1h 35min | Comedy, Drama, Romance | 4 November 1953 | Color, WS
Director: Jean Negulesco
Stars: Marilyn Monroe, Betty Grable, Lauren Bacall, David Wayne, Rory Calhoun, Cameron Mitchell, Alexander D'Arcy, Fred Clark, William Powell.
Billy Daniel ... choreographer (uncredited)
Not just WS (1.67:1), but 2.66 : 1, letterboxed on modern 16:9 TV.
I can't imagine how many times I've seen this, and its antecedents (it shares the same source as The Greeks Had a Word for Them (1932)*, Three Blind Mice (1938)*, Moon Over Miami (1941), and Three Little Girls in Blue (1946), although only '38, '41 and '46 list Stephen Powys's play in common.) And I still find it delightful.
This one does an extra good job of closing with a surprise to the women in the story, not to us. Like a good Hitchcock tale, we've been clued in to the true identity of "gas pump jockey" CM since shortly after he was introduced.
All 3 women are funny as heck, although if you look at them through the right lens, MM & BG might appear to be dumb (BG is the worst, not knowing what a lodge is, or a forest ranger.) But anyone who can charm men into paying for her groceries and bringing them to her home can't be all that dense.
I do feel a little sad that WP gets left out in the cold. He seems sweet, and deserving better.
MM is in full persona again here. I don't think she makes a film without it after Gentlemen Prefer Blondes ('53), but she makes only 8 more films after this, and scanning them I think they're all the persona.
Fox, dir. Negulesco; 8
