Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953 film)

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes is a 1953 film adaptation of the 1949 stage musical about two singers who travel to Paris, pursued by a private detective hired by the disapproving father of one's fiancé to keep an eye on her, as well as a rich, enamored old man and many other doting admirers.
 * Directed by Howard Hawks. Written by Anita Loos (novel and play), Joseph Fields (play), and Charles Lederer.

The Two M-M-Marvels Of Our Age In The Wonder Musical Of The World!

Dorothy Shaw

 * Remember honey, on your wedding day it's all right to say "yes".

Lorelei Lee

 * I want you to find happiness and stop having fun.
 * There was an old man named Sidney... Who drank till he ruined a kidney. It shriveled and shrank, but he drank and he drank... He had his fun doing it, didn't he?

Dialogue

 * Lorelei Lee: Excuse me, but what is the way to Europe, France?
 * Dorothy Shaw: Honey, France is IN Europe.
 * Lorelei Lee: Well who said it wasn't?
 * Dorothy Shaw: Well... you wouldn't say you wanted to go to North America, Mexico.
 * Lorelei Lee: If that's where I wanted to go, I would.


 * Gus Esmond: [looking at Dorothy who is admiring some athletes] Dorothy Shaw, you're supposed to be the chaperone on the trip!
 * Dorothy Shaw: Now let's get one thing straight, Gus: The chaperone's job is to make sure nobody else has any fun. But nobody chaperones the chaperone. That's why I'm so right for this job.


 * Dorothy Shaw: Honey, did it ever occur to you that some people just don't care about money?
 * Lorelei Lee: Please don't be silly, we're talking serious.


 * Dorothy Shaw: Oh no, you're not one of those, are you?
 * Ernie Malone: One of what?
 * Dorothy Shaw: The kind who thinks he has to tell a girl how much money he has.
 * Ernie Malone: What's the matter with having money?
 * Dorothy Shaw: Yes, I'm afraid you are. Do me a favor, will you Malone? Go whistle up a rope.


 * Dorothy Shaw: I've been wondering, what's your line, Mr. Malone?
 * Ernie Malone: My line? My most effective one is to tell a girl she has hair like a torch at midnight, lips like a red couch in an ivory palace that I'm lonely and starved for affection. Then, I generally burst into tears. It seldom works.


 * Henry Spofford III: [talking to Lorelei, stuck going through the porthole] All right. I'll help you. I'll help you for two reasons.
 * Lorelei Lee: Never mind the reasons. Just help me.
 * Henry Spofford III: The first reason is I'm too young to be sent to jail. The second reason is you got a lot of animal magnetism.


 * Lady Beekman: You'll find I mean business!
 * Dorothy Shaw: Oh, really? Then why are you wearing that hat?


 * Esmond Sr.: Have you got the nerve to tell me you don't want to marry my son for his money?
 * Lorelei Lee: It's true.
 * Esmond Sr.: Then what do you want to marry him for?
 * Lorelei Lee: I want to marry him for YOUR money.


 * Lorelei Lee: Don't you know that a man being rich is like a girl being pretty? You wouldn't marry a girl just because she's pretty, but my goodness, doesn't it help?
 * Mr. Esmond Sr.: Say, they told me you were stupid! You certainly don't seem stupid to me!
 * Lorelei Lee: I can be smart when it's important, but most men don't like it.


 * Mr. Esmond Sr.: Are you out of your mind?
 * Ernie Malone: Mm-hmm, but I like it that way.

Cast

 * Jane Russell - Dorothy Shaw
 * Marilyn Monroe - Lorelei Lee
 * Charles Coburn - Sir Francis "Piggy" Beekman
 * Elliott Reid - Ernie Malone
 * Tommy Noonan - Gus Esmond
 * Taylor Holmes - Mr. Esmond Sr.
 * Norma Varden - Lady Beekman
 * George Winslow - Henry Spofford III