How to Marry a Millionaire

I really like watching old movies, so this week I decided to watch one that I haven't seen yet. How to Marry a Millionaire is a 1953 romantic comedy starring Marilyn Monroe, Betty Grable, and Lauren Becall. The three young women rent a fancy penthouse in New York City from a man who is trying to avoid the IRS by living in Europe. The three women plan to use their location to attract millionaire men they can marry. The movie follows the three women as they date various men and plan and trap them into marriage. All of the women are really funny and compliment each other perfectly. The brains behind their plan is Becall who is being courted by a millionaire, that she believes is poor. He obviously knows that she is a gold digger and wants to marry for love and to teach her a lesson in the importance of money. Betty Grable plays a ditzy blond who loves food and actually meets men by having them pay for her groceries when she "forgets" her money. Marilyn Monroe's character is definitely the funniest as her character refuses to wear her glasses because she believes men would not be interested in women who do. The comedy around her character comes from her running into walls and not knowing who any of the men are in the film. The movie is actually really funny and well done. The ending is perfect and you grow to love all of the characters, even though the women are gold diggers. It is funny to watch old movies like this and see how women are portrayed in the movies. Marilyn Monroe plays the same dumb blonde character in every movie I have ever seen her in. Lauren Becall is the actual smart female lead as she is the brains behind their operation and devises their whole apartment plan. There is one scene in the movie when all three women escort rich men to dinner and they are wearing long pretty dresses and sit there nodding and sounding impressed every few minutes. Their profession in the movie is modeling clothes for stores and using their looks to find men. It is just kind of interesting when you compare women in movies then and now and see how the stories have changed. But you really can't blame these women as their only chance at money and happiness seems to be from marring a wealthy man.