22.6.11

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes

Today's film was Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, a rule to live by my grandmother Anabelle began teaching me from before I can remember.

Particularily interesting about this film is the contrast between the types of females portrayed by Marilyn Monroe (Lorelei Lee) and Jane Russel (Dorothy Shaw) and how they are costumed to fit these roles.


Dorothy is the tough, sassy, no-nonsense brunette best friend of Lorelei, the sexy, sweet, innocent gold-digger. Even in the same dress they are very different girls.

In almost every scene Lorelei wears more fitted, brightly coloured, overtly sexy garments; whereas Dorothy is dressed in darker, slightly more conservatively cut clothes, that emphasise her height and broad shoulders. Lorelei is the sort of girl you can't help but like and whose wide eyes beg you to take care of her. Dorothy is much tougher and you can tell she can definitely take care of herself.






There is one scene near the end where Dorothy dresses up as Lorelei to rescue her from some trouble she's gotten herself into and you suddenly realise quite how tall Jane Russell is. She towers over the men surrounding her and looks oddly masculine. This just goes to show how carefully crafted each stars persona was by the studios of Old Hollywood, the entire look is suited to them and seeing Russell dressed up as the curvaceous innocent just doesn't quite work. (Of course it might be because she oversells the act)


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