This lightweight musical comedy is not a classic, but it does have some classic moments. Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell make a marvellous team. Russell is a knockout and gives the juicier performance, but Monroe has her amusing moments too, especially in a scene involving a porthole and a little kid. There are three justifiably celebrated musical numbers in this movie: "Ain't There Anyone Here For Love?" (the gay subtext is more than clear), and both versions of "Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend" (it is an iconic sequence in Monroe's career, but personally I found Russell's version sexier). The writers got some pretty daring lines past the Code ("Those girls couldn't drown!"). The Technicolor is vivid & bright, the costumes are dazzling, but other aspects of the production are unconvincing (the film never quite creates the illusion that the ship is travelling, or that the actors are really in France), and Elliott Reid lacks magnetism as a leading man. But with Russell and Monroe on board, who cares about him anyway? **1/2 out of 4.
Review of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
