Gentlemen Prefer Blondes

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes follows two American showgirls, Lorelei Lee and Dorothy Shaw, who travel by ocean liner from the United States to France. Lorelei is engaged to a wealthy young man, Gus Esmond Jr., but his father disapproves of the match and hires private detective Ernie Malone to watch her during the trip and gather anything that might break the engagement. Lorelei and Dorothy are close friends with very different temperaments, and the voyage brings them into contact with a range of fellow passengers, including the wealthy Sir Francis "Piggy" Beekman.

The film was directed by Howard Hawks, the fourteenth of the nineteen features he directed in chronological order, arriving between The Big Sky and Land of the Pharaohs. Charles Lederer wrote the screenplay, and Sol C. Siegel produced for 20th Century Fox. Marilyn Monroe plays Lorelei and Jane Russell plays Dorothy, with Charles Coburn, Elliott Reid, Tommy Noonan and George Winslow in supporting roles; 173 cast members are credited.

Released in July 1953 and running 91 minutes, the film cost about 2 million dollars and took roughly 5 million dollars worldwide. On IMDb it holds 7.1 out of 10 from around 47,000 votes, while on TMDB it stands at 7.3 from about 1,110 votes. A critics' rating of 7.8 from 88 reviews places it somewhat above both audience scores.