Gentlemen Prefer Blondes

Howard Hawks’s late-period comic essay on the economic advantages of an ample bosom is not one of his best, though it just about works as a naughty Technicolor bellwether to these ‘Sex and the City’-fixated times. Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell play a pair of chesty chisellers aboard a cruise ship bound for Paris, forced to work their faux-ditsy charms amid a chorus of  male admirers. While there’s enough laboured screwball and gauche innuendo to raise the odd titter, it’s the kitsch background details that generate much of the fun: just try not to smirk at the flesh-toned underwear of the backing singers for Russell’s rendition of ‘Ain’t There Anyone Here for Love?’. Still, if camp comedy capering (don’t call it a social satire!) isn’t your thing, it’s worth the ticket to see Monroe’s iconic and flawlessly choreographed performance of ‘Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend’: a perfect four minutes of film.