I hate the merchandising people at the major studios. Often, to boost sales they misrepresent movies to attract audiences. One of the worst examples is 20th Century-Fox's marketing of videotapes and DVDs of films in which Marilyn Monroe appeared. While HOW TO MARRY A MILLIONAIRE isn't the worst case, by looking at the box art you'd assume that she was the lead in this film. In reality, there were three leads--Monroe, Betty Grable and Lauren Bacall. It was truly an ensemble film. Now as I said, this was not the worst example. In many of her earliest films Monroe was only a bit player--yet she is prominently featured on the cover art! Take a look at the art on the IMDb pages for THE ASPHALT JUNGLE, LOVE HAPPY or MONKEY BUSINESS--you'll see what I mean even though she was a supporting or bit actress in these films.
In HOW TO MARRY A MILLIONAIRE, it's actually good that you have the ensemble cast. After all, how can you make it a story about three money-hungry roommates if Monroe plays all three parts!! Plus, at the time the film was made, Betty Grable received top billing as she was the more established and prestigious star at the time. A few short years later, Miss Grable's career would be over and Monroe would shoot to super-stardom.
The story is a remake, though I haven't seen any of the previous versions. Three ladies decide to live together in a swank Manhattan apartment as they try to hook themselves wealthy husbands.
Grable's love interest is Fred Clark--a rich man with the disposition of a sour pickle. He is already married and really isn't interested in marriage--just making Grable his mistress. Her character is the ditsy one--naive and dumb and she fails to grasp how nasty Clark is.
Bacall is the most-pursued in the film--with an apparently poor guy (Cameron Mitchell) Grable met in a deli pursuing her as well as nice-guy William Powell. She is the supposedly smart one of the three but has a hard time reading men--even though the scheme is hers.
As for Monroe, she is sort of like a middle ground between her other two roommates. She's not as ditsy nor as bright as the other two. Despite her amazing looks, she isn't quite as ardently pursued as you'd expect in the film! Heck, I'd expect ALL the men in the film to chase after her! And, as for finding a millionaire, this shouldn't be a problem! One of her love interests in the film is the unlikely David Wayne and their scenes together are marvelous.
Despite all the girls' plans, things don't turn out in the end like any of them envisioned. They all get men who they really had no intention in getting...yet like a Hollywood film, everything works out wonderfully at the end. Along the way, the film is chock full of nice little vignettes and performances all due to good acting and a very agreeable script. I particularly liked the nice role played by William Powell--his graceful presence did a lot to add class to the film, though there were several other nice performances as well. Plus, everything just looked and sounded so nice--with the film being shot in CinemaScope and with lovely music throughout. It was obvious that 20th Century-Fox pulled out all the stops for this production. I'd give this one an 8 and it's well worth seeing.
By the way, read through the IMDb trivia for the film and you'll find one of the dumbest forced changes to a film of the era. The powers that be at the censor board would not allow Miss Monroe to say the old saying "men don't make passes at girls who wear glasses"--as it was apparently too racy or something else that is beyond me!! Huh?!?!
In HOW TO MARRY A MILLIONAIRE, it's actually good that you have the ensemble cast. After all, how can you make it a story about three money-hungry roommates if Monroe plays all three parts!! Plus, at the time the film was made, Betty Grable received top billing as she was the more established and prestigious star at the time. A few short years later, Miss Grable's career would be over and Monroe would shoot to super-stardom.
The story is a remake, though I haven't seen any of the previous versions. Three ladies decide to live together in a swank Manhattan apartment as they try to hook themselves wealthy husbands.
Grable's love interest is Fred Clark--a rich man with the disposition of a sour pickle. He is already married and really isn't interested in marriage--just making Grable his mistress. Her character is the ditsy one--naive and dumb and she fails to grasp how nasty Clark is.
Bacall is the most-pursued in the film--with an apparently poor guy (Cameron Mitchell) Grable met in a deli pursuing her as well as nice-guy William Powell. She is the supposedly smart one of the three but has a hard time reading men--even though the scheme is hers.
As for Monroe, she is sort of like a middle ground between her other two roommates. She's not as ditsy nor as bright as the other two. Despite her amazing looks, she isn't quite as ardently pursued as you'd expect in the film! Heck, I'd expect ALL the men in the film to chase after her! And, as for finding a millionaire, this shouldn't be a problem! One of her love interests in the film is the unlikely David Wayne and their scenes together are marvelous.
Despite all the girls' plans, things don't turn out in the end like any of them envisioned. They all get men who they really had no intention in getting...yet like a Hollywood film, everything works out wonderfully at the end. Along the way, the film is chock full of nice little vignettes and performances all due to good acting and a very agreeable script. I particularly liked the nice role played by William Powell--his graceful presence did a lot to add class to the film, though there were several other nice performances as well. Plus, everything just looked and sounded so nice--with the film being shot in CinemaScope and with lovely music throughout. It was obvious that 20th Century-Fox pulled out all the stops for this production. I'd give this one an 8 and it's well worth seeing.
By the way, read through the IMDb trivia for the film and you'll find one of the dumbest forced changes to a film of the era. The powers that be at the censor board would not allow Miss Monroe to say the old saying "men don't make passes at girls who wear glasses"--as it was apparently too racy or something else that is beyond me!! Huh?!?!