Gentlemen Prefer Blondes is showing at the Carolina Theatre in Durham, NC on Wednesday, March 13, at 7 pm. This screening is part of the ongoing ‘Sirens and Smart Alecks‘ series from MovieDiva aka Laura Boyes, who has also written about Blondes for the Roger Ebert website, marking Women Writers Week 2024.
“The film opens with a Technicolor jolt: in front of a blue sequined curtain, Monroe and Russell in form-fitting red sparkly dresses storm the stage as ‘Two Little Girls From Little Rock.’ They state from the very opening frame that they are going to be in control. They even supersede the conventional movie titles; they don’t require any introduction other than their own.
In the play and Broadway musical, Dorothy was a supporting part, and the role was built up so that Russell (the bigger star) and Monroe would be more equal. The transformation makes it an enjoyable look at female friendship, never a common topic in classic film.
The whole ‘we’re showgirls’ aesthetic the film accentuates centres around the power the women have to display and control their bodies from the stage, not only leaving the men behind romantically, but sometimes in a completely different frame. Lorelei’s beau watches her from the audience, never sharing the image with her during the ‘Little Rock’ number, mirroring the way we in the movie audience watch Lorelei and Dorothy without ever becoming a part of the action.
Hawks enjoyed shooting the film: ‘You got colour that really came out and hit you. There was no sense in trying to dodge it. The girls were unreal, the story was unreal, the sets, the whole premise of the thing was unreal. We were working with complete fantasy.'”
The Marilyn Report 