Gentlemen Prefer Blondes

…her breakthrough vehicle, the effervescent Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953). In it Hawks cleverly juxtaposed an essentially deglamourized Monroe with the iconic sex symbol Jane Russell. Land of the Pharaohs (1955), a handsome but unremarkable account of the building of the Great Pyramid at Giza, was Hawk’s least-favourite of his films.

…Marilyn Monroe starred in a movie version of the musical. Her next book, But Gentlemen Marry Brunettes (1928), was also successful.

With performances in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953), How to Marry a Millionaire (1953), and There’s No Business Like Show Business (1954), her fame grew steadily and spread throughout the world, and she became the object of unprecedented popular adulation. In 1954 she married baseball star Joe DiMaggio, and…

…Marilyn Monroe in the musical Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. She also starred in the sequel, Gentlemen Marry Brunettes (1955).