Marilyn Monroe dress, which prompted veteran star Joan Crawford to describe her behavior as "unbecoming an actress and a lady" to the press. While "Niagara" made Monroe a sex symbol and established her "look", her second film of the year, the satirical musical comedy "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes", established her screen persona as a "dumb blonde". Based on Anita Loos' bestselling novel and its Broadway version, the film focuses on two "gold-digging" showgirls, Lorelei Lee and Dorothy Shaw, played by Monroe and Jane Russell. The role of Lorelei was originally intended for Betty Grable, who had been 20th Century-Fox's most popular "blonde bombshell"
But Gentlemen Marry Brunettes she wanted it to be... Both "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" and "But Gentlemen Marry Brunettes" were viewed by female scholars as celebration bordering on satire. "Gentlemen Marry Brunettes" is often considered the weaker of the two, and only works as a companion piece to Loos’s first installment. The film based on the novel, "Gentlemen Marry Brunettes" (1955), is very loosely based on Loos’s book. The plot is very different. "Gentlemen Marry Brunettes" is a musical film made by Russ-Field productions, starring Jane Russell and Jeanne Crain, and released by United Artists. The film was directed by Richard Sale, produced by the