinemaScope version ten years later when it closed Fox's documentary tribute to MM, "Marilyn".
Marilyn and Jane got along very well and unfortunetly GPB would be the only film the two would star in together, despite their obvious chemistry on screen. Jane seemed to be the only one who could coax Marilyn out of her dressing room and on to set, even picking her up and driving her to the studio. Jane affectionately called Marilyn "Blondie" and has never spoken negatively of the late star. 
Jane performs the song Ain't There Anyone Here For Love? while being surrounded by toned and buff-bodied men from the US Olympic team. In one scene the Olympic swimmers were to dive over Jane and into the pool. However, one diver ended up accidentally taking Jane in the pool with him! Jane emerges from the pool (with her drink still in her hand) effortlessly. Howard Hawks decided to keep the take and put it in the film. I wrote Jane a letter in April 2008 and received a personally signed publicity photo of her and Marilyn from GPB on June 9, 2008. Click 
Tommy Noonan's son, Tim Noonan, contributed the following to Ms-Monroe.com: "My father, Tommy Noonan, played in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes as Gus Esmond, the nebbish boyfriend of Marilyn. This, he felt, was the best role of his career. He garnered loads of publicity from the movie, and he worked practically non-stop until his untimely death at the age of 47. I want to thank all of the fans of the film for keeping Marilyn's, and through it, my father's memory alive. In the end, all we take with us are our memories, so from the heart, I thank you all."
On June 25, 1953, Marilyn and Jane left their prints in cement outside the famous Grauman's Chinese Theatre. The I in Marilyn's name was adorned with a large rhinestone that was later stolen. Marilyn's cement was also painted yellow, for obvious reasons. Many people from around the world fit their hands into Marilyn and Jane's imprints and find it hard to believe that two of Hollywood's most glamours stars were once there. 
