Showgirl Lorelei (Marilyn Monroe) is engaged to a millionaire dork and for reasons of the plot goes on an all-expense paid trip to France without him. Co-star Dorothy (Jane Russell) goes along as chaperone because if there is any hint of scandal, sugar-daddy’s daddy will forbid the marriage. Once embarked, Lorelei proceeds to look for another millionaire to milk. Hint, hint.
Arguably the film that made Monroe a superstar, it’s not exactly a story of women’s empowerment. Lorelei is an unabashed gold digger, obsessed with diamonds. Dorothy, meanwhile, just wants to ‘make love’, money be damned. Lorelei’s target is the ruddy and bloated Piggy Beekman (ruddy and bloated Charles Coburn). Piggy owns a diamond mine and likes to court the young ladies, once he gets away from his shrew of a wife.
Everything starts to unravel as the ship approaches Europe, but song, dance, and musical comedy magic solves everything. But let’s focus on a particular phrase that struck my attention: Make Love.
In modern parlance, making love directly means the physical act of sex. Not so in old movies, where it simply refers to the act of courtship. Dorothy makes reference to another character making love with her, but there is no inference to the modern sense. Just dinner, drinks, and dancing. This also tames down the line from The Inspector General (1949) where the Mayor famously exclaims: “... he even made love to my wife! How could I doubt that he was an Inspector General?”
So this begs the question, when did the filmmakers recognize the changing meaning, and could they have been using it to imply scandal with a wink and nod to a younger audience? Seriously asking.
Technically Russell is the star, but Monroe steals the show. If you remember a single song from the film, it’s hers. And you just can’t take your eyes off of her. The studio hired a coach to adjust the sexiness of the actresses' movements: tone Jane’s upward and Marilyn’s downward. They didn’t do enough because next to Marilyn, pretty Jane looked almost manly. Marilyn may have been the Blonde that Gentlemen Prefer, but she was paid $500 a week compared to Jane’s $150,000 total. So, who's the gold digger now?
The film’s message seems to be that it's fine for pretty women to play dumb and use rich men for their money. Of course I may be reading too much into this piece of fluff. Its 1953 and Howard Hawks was no feminist, after all. It was amusing enough with maybe a few too many songs. Not my kind of film but a worthwhile watch. AMRU 3.
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