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"
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (novel) mother that Lorelei is the reason her son has been neglectful of her of late. Fearing that Miss Chapman will cause Spoffard to renounce her company, Lorelei takes Spoffard out for a moonlit drive and tells him all about herself and her beginnings in Little Rock. She puts a slant on the story that makes it sound like a Puritan spiritual biography. Spoffard begins to cry because of the ordeals Lorelei has suffered, and even compares her to Mary Magdalene. He arranges for Lorelei to meet his mother. Explaining that she is a Christian Scientist, Lorelei tells Spoffard’s mother that