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How To Marry A Millionaire

How To Marry A Millionaire

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: "How To Marry A Millionaire"
Review: "How To Marry A Millionaire" is a comedy story of 3 girls living in a penthouse searching for meeting and marrying wealthy millionaires.The movie is alot of fun.And if you want to know "How To Marry A Millionaire" and if they do marry millionaires with their schemes then you will enjoy this movie.The movie is Marilyn's best movie.The movie was very popular that there was a syndicated TV version of the same name "How To Marry A Millionaire" starring Barbara Eden in the Marilyn role,Merry Anders in the Bacall role,Lori Nelson (1st 39 episodes) in the Grable role and Lisa Gaye (in episodes 40 thru 52) in the Grable role.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Monroe, Grable, Bacall show us "How To Marry A Millionaire"
Review: "How To Marry A Millionaire", produced in 1953 by 20th Century Fox, was the original vehicle for introducing Fox's revolutionary Cinemascope presentation to the public (however, "The Robe" would be the first CinemaScope film actually released) and it showcased a number of Fox's established and rising stars.

The main body of the movie follows the lives of three New York models (played by Marilyn Monroe, Betty Grable, and Lauren Bacall) in their pursuit of luxury and ease through matrimony. Bacall is the driving force of this team effort, arranging for for them to live in a luxury flat, laying down the ground rules, and singlehandedly maintaining the facade of a sophiscated livestyle. However, Bacall's character tends to judge others by their apparent sophistication. Monroe and Grable characters are less mercenary than Bacall and each has a small character flaw that sometimes leads them astray. Monroe has poor eyesight but refuses to wear her glasses in public which leads to the predictable bumping into people and objects. Grable, on the other hand, is somewhat scatterbrained, usually leading her to miscontrue statements made to her. After initially working together, each character goes into her own vignette, highlighting her path to love, and then they meet up again at the end where of course each of their paths ends in a manner different than the one they had imagined.

Considering the mostly lightweight script, the acting is very good on the whole. Although many viewers today would see the movie to watch Marilyn Monroe, it is Lauren Bacall and Betty Grable who give the better performances. Bacall is excellent in her debut in a comedy role and Grable is an absolute delight, dispensing a sometimes skewed view of life that often finds its mark. The supporting cast is also quite excellent, in particular the performances by William Powell, David Wayne, and Cameron Mitchell.

There are a number of things in the film that may confuse or at least put off today's audiences. The movie opens with a orchestra playing a composition by Alfred Neuman (who is seen conducting) and then shows a number of panoramic shots throughout the film. It is important to remember that the biggest star of this movie was suppose to be the new Cinemascope presentation and Fox's new High Fidelity sound system. While these scenes wowwed audiences in theaters during the film's initial release, watching the same scenes from a DVD widescreen version on a television set greatly lessens their impact.

Nonetheless, if you like the movies of the fifties or a fan of of any of the three principal actors, "How To Marry A Millionaire" should be one to add to your collection. Today's audiences will find the story a dated one but much of the humor will translates well to the present. This is a very enjoyable movie.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: "How To Marry A Millionaire"
Review: "How To Marry A Millionaire" is a comedy story of 3 girls living in a penthouse searching for meeting and marrying wealthy millionaires.The movie is alot of fun.And if you want to know "How To Marry A Millionaire" and if they do marry millionaires with their schemes then you will enjoy this movie.The movie is Marilyn's best movie.The movie was very popular that there was a syndicated TV version of the same name "How To Marry A Millionaire" starring Barbara Eden in the Marilyn role,Merry Anders in the Bacall role,Lori Nelson (1st 39 episodes) in the Grable role and Lisa Gaye (in episodes 40 thru 52) in the Grable role.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Monroe, Grable, Bacall show us "How To Marry A Millionaire"
Review: "How To Marry A Millionaire", produced in 1953 by 20th Century Fox, was the original vehicle for introducing Fox's revolutionary Cinemascope presentation to the public (however, "The Robe" would be the first CinemaScope film actually released) and it showcased a number of Fox's established and rising stars.

The main body of the movie follows the lives of three New York models (played by Marilyn Monroe, Betty Grable, and Lauren Bacall) in their pursuit of luxury and ease through matrimony. Bacall is the driving force of this team effort, arranging for for them to live in a luxury flat, laying down the ground rules, and singlehandedly maintaining the facade of a sophiscated livestyle. However, Bacall's character tends to judge others by their apparent sophistication. Monroe and Grable characters are less mercenary than Bacall and each has a small character flaw that sometimes leads them astray. Monroe has poor eyesight but refuses to wear her glasses in public which leads to the predictable bumping into people and objects. Grable, on the other hand, is somewhat scatterbrained, usually leading her to miscontrue statements made to her. After initially working together, each character goes into her own vignette, highlighting her path to love, and then they meet up again at the end where of course each of their paths ends in a manner different than the one they had imagined.

Considering the mostly lightweight script, the acting is very good on the whole. Although many viewers today would see the movie to watch Marilyn Monroe, it is Lauren Bacall and Betty Grable who give the better performances. Bacall is excellent in her debut in a comedy role and Grable is an absolute delight, dispensing a sometimes skewed view of life that often finds its mark. The supporting cast is also quite excellent, in particular the performances by William Powell, David Wayne, and Cameron Mitchell.

There are a number of things in the film that may confuse or at least put off today's audiences. The movie opens with a orchestra playing a composition by Alfred Neuman (who is seen conducting) and then shows a number of panoramic shots throughout the film. It is important to remember that the biggest star of this movie was suppose to be the new Cinemascope presentation and Fox's new High Fidelity sound system. While these scenes wowwed audiences in theaters during the film's initial release, watching the same scenes from a DVD widescreen version on a television set greatly lessens their impact.

Nonetheless, if you like the movies of the fifties or a fan of of any of the three principal actors, "How To Marry A Millionaire" should be one to add to your collection. Today's audiences will find the story a dated one but much of the humor will translates well to the present. This is a very enjoyable movie.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: "How to Marry a Millionaire" is georgeous and glossy.....
Review: ...it was the FIRST film 20th Century Fox made in Cinemascope.
Then they made "The Robe" and released that first...using the
splashy "How to Marry a Millionaire" as a sales tool for the
new wide screen process. That is the real reason for the
symphony orchestra (conducted by Alfred Neuman)...and the
panoramic views of New York. But, even though it will not pass
muster with feminists, it is a slick and saucy entertainment.
Sadly it is Betty Grable's last film before she and Fox parted,
but she turns in a great performance. Everyone connected with
this film is really good...and it is still a pleasure to watch.
I hope that the dvd is a big success, then maybe Fox will let
us have some of Betty Grable's classic films on dvd. (...)
So enjoy "How to Marry a Millionaire" and hope that Fox will
bring us more of Betty on dvd in the near future.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Cute movie, but the pan & scan (...)
Review: According to the video, "How to Marry a Millionaire" was the first movie released in CinemaScope. CinemaScope is the super-long screen, and, since this movie was the first, you can tell they made ample use of the longer screen.

Well, at least you can GUESS that they did that. There are many, many scenes where you can tell that they did a shot of all three women - Betty Grable, Marilyn Monroe, and Lauren Bacall - sitting next to each other, but because of the pan & scan, you only get to see two of the three on your screen.

Bottom line: if you can find a Letterbox version, buy that instead. Otherwise, it's a cute little story.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Amusing But VERY Badly Formatted Film
Review: Amusing but very badly formatted film.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The whistle blows, and they're off!
Review: And so we follow the escapades of three models as they take a luxury apartment together in the hopes of snaring a rich husband in this delightful comedy starring Lauren Bacall, Betty Grable, and then-newcomer Marilyn Monroe.

Bacall is the ringleader, the level-headed woman who seems as tough as nails. Seems she got burned once years before with a poor guy, and she's not letting that happen again, no siree. The other ladies, Grable and Monroe, don't have quite her hard-nosed ambition, so there's lots to laugh at as Grable digs more working class fellas and near-sighted but not wearing her glasses Monroe can never quite tell who she's talking to. All three women have great wardrobes and as they're models in the storyline, there's even an opportunity to have a mini-fashion show with ensembles that otherwise wouldn't fit into the plot.

The supporting cast is solid too, with exceptional work from the married man who thinks he can have an illicit liaison with Grable, and the always wonderful William Powell as the silver fox older man Bacall is trying to lasso for herself, stubbornly refusing the advances of loutish seeming Cameron Mitchell. Of course, if I were in this movie, I wouldn't have to convince myself to go with Powell! But I guess I'll have to console myself with the millionaires in my own life instead. David Wayne does one of his better jobs as a four-eyed millionaire on the lam who finds himself sitting next to Monroe on a plane bound for -- but that's part of the gag!

I really enjoy myself every time I watch "How to Marry a Millionaire" as every gal winds up following her heart anyway to a satisfactory conclusion. It's certainly "How to" have a good time with the telly tonight!

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Dull glamour
Review: Good gracious, we just watched the VHS version of this movie last night. Hmmmm. I'm not quite sure how I feel, so I'll just spill it: Tedious, dull, had trouble following a story, with a slapped-together ending. We truly were sighing before the movie actually began, as the makers spent such a huge amount of time portraying a full-blown orchestra playing the entire theme song. This, we suppose, was to showcase this "amazing" Cinemascopish thing they did. By the by, there was absolutely no reason to Cinemascope this movie; there was no action whatsoever, no panoramic shots, no nothing to warrant anything widescreen at all. Go figure. What were they thinking? Money, I suppose. Anyway, after they finally started the movie, there was a drawn-out scene with all three actresses (Lauren Bacall, Betty Grable, Marilyn Monroe) lying around on chaise-type furniture talking about their millionaire-man dreams, during which more than half of the time you could not see at least one of the actresses! So, we ask ourselves, why the "widescreen" effect? Anyway, we were viewing in standard format from VHS. That's that for you.

None of these three actresses could portray being "in love" at all, even when they were supposed to be in love with the three men they married in the end. As for their personal personas: Bacall is always just plain weird looking and always with a weird personality. She looked like she was supposed to be the mother, not the friend, of Monroe and Grable. Bacall was too harsh (as usual); Monroe was too impish (as usual); Grable was too stupid. All were irritating and unbelievable characters, bordering on unlikeable.

However, the goodish things about this movie: (1) The fashion show that Mr. Brookman requests (though it does seem a bit voyeuristic by today's standards) is cool, as it showcases some of the finer women's fashions of 1953. (See also Bob Hope's "Paris Holiday" for some stunning 1950s fashions on beautiful women.) (2) Seeing Marilyn Monroe in those groovy fashionable-even-today eyeglasses--what glamour! (She's pretty sexy in that little red diamond-studded number at the fashion show as well!) (3) The two special features at the beginning: One is showcasing "Movietone News" clips of Marilyn Monroe in I believe 7 or 10 of her movies from "The Marilyn Collection." The second special feature is the original theatrical trailer for the movie "How to Marry a Millionaire," and gives us a glimpse of Bogey and Bacall at the movie's premiere. (4) Lauren Bacall in the grey jumper dress with those huge billowy sleeves on that white blouse--a knockout outfit for her!

I may change my mind on this movie if I ever watch it again, but I just can't help my first impression. I respect the legacy of her, but I'm not a great fan of Marilyn Monroe, and this movie was too dull to get excited about. It is a good study in Hollywood history, especially of these three actresses, the fashions, the sensibilities of the 1950s, etc.

See also: Marilyn Monroe in "Some Like It Hot" with Tony Curtis (one of her husbands) and Jack Lemmon. Lauren Bacall in "The Big Sleep" (probably her best) with, of course, Humphrey Bogart (one of her husbands). Can't help you with Betty Grable: To my knowledge, this is the only movie I've seen her in.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Inconsistent plot
Review: Great actresses... Great plot idea... So what went wrong?

I was certain I would love this movie but I felt very disappointed after watching it. It was very predictable but that wouldn't truly destroy a light-hearted movie like this. Although gags such as Marilyn Monroe's character's refusal to wear her glasses in public were entertaining, overall the movie wasn't very funny, even in comparison to other movies of its time.

The movie starts off at a moderate pace as the women decide to catch a millionare. Then the movie speeds through the chase. You see very little relationship development. What really destroyed it was the sudden, abrupt ending. The distribution of screen time was uneven; Two of the girls suddenly show up married at the end of the movie without much leading up to their ultimate decisions while Lauren Bacall's character is seen during all her decisionmaking.

The movie, all in all, is cute. The actresses still give a great performance (although I found Betty Grable's character somewhat irritating) despite the script's flaws. It is a light-hearted movie that will make you smile when you are not in the mood for a drama or in-depth plot. Bottom line: Just rent this movie, or better yet check it out from your local library if possible.


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