Gentlemen prefer blondes...

I had only seen clips of this infamous movie and especially Marilyn's rendition of "Diamonds are a girls best friend" but until last night I had never seen the entire film.

In my quest to see all the classic films (and yes I say this movie is a classic) I rented Gentlemen Prefer Blondes from Netflix.

I must say...this film was a delight! It was terribly corny with the dance routines and all the breaking out into song but it worked. It was fun and who knew that Marilyn Monroe was funny.

Here are just some of my reflections and ruminations:

* Marilyn Monroe was born on June 1, 1926. So she would be 82 today. Hard to imagine isn't it?

* This film came out in 1953 and so Marilyn was in her late twenties then.



* Here are someof my favorite quotes from the movie:

----[Staring at Lorelei and Dorothy] Evans: Say, suppose the ship hits an iceberg and sinks. Which one of them do you save from drowning? William J. Stevens: Those girls couldn't drown.

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?

Lorelei Lee: I won't let myself fall in love with a man who won't trust me, no matter what I do.


* I love how they named characters in movies back then. Lorelei Lee is such a great name.



* I kept thinking of how Marilyn would have played Holly Golightly in Breakfast at Tiffanys. I was reading once that this part was originally for her. It would have been a totally different film of course, but I would have liked to have seen it.

* I didn't know Marilyn Monroe's voice was as deep as it was. Her singing voice surprised me at times.

* No matter how many diamonds a man has, a man with a monocle named "Piggy" is just not attractive!



* For the 1950's this movie was very risque I thought! I always thought the 50's was so conservative but I am thinking that they thought about sex as much as we do now.



* How did the ladies get their boobs to look so...so out there? And then I found the secret. It was their bra! Take a look. This is how the "sweater girls" achieved their look.

* When I think of Jane Russel I think of the 18 hour bra that she advertised in later years. Would Marilyn have ended up selling bras later in life? Or maybe she would have ended up on a reality tv show. The possibilities are endless.

* Overall I think the movie was a smart parody of American values. Marilyn was totally making fun of a lot of our culture and values in this film.

* After watching this film I am definitely a Marilyn fan!

Muah! You all have a wonderful weekend

Marilyn Golightly?

It is always intriguing to me to think about how some directors or writers originally want others to play key parts in movies. I was given a link today to an article about how Truman Capote had a very different persona in mind for the part of Holly Golightly in the 1961 classic, Breakfast at Tiffanys.

In this MSNBC article, Capote has always envisioned Marilyn Monroe for the lead part: "The author had wanted Marilyn Monroe for the Hollywood adaptation of his 1958 novella contained in “Breakfast at Tiffany’s: A Short Novel and Three Stories.” He complained that the elegant Hepburn was miscast as Holly, a Texas runaway who reinvents herself as a Manhattan It Girl. The Holly of Capote’s imagination was a blonde like Monroe, who had a challenging childhood growing up as Norma Jeane Baker."

Marilyn Monroe?



I simply cannot imagine her in Audrey Hepburn's place.

I loved this movie mostly because of Hepburn. Her delicate grace empowered the screen. She was charming and elegant...cat like in her actions and demeanor. Aloof but loveable. Marilyn would have been too much for this part...too much of a stereotype.

Not to say that I don't love Marilyn Monroe too, for what she brings to the big screen. But I feel that Breakfast at Tiffany's would have been an entirely different movie had Marilyn Monroe played the primary role. And I dare say it would not have been as substantial a movie if she had.

I am enchanted by Breakfast at Tiffanys...it was created before I was born yet it is timeless. I like the theme of the little girl lost in the big city. Hepburn's delicate frame seems a perfect polar opposite for the vast expanse of New York City. I love the music and the downtown scenes of long ago. And of course I love Cat and what this anonymous pet represents...true connection.

Stop me soon or I will be singing Moon Rivvvverrrr...

It is interesting...I think Audrey Hepburn and Marilyn Monroe represent two types of female icons. And I like them both actually. I love Audrey Hepburn's understated charms and quirkiness. I like her nervous twittering about like a little sparrow. Marilyn, of course, was liquid sexuality. It just pours out of her naturally. But I also liked Marilyn behind the persona too. She had a very troubled childhood and was in and out of foster homes. Her mother was like mine. Marilyn Monroe's mother had paranoid schizophrenia. Had Marilyn wanted to die at the end? Nobody knows to this day. I think we were all touched by the vulnerable side to her which seemed overly shrouded by her appearance and fame.

I am very curious here.

If you are a woman which actress can you most relate to? Marilyn or Audrey? And if you are a man...which type of persona, Marilyn Monroe or Audrey Hepburn, do you prefer and why?

And who do you think should have been cast for the part of Holly Golightly?