Friday, December 18, 2009

GENTLEMAN PREFER BLONDES (1953) Fun Facts.

Originally bought by Fox for Betty Grable. But after the success of Niagara (1953), Monroe got the part.

Marilyn Monroe wears a gold lame evening dress previously worn by Ginger Rogers in Dreamboat (1952).

In the "Ain't There Anyone Here for Love?" number, Jane Russell's fall into the pool was an accident. Howard Hawks decided to kept it in the film.

When Marilyn Monroe was told she was not the star of the film, Marilyn Monroe said "Well whatever I am, I'm still the blond."

The ship model shown is the one used previously in Titanic (1953) and was refurbished to resemble the SS Ile de France, as seen in the film.

According to Marni Nixon, at first they wanted Marilyn Monroe's entire voice dubbed, Nixon thought her voice suited her personality. Nixon told The New York Times in March (2007) that she ended up only dubbing the "no, no, nos" at the beginning of the song.

This was Jane Russell's only film with Marilyn Monroe. They got along well. Russell called Monroe "Blondie" and was often the only person on the set who could get Monroe out of her trailer to film.

Marilyn Monroe suggested the line "I can be smart when it's important, but most men don't like it."

The chemistry of Jane Russell and Marilyn Monroe proved to be so successful, that Fox wanted Russell and Monroe to star in the film How to Be Very, Very Popular (1955). Monroe didn't like the script. So in January (1955), the studio cast Sheree North as Curly (intended for Monroe) and Betty Grable as "Stormy Tornado" (intended for Russell).

Soundtracks:
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"A Little Girl from Little Rock"
Music by Jule Styne
Lyrics by Leo Robin
Sung as "Two Little Girls from Little Rock" by Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell with Chorus
Also sung at the wedding

"When Love Goes Wrong"
Music by Hoagy Carmichael
Lyrics by Harold Adamson
Performed by Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell with Parisians

"Bye Bye Baby"
Music by Jule Styne
Lyrics by Leo Robin
Performed by Jane Russell and Marilyn Monroe with Passengers

"Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend"
Music by Jule Styne
Lyrics by Leo Robin
Performed by Marilyn Monroe with Chorus
Also performed by Jane Russell
Also sung at the wedding
Sung by a chorus at the end


"Ain't There Anyone Here for Love?"
Music by Hoagy Carmichael
Lyrics by Harold Adamson
Performed by Jane Russell and the Olympic Team

"Bridal Chorus"
From "Lohengrin" (uncredited)
Music by Richard Wagner
Played at the wedding

3 comments:

  1. Great stuff about the movie Dawn. And it is also one of my favorites. An essential Monroe film that is one of her best.

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  2. Dawn, one of my favorite Howard Hawk films. He could and did direct just about every thing. Why he only has only one film on the AFI's top 100 films is a OUTRAGE (and the main reason I gave up on AFII YEARS AGO)
    Jane gives Howard lots of credit for making this film as good as it is.

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  3. Monty, I agree... :)

    Paul, Gentleman Prefer Blondes, is one of my favorite Marilyn Monroe films. I'm just starting to learn about directors.

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