Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (musical) a film of the same name in 1953, starring Jane Russell and Marilyn Monroe. The popular songs "Bye Bye Baby" and "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend" were introduced in this musical. In the 1920s, Lorelei Lee, a blonde from Little Rock, Arkansas, and her friend Dorothy Shaw board the ocean liner "Ile de France", to embark for France ("It's High Time"). Lorelei and her boyfriend (who is her "sugar daddy"), Gus Esmond, are parting for a while ("Bye, Bye Baby"); Gus is going to Little Rock, and Dorothy is Lorelei's chaperone. On the ship, Lorelei has many admirers, including
Jayne Mansfield biggest successes, both critically and financially, earning more than "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" had three years before. Soon afterwards, Fox started promoting Mansfield as "Marilyn Monroe king-sized", attempting to coerce Monroe to return to the studio and finish out her contract. Mansfield had become one of 20th Century Fox's main sex symbol actresses. Mansfield next played a dramatic role in 1957's "The Wayward Bus", an adaptation of John Steinbeck's novel of the same name. With this film, she attempted to move away from her "blonde bombshell" image and establish herself as a serious actress. The film enjoyed moderate box office success,