Musiquarium

February 29 2024

COMBINATION PLATTER

Twentieth Century Fox offers up a mix of Monroe's most famous tunes.

Above: the front and rear sleeves of a 1962 Twentieth Century Fox album featuring the brightest star in Hollywood, Marilyn Monroe, performing musical numbers from three films—River of No Return, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, and There’s No Business Like Show Business. Inside you get a “ready to frame” Monroe photo, which is the cover shot unaltered. It’s a nice image indeed. The full list of songs is as follows:

“Heat Wave,” “Lazy,” “After You Get What You Want You Don’t Want It,” “River of No Return,” “One Silver Dollar,” “I’m Going To File My Claim,” “A Little Girl from Little Rock,” (with Eileen Wilson), “When Love Goes Wrong,” (also with Eileen Wilson), “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend,” and “Bye Bye Baby.”

You can hear most of the tunes by looking around YouTube, if you’re curious.

River of No Return, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, There's No Business Like Show Business, Twentieth Century Fox, Marilyn Monroe

Femmes Fatales

July 3 2022

SWEET DREAMER

*yawn* What a refreshing nap. Oh, hello. How long have you been standing there and why do you have a banana in your pocket?

Above: a nice photo of Marilyn Monroe in bed, shot in 1953. That was arguably her pivotal year. It was when her massive hits Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and How To Marry a Millionaire came out, and she made two appearances on The Jack Benny Show. No wonder she was tired.

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, How To Marry a Millionaire, The Jack Benny Show, Marilyn Monroe, Jack Benny

Vintage Pulp

December 22 2020

FAST AND LOOS

Gentlemen prefer blondes. So do elderly billionaires, used car salesmen, and pornographers, but let's leave all that aside for now.

We said we’d get back to Anita Loos and here we are. We said that eleven years ago, but what can you do? Above you see a French edition of her classic comedy Les hommes préfèrent les blondes, better known as Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, with Marilyn Monroe—who starred in the movie version—front and center on the cover. We read the book a while back—its full title is actually Gentlemen Prefer Blondes: The Illuminating Diary of a Professional Lady—but haven’t talked about it, so we’ll just tell you that it’s simply ingenious, taking the form of the diary of a somewhat vacuous and entitled socialite flapper named Lorelei, who is to gentlemen what sugar is to flies. Lorelei is a material girl obsessed with wealth and status, who expects adoration and basically plies most of these guys for gifts. But of course she does choose someone in the end.

The novel is built from short stories Loos wrote for Harper’s Bazaar in the early 1920s. It was originally published in book form in 1925, with this edition coming in 1959, a few years after film version’s French run. Loos’ masterpiece wasn’t loved by critics, but it was a runaway success anyway and ended up being printed in thirteen languages. Little known factoid—unlike the film version, which takes place on a cruise ship, a chunk of the novel occurs aboard the Orient Express, with Lorelei displaying herself to the crème of European gentlemen from Paris to Budapest. She even meets Sigmund “Froid.” Gentlemen Prefer Blondes obviously isn’t pulp style at all, but Monroe had a pulp-worthy life, so that’s connection enough for us. If you want a mental break from gunplay and mayhem, this is a good option.

France, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Anita Loos, Marilyn Monroe, cover art, literature

Vintage Pulp

April 15 2013

AUDIENCES PREFER BLONDES

And as far as gentlemen go, they’ll take whatever they can get.

Above is a brilliant poster for the film musical Gentlemen Marry Brunettes starring Jane Russell and Jeanne Crain. Both Brunettes and 1953’s Gentlemen Prefer Blondes had begun as novels written by Anita Loos, in 1927 and 1925 respectively. Blondes (it was actually the second time the book had been filmed) was of course a smash with Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell in the leads. A year later Monroe was unavailable to reprise her role as Lorelei Lee, so both leads were rescripted into entirely new characters and Jeanne Crain scored the new part opposite Russell. Gentlemen Marry Brunettes appeared in 1955, but the result wasn’t quite as electric as Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. Same old story—it’s almost always pointless trying to capture lightning in a bottle twice, and a sequel without Monroe was destined to disappoint, at least artistically. But it did become one of the top box office movies of 1955. Amazing, considering it’s almost forgotten today. Seems the audience has stated its preference rather clearly. Well, even if Brunettes fell short of Blondes in the memorability department, there’s nothing forgettable about its Japanese poster.

Japan, United Artists, Gentlemen Marry Brunettes, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Marilyn Monrow, Jane Russell, Jeanne Crain, Anita Loos, poster art, cinema

Hollywoodland, Vintage Pulp

April 16 2011

THE LAST LEGEND

1963 post mortem on Marilyn Monroe’s life and career leaves plenty out but is still worth a viewing.

This nice poster was made for the Yugoslavian release of Marilyn, a 1963 documentary about her life and death. When Monroe died during the filming of Something’s Got To Give, this feature was hastily cobbled together and rushed into cinemas to fill the gap that had appeared in Twentieth Century Fox’s release schedule. It was narrated by Rock Hudson, which is why he appears on the art, and featured Monore’s most memorable screen moments, including her song and dance “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend” from the film Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. These days, more is known about Monroe’s life than was the case in 1963, so those looking for tabloid style dish will be disappointed. This is a tribute intended to burnish her legend, rather than a real documentary designed dig into it. But it’s a good movie, not least because it gives a clear portrait of her unmatched stature as a celebrity at that time. Marilyn premiered in the U.S. today in 1963. As a bonus, below are some images of Monroe at her most alluring.

Yugoslavia, Twentieth Century Fox, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Something’s Got To Give, Marilyn, Marilyn Monroe, Rock Hudson, poster art, cinema, exyu, movie review

Femmes Fatales

August 26 2010

ALICE IN WONDERLAND

Your kiss is on my list of the best things in life.

Promo photo of American film actress Alice White, née Alva White, who appeared in around forty films, including the original Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, seen here circa 1928 in the mode of Clara Bow, to whom she was often compared.

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Alice White, Clara Bow

Hollywoodland

April 28 2010

DIAMONDS ARE A GIRL’S BEST FRIEND

But with friends like these, who needs enemies?

The National Insider gets meta- physical in this fanciful story published today in 1963 about a cursed gemstone killing Marilyn Monroe. They’re talking about the Moon of Baroda, left, a 24-carat yellow diamond found in western India and owned for almost five-hundred years by a royal dynasty known as the Gaekwad Maharajas, and briefly by Empress Maria Theresa of Austria, who was the only female monarch of the Hapsburg Dynasty.

Sounds like something that absolutely needs to be stolen, right? But before you break out your ski mask and suction cups, you should know that the diamond supposedly brings grave misfortune to anyone who carries it across the sea. Maybe that explains why its eventual American owner, Meyer Rosenbaum of Detroit’s Meyer Jewellery Company, gave the stone to Marilyn Monroe. Monroe wore it while filming Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, during which she performed her immortal materialist ditty “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend.” That was in 1953. Monroe lived nine more years, and we’re pretty sure she had some laughs during that span, so it’s a stretch to say the diamond did her in, but it makes a great story.

In our research we actually discovered that most famous diamonds have curses associated with them, including the Hope Diamond (whose first owner was supposedly torn apart by wild dogs), the Kahinoor Diamond (which can only be safely worn by women), and the Black Orlov (three of whose owners committed suicide). Interestingly, all of these diamonds came from India, and two are said to have been pried loose from the eyes of Hindu gods. So basically, you mess with Brahma and you get the horns.

We love the idea of karma, the possibility that evildoing will get you killed and reincarnated as a louse in the ass of a water buffalo, but perhaps a more scientific way of looking at all this is simply that diamonds are forever and we are not. Thus misfortune of one sort or another is always waiting for us humans, while our diamonds always survive to be passed along to the next mere mortal. But just to be on the safe side, we’ve told our girlfriends that we will never give them diamonds, or for that matter jewelry of any sort. It’s for their own good, really.

The National Insider, Moon of Baroda, Kahinoor Diamond, Hope Diamond, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend, Marilyn Monroe, sex symbol, tabloid

Vintage Pulp

July 15 2009

BLONDE AMBITION

Their eyes were watching bod.

We love this cover for Anita Loos’ 1925 novel of ambition and materialism Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. Brilliantly rendered by Earle Bergey, the so-called gentlemen here are leering caricatures evincing monstrous thirst for the beautiful young blonde. The book became a bestseller and, twenty-three years later, a film with Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell which premiered today in 1958. The book’s cover image helped establish Bergey’s reputation as an illustrator without peer, and more than eighty years later it’s one of the most common pulp images on the internet. We’ll post more Bergey art later, and also revisit Anita Loos.

Gay Book Magazine, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Anita Loos, Earle Bergey, Marilyn Monroe, Jane Russell, cover art, literature

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HISTORY REWIND

The headlines that mattered yesteryear.

October 5

1945—Hollywood Black Friday

A six month strike by Hollywood set decorators becomes a riot at the gates of Warner Brothers Studios when strikers and replacement workers clash. The event helps bring about the passage of the Taft-Hartley Act, which, among other things, prohibits unions from contributing to political campaigns and requires union leaders to affirm they are not supporters of the Communist Party.

October 4

1957—Sputnik Circles Earth

The Soviet Union launches the satellite Sputnik I, which becomes the first artificial object to orbit the Earth. It orbits for two months and provides valuable information about the density of the upper atmosphere. It also panics the United States into a space race that eventually culminates in the U.S. moon landing.

October 4

1970—Janis Joplin Overdoses

American blues singer Janis Joplin is found dead on the floor of her motel room in Los Angeles. The cause of death is determined to be an overdose of heroin, possibly combined with the effects of alcohol.

October 3

1908—Pravda Founded

The newspaper Pravda is founded by Leon Trotsky, Adolph Joffe, Matvey Skobelev and other Russian exiles living in Vienna. The name means “truth” and the paper serves as an official organ of the Central Committee of the Communist Party between 1912 and 1991.

October 3

1957—Ferlinghetti Wins Obscenity Case

An obscenity trial brought against Lawrence Ferlinghetti, owner of the counterculture City Lights Bookstore in San Francisco, reaches its conclusion when Judge Clayton Horn rules that Allen Ginsberg’s poetry collection Howl is not obscene.

October 3

1995—Simpson Acquitted

After a long trial watched by millions of people worldwide, former football star O.J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman. Simpson subsequently loses a civil suit and is ordered to pay millions in damages.

October 2

1919—Wilson Suffers Stroke

U.S. President Woodrow Wilson suffers a massive stroke, leaving him partially paralyzed. He is confined to bed for weeks, but eventually resumes his duties, though his participation is little more than perfunctory. Wilson remains disabled throughout the remainder of his term in office, and the rest of his life.