Matrixston Wow! Such a good movie.

Spidersecu Don't Believe the Hype

Dynamixor The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

AnhartLinkin This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

seeingbystarlight Marrying a millionaire is not as easy as it sounds.As Marylin Monroe's character puts it:"Men are getting nervous these days, especially the loaded ones."But jaded Schautzey Paige (Lauren Bacall), and her two savvy lady friends, the kind hearted Loco Dempsey (Betty Grable), and the naive Paula Debevoise (Marylin Monroe) have a plan:Rent an expensive apartment in upscale New York, and after selling the furniture off piece by piece to pay for restaurant like Stork and 21 "trap a really fat one".On the day of their arrival at the place, Loco (who's awfully clever with a quarter) shows up with a man named Tom Brookman (Cameron Mitchell), having just conned him into paying for her groceries.Tom Brookman (though clearly interested in Schautzey) looks like a gas pump jockey, and that's exactly what Schautzey pegs him for as she hurries him out the door, promising that he can call sometime, and ignoring his protests: ("But I don't know your number!...But I don't know your last name!").After outlining her plan to her roommates, Schautzey waits for a fish to bite...it doesn't.Four months pass, and having sold all their furniture, Paula, and Schautzey are forced to sit in folding chairs in the living room, waiting for Loco to return with from the drugstore with more aspirin and shower caps, she's tricked a guy into buying.Schautzey is in despair."Four months, and we're not even engaged."Paula says she could've have gotten engaged last week if she'd wanted to.When Schautzey asks to whom, Paula says:"To that tall English fellow that borrowed five dollars from me.""That's exactly my point!" Schautzey snaps.It's just then when the door bell rings, and a moment later Loco comes through the door...The other two women crowd around, for at her heels is not some greasy gas pump jockey, but a clearly wealthy man named J.D. Hanley (William Powell) his arms full of expensive packages.And after some pleasentries during which Schautzey apologies for the furniture ("We just sent everything out to be cleaned!"), the three women get invited to a social gathering to meet some of Hanley's fellow oil men."Only oil men?" Loco asks "Well no...some bankers too, I believe."After he leaves, the women are in a daze."This is it kids." Schautzey says "A room full of rich entrepreneurs...and us." Of course, things don't go that smoothly.The only relationship that goes on wheels is Schautzey, and J.D's (the only fly in the ointment being that Tom Brookman won't stop calling to try and get her to go out with him, in spite of the fact that she "never wants to see him again!").Loco ends up in a lodge in Maine she thinks is a convention, and after petulantly bemoaning her fate, ends up contracting the measels.As for Paula, she has snagged a one eyed pirate with everything but a T-shirt that reads "Con Artist", and is naively heading to Atlantic City to marry him.But unbenounced to all three women, Freddy Denmark (the man who actually owns the apartment) has been breaking in for a mysterious reason having to do with his being on the lamb from the IRS.This turns out to be the catalyst for one of the nicest twists ever conceived in a romantic comedy (and there are several in this one).The true message of this movie is really captured in it's funniest scene:Loco's married companion thinks he's got the art of concealing an affair all figured out, and is about to learn he's wrong when he gets his picture on the front page of every New York newspaper in acknowledgement for his being the fifty thousandth car to drive across a certain bridge.To quote him as he's driving across, (right before the police sirens start blasting):"Man is master of his fate. And king of his destiny."Well, that's what you think."Gentlemen...to our wives."Originally, Review #9Posted On: May 3, 2009

SimonJack The usually smart, clever and calm Lauren Bacall plays quite a different character in "How to Marry a Millionaire." She is very tongue-in-cheek funny as the know-it-all gold digger. But she has it all wrong. And that's one of the very funny undertones of the plot for this comedy romance. Bacall is Schatze Page, one of a threesome of females who are on the prowl in New York to snag wealthy husbands. That may seem a strange theme to modern day audiences, but it was something of a reality of American culture in the mid-20th century. Probably few women actually made such pursuits, but it was something that the culture talked about back then. I remember hearing women joke about moving to New York to find a rich husband. So, that made for a funny and entertaining movie. Bacall didn't have top billing for this film, either. That went to Marilyn Monroe, followed by Betty Grable. Monroe plays Pola Debevoise and Grable plays Loco Dempsey. One may see the humor in those names, as well. Both of them play ditzy blonds, but Grable out-ditzies Monroe. Her character is by far the funniest. One expected Monroe to play such roles – it was her film persona and, somewhat, her real life persona. But, for Grable, this was an excellent portrayal. Of course, there are men in the story and the lives of these women. All of the cast perform well. William Powell has a nice supporting role that is very unusual. His is the only one that isn't comedy. But the part fits beautifully in the plot, and I can think of no one better to have the role of J.D. Hanley. Powell was 61 years old when this film came out. He made only one more film, "Mr. Roberts" in 1955, before retiring. Powell is one of the classy great performers who never won an Oscar, although he was nominated three times. And, unlike many stars, he retired while his star still shown bright for quality films. He lived another 29 years until age 91 in 1984. The humorous situations in this film are punctuated with occasional witty lines. Some catch one by surprise and lead to bursts of laughter. Here's my favorite. Loco and Pola have been gone for days and Schatze is worried about being stuck with the monthly rent for their expensive Fifth Avenue flat. She is lamenting her problem with Tom Brookman, played by Cameron Mitchell. Tom says, "Haven't they even written to you?" Schatze replies, "How can they? They're illiterate."

verna-a For me this film has soured quite a lot over the years, as I re-encounter the sexist messages that abounded during my formative years. The film presents a lot to enjoy, but the bitter kernel is that it fundamentally endorses attitudes it pretends to send up.Three girls follow a mission to find wealthy husbands, as no other object in life is worth considering. What they are interested in is wealth, clothes and jewellery. It appears that their only way of making money is as part-time models, and this is so inadequate in terms of paying rent and buying food that they sell off furniture that doesn't belong to them to make ends meet. They are bright and witty girls who these days could follow a range of different careers, but here they are never shown doing anything you could respect. They are just decorative parasites.The message to women is that your role in life is to be good looking and well-dressed, pretend to be better off than you are, and then you will trap a husband. The only amendment the story provides is that it might not turn out that your man is wealthy. With that small amendment, the life plan is unchanged.Young women do search for life partners, but hopefully these days a partner is just a partner and not a substitute for a career.I'd like to see a remake of this film where one girl is a lawyer, one a doctor and one a banker – and none of them planning to retire on marriage! Other than that, this is a good looking film in a 50s sort of way (even with the disadvantage of a small screen) and the personalities of the girls are lively and engaging.

classicsoncall Sometimes I'll watch a film like this and wonder if it would or could be made today. I saw this one on Turner Classics as one of the essentials, with host Robert Osborne and guest Drew Barrymore lending their comments on the picture. It was almost comical listening to Barrymore try to walk a fine line between enjoying the story and being careful not to antagonize her feminist side over the theme of gold digging women on the prowl to snag a rich husband. I wonder if she caught any grief over that one from Cameron Diaz.Like so many of these early to mid Fifties flicks, I find myself on the fence regarding their appeal. For me the story was so-so, largely predictable, and even though billed as a comedy, I didn't find myself in on the joke for the most part. Marilyn Monroe's eyesight gimmick was tiresome and didn't come across very believably, and Lauren Bacall, only a decade since debuting in "To Have and Have Not", seemed to be older than her real age of twenty nine. Betty Grable was obviously ready to pass the baton to her co-star Monroe as filmdom's next glamor queen. I don't know, maybe it's just me but I didn't detect the camaraderie among this trio and that took something out of it for this viewer.There was one good line though for this Bogart fan. I got the biggest kick out of Bacall's comment about the African Queen guy. Grable got one in on Harry James too, so that was all cleverly done. Over all I'm satisfied I got to catch this one since it's one of the early Fifties standards that everyone should catch, but now that I've done it I'll be happy to move on.