Gentlemen Prefer Blondes

"Don't you know a man being rich is like a girl being pretty? You may not marry a girl just because she's pretty, but my goodness, doesn't it help?" Marilyn Monroe's unimprovably droll line ­epitomises the pizzazz of Howard Hawks's tremendous musical ­comedy. Monroe and Jane Russell play ­Lorelei and Dorothy, hot showgirls and cool ­customers. Lorelei has a fiercely ­idealistic commitment to marrying rich so that the pure concept of love is not sullied by money worries; Dorothy pragmatically wishes only to follow her heart. Those two faces are incredible in ­juxtaposition: Russell is worldly, amused, intensely in touch: Monroe is sublimely unfocused and ­beatific. A joy.