On the surface, the classic 1953 Hollywood comedy How To Marry A Millionaire directed by Jean Negulesco, is the usual sexist nonsense, very much of its time, focusing as the title suggests on three models each of whose sole purpose in life is to be an attractive gold digger, dedicating all their time to seeking out single Rockefeller types.
But the twist is, they end up with men they never would have picked in the first instance, due to a series of typically screwball plot devices. Of course Marilyn Monroe as Pola is her typical airhead character, the stereotype she came to resent, and shortsighted without her horn-rimmed glasses. Betty Grable as Loco is even more infantilised, though. Lauren Bacall as wisecracking Schatze is the only one who possess any common sense, so is effectively almost maternal within the group dynamic.
There’s something here that resonated with me since I was a kid seeing the film for the first time: it focuses on female friendship. That’s the one radical factor that the film has going for it. I didn’t have any sisters, so very much appreciated tales of sassy ladies hanging out together in fabulous apartments.
A shame they had to ensnare men, instead of have independent adventures in their own right. It’s still a camp old chuckle though, in its way, and the script has some sharp one-liners. There’s no knowing looks, a la Monroe and Jane Russell in ‘Gentlemen Prefer Blondes’ or the outright wit of ‘Some Like It Hot’, but the trio acquit themselves well, despite the flimsy premise.
Hit The North 