Marilyn Monroe -- Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953) - Film Review

  Howard Hawkes' film 'Gentlemen Prefer Blondes' in many ways cemented Marilyn Monroe's reputation as a 'dumb blonde' - certainly a casting which was misjudged in reality, shown by Monroe's real witticisms in interviews as well as her aptitude for writing in her poetry - found in the book 'Fragments'. In reality, Monroe was also described by many to be incredibly shy, and by those who knew her well, an intellectual; Marlon Brando said of her: 'Marilyn was a sensitive, misunderstood person, much more perceptive than was generally assumed. She had been beaten down, but had a strong emotional intelligence -- a keen intuition for the feelings of others, the most refined type of intelligence.'  For me, this film on a first watch has the ability to be just what it seems - a light, amusing comedy. However, on second glance this films reveals much more than it would seem - for instance, the role of women in the 1950s as well as the infamous reputation of 'blonde' women.

Marilyn: Not what she seemed. In a publicity shot for 'Gentlemen Prefer Blondes'

  Jane Russell co-starred with Monroe in the 1953 film; she had become something of a fixation for Howard Hawkes after he reportedly met her as a dentist's assistant, and signed her up to a film contract almost immediately. Russell and Monroe make the perfect comedy duo - the dynamic of Monroe's 'Lorelei', rushing around unknowingly, responding to the world as if it is all something new to her, is complemented perfectly by Dorothy's steely resolve, and no-nonsense manner. The film's script is also perfectly crafted, with subtle but extremely funny one-liners. The setting on a ship also gives the whole film a sense of being suspended in it's own little reality, of fun and excitement.

Monroe and Russell: The perfect duo

Yet beneath this, the title 'Gentlemen Prefer Blondes' still seems to inspire some irony - after all, it is Lorelei who always ends up with men that only want one thing from her - though she cheats them for their money, the ease with which she charms her way to them represents a paradoxical situation. One the one hand, we are shown the power that women can have by using their looks to manipulate - but also the slight sadness that women appear to need looks to perform this act - perhaps Monroe's 'Lorelei' would be poor and destitute were she not good-looking. Gentlemen might 'prefer' blondes as 'silly things' to have a fling with - but, in wanting only one thing from them, no constancy. This seems to be implied in the name of the film's sequel: (But) 'Gentlemen Marry Brunettes'. So in Hawkes' film we see women trying to usurp their lower place in society, but ironically by emphasising their attributes as women - the very things which restricted them in the first place.

The cover of the book, the basis for the film, perfectly depicts the paradoxical role of women discussed above.

  Russell and Monroe became very good friends during the filming, and perhaps this is why their on-screen rapport is so convincing. We really believe they are a team, out to help one another. The film is also marked out by Hoagy Carmichael's iconic music, sung and performed beautifully by Russell and Monroe, two underrated singers in their own right. The sequence 'Two Little Girls From Little Rock' has become in itself iconic, whilst Monroe's 'Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend' is imprinted onto pop culture, and has been imitated - but never bested - many times. Monroe succeeds where others fail in keeping her performance subtle yet forthright - most mimics create Monroe into the caricature they believe is the true Monroe - all swishing blonde hair, scatterbrained, and breathy. It makes sense that only Marilyn herself could carry these actions off adequately - after all, it was she who engineered her 'dumb' persona so cleverly, even studying anthropology and dance books to achieve the famous Monroe walk. On first watch, by all means enjoy the film as it seems - but I hope this review gives a closer account of what can be found when we try, even just a little, to look past the veneer of caricature and rumour - when we look, carefully, a second time. 

Victoria x

N.B. - I claim no ownership of the pictures used in this post. 

I obtained them all under a Creative Commons license on Flickr: 

https://www.flickr.com/search/?text=gentlemen%20prefer%20blondes&sort=relevance&license=1%2C2%2C3%2C4%2C5%2C6

Lolita Film Review - 1962, Stanley Kubrick

Even with censorship, Kubrick's 'Lolita', released in 1962, was a shocking and daring film. The story of a writer, Humbert Humbert, who has an obsessive infatuation with 'nymphets' - young girls of about twelve or fourteen - was to say the least scandalous. 'Lolita' is a sort of dark comedy, a black love story in its own right - having read the book, I was interested to see whether the film could capture this subtle humour that Nabokov had crafted, and whether it could also present Humbert in an objective light - the book itself perhaps not so much evokes sympathy as allows to you to understand the mind of someone you might previously have thought to be monstrous. In fact, Humbert appears well-mannered, even oddly-likeable.

Sue Lyon, publicity shot for 'Lolita'

James Mason played Humbert Humbert in the film, and did so very well. Known for playing villains; being the man everyone 'loved to hate,' Mason was perfect for the role. Kubrick's film perhaps allows even more sympathy to be channeled towards Humbert, with Nelson Riddle's 'Love Theme' contributing to the pity we feel for him. Perhaps not an entirely accurate rendering of the book, yet it still accomplishes Nabokov's point that people are not necessarily who we think they are - in many ways Humbert is also shown to be vindicated by Lolita, in her abandonment of him. Sue Lyon expertly caught the ungrateful, spoilt aspects of Lolita (or 'Dolores Haze') in her characterisation, yet manages to blend it with the desperation of a child who feels unloved, but doesn't know how to go about solving this hurt. Hence we are presented with a tragedy of the fate of two character's - Lolita's end, holed up in a tumbledown house, pregnant at seventeen and Humbert, desperately lonely and probably facing prison. Both seem on the edge of death. Maybe this is why we are gripped to them from the beginning - they are both so clearly characters trembling on the edge of their own existence.

Kubrick commented that had he known how much censorship would be imposed on the film, he never would have made it. However, in a similar theme to my other reviews, I always argue that restriction is not necessarily a negative thing. Many of the famous shots in the film, such as when Humbert paints Lolita's toenails, were put in to suggest the sexual nature of their relationship, as to portray it any more explicitly was forbidden. And yet this shot would never have been created, as well as the iconography associated with 'Lolita', had censorship lost it's battle. We also gain a sense of the possible love in the relationship, rather than simple carnal desire which it might have otherwise been portrayed as. This is also a significant theme in Nabokov's novel - Lolita's body, and the sexual encounters the two characters have, are (rather comically) described in flowery, ambiguous and metaphorical language, thus making Humbert seem more tender yet simultaneously adding a level of slight revulsion, due to the anonymity. Revulsion mostly aside in the film, Kubrick struck most of the balance right, though erring more on the side of love.

Publicity Stills of Sue Lyon for Kubrick's 'Lolita', shown at LACMA exhibition

Peter Sellers also gives a brilliant performance as 'Quilty', a role which was made far more prominent in the film, and to good effect. The plot, which the language often makes unclear in the novel, becomes gripping and much more understandable for an audience. Again, we understand, through Kubrick's direction, Nabokov's intention - that people are not who they seem. The apparent danger, Humbert, cares much more for Lolita than Quilty, who also has a penchant for younger girls and yet is a much more threatening, dislikable man. Who would have thought distinctions in such a category could be made? And yet they can be, and are expertly distilled by both writer and director.

The images and the iconography (the lollipop, the heart-shaped sunglasses, the tangible americana) of both the film and the book will always intrigue me, as well as the dynamic between Humbert and Lolita, both misunderstood characters in their own right - and also possibly enduring characters, frozen in time by being part of the fabric of American culture. It is for this reason that I urge you watch this film, but not only for this - after all the story, these days, is too often lost in the imagery it has projected. Watch the story, and listen to that - that it what has, and always will hold the magic.

Victoria x

N.B. - I do not claim rights to any of the pictures used. I used Flickr to find them, under a Creative Commons license:
https://www.flickr.com/search/?text=lolita%20stanley%20kubrick&sort=relevance&license=1%2C2%2C3%2C4%2C5%2C6

Sunset Boulevard - Movie Review

          'You're Norma Desmond. You used to be in silent pictures. You used to be big.'

                                 'I am big. It's the pictures that got small.'

To me, Billy Wilder's 'Sunset Boulevard' and it's fading protagonist, Norma Desmond, finds much of its essence in these memorable lines. The words are reflected in Norma herself, in the outdated, overdrawn makeup she wears and the ancient furs. They can be found resounding through the house itself, in it's gothic and decaying splendour - a home which, like it's owner, has now become a mere shadow of it's previous existence. For Gloria Swanson, the role of Norma Desmond must have been beyond difficult, beyond sensitive - she herself had been a world famous actress in her prime, the 1920s, and like many other silent stars, was all but forgotten with the emergence of the talkies, and later colour pictures. Many stars failed to debut in talkies, due to their nasal voices, or, like Norma, simply refused because they regarded talkies as a farce, an insult to the art form that they had so long glorified.

Perhaps Norma's words 'It's the pictures that got small' have more potency and less vanity than we might like to think. I often think what Norma or Gloria, for that matter, might think of movies today, where a narrative can be weak as long as there are special effects to gloss it over. In many ways, silent films and film noir, by their very limitation, possess an attraction that may be unachievable in the modern age. Many of my friends say to me that they cannot see the appeal of black and white films, protesting that they would work best in colour - but to me, the films would lose their very essence were this to happen. It is the grey and black shadows in 'Sunset Boulevard' that create the decaying, decrepit atmosphere, the screen behind which Norma desperately tries, and fails, to hide behind. They add an air of illusion, suspense and fear. They draw us in just as the young writer is drawn in inextricably to Norma's fatal web.

Gloria Swanson cemented her status as an actress of great stature in this film, perhaps because the film's topic was something she had not only researched, but lived through. Many of the lines she speaks are not merely reproduced, but clearly felt for the first time. Even her character's gestures are stagey, Norma's claw like hands begging her lover's return in a frightening imitation of a beautiful 1920s screen actress silently imploring her lover to remain faithful. Swanson perfectly captures the two sides to her character - on the one hand, we see a frightened, painfully lonely little girl, longing to be loved and appreciated again, whilst on the other hand we see a slightly vicious, positively frightening individual - a mask designed to cover up the hurt and injustices suffered. Paired with a soundtrack from Franz Waxman, and stellar performances from William Holden and Nancy Holden, as well as Erich von Stroheim, Sunset Boulevard is a heartbreaking and truly wonderful film not to be missed. 

   

Victoria x

N.B. I claim no rights to the images used in this post - all rights belong to the respective owners. I obtained the photos from Flickr under a Creative Commons license. 

Film Review - On The Waterfront

'You don't understand. I coulda had class. I coulda been a contender. I coulda been somebody, instead of a bum, which is what I am, let's face it. ' -Terry Malloy

Recently I watched 'On the Waterfront', a film directed by Elia Kazan and starring a very young Marlon Brando, as well as Eva Marie Saint, who also starred in films such as Alfred Hitchcock's 'North by Northwest.' I really loved this film, and it's one of those pictures that you can watch again and again without getting bored of it, because you see something new each time - a different side to a character, or an interaction you previously didn't notice, something as small as Saint's character, Edie, refusing a piece of gum. I think this is due in a large part to the genius of Elia Kazan, and the careful training that Brando and Saint both received from the Actors Studio, which advocated extreme attention to detail in order to build a believable overall story. To me, actors like Brando and Saint prove what can truly be achieved with the notorious and often misunderstood 'method' - immersion in their characters, but this immersion being a very thought through (and yet natural) process.

I think a lot of the appeal of this film rests in the juxtapositions it presents. On the one hand there is the dangerous and rough tale of the murder of Edie's brother, against the harsh background of the dock workers and the mafia, whilst the audience are also presented with a startling love story between the two protagonists, Edie and Terry Malloy. Terry, Brando's character, is an ex-boxer, and played a part in the murder of Edie's brother, though not actively committing the crime himself. The two lovers therefore seem like an unlikely pairing, particularly because Saint's character is so reserved - she attends a convent school - whereas Brando's character is full of raw power and violence. But perhaps this is why it works so well - the gentleness of Saint's character brings out the vulnerability in Terry, an exposing which is really interesting for the audience to witness, whilst Terry encourages Edie to stand up for herself, to learn to take life a little less seriously. The two characters also knew each other in childhood, and only re - kindle their acquaintance through the murder of Edie's brother Joey; evidently still very different in childhood, Edie had braces and straw-like hair, with Terry getting into fights with teachers - as Terry tells her 'You grew up nice'.

Although moments like these are only ever spoken of, it is testament to the well-written script and Kazan's skill that these memories and conjured in our own heads, without being presented visually, yet are still potent. It is also these memories and tension that leads to such an effective relationship dynamic. Reportedly, when Kazan was casting the film, he asked Eva Marie and Marlon to improvise a scene together, to see if they had any chemistry. According to Saint, 'the sparks just flew' and this is something clearly evident between Brando and Saint in 'On the Waterfront'.

Karl Marden also gives an extremely effective performance as the vicar in the film, who is willing to help the dock workers get the work they deserve, and he explores his character's struggle to remain faithful to his principles whilst simultaneously challenging them vey effectively.

Overall, it is easy to see why 'On the Waterfront' received so much critical acclaim, with such wonderful and sensitive performances, which to me prove the real worth of acting as a profession, something which can convey truths about the world and human nature quietly yet decisively. I hope you enjoyed this post, I will be reviewing more films soon.

Marlon Brando by Philippe Halsman, 1950. 

Victoria x

N.B. I claim no credit for the images used in this post. I found them on flickr under a Creative Commons license, and all rights belong to those who owned the pictures originally.