Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (film) - Plot

Plot

Lorelei Lee (Marilyn Monroe) and Dorothy Shaw (Jane Russell) are showgirls and best friends. Lorelei has a passion for diamonds, knowing that attracting a rich husband is one of the only ways a woman of the 1950s can succeed economically. She is engaged to Gus Esmond (Tommy Noonan), a naive nerd willing to do or buy anything for her. He, however, is under the control of his wealthy, upper-class father who calls him twice a day. Dorothy, on the other hand, is looking for love, attracted only by men who are good-looking and fit. Lorelei has planned for Gus and her to marry in France, but Esmond, Sr. stops his son from sailing, believing that Lorelei is bad for him. Lorelei's job requires that she go and she does. Gus gives her a letter of credit, warning her to behave because, if his father hears rumors of bad behavior on her part, his father will certainly prohibit their marriage. Unbeknownst to them, Esmond, Sr. has hired a private detective, Ernie Malone (Elliott Reid), to spy on Lorelei. Malone, however, immediately falls in love with Dorothy. During the Atlantic crossing, Dorothy has already been drawn to the members of the Olympic athlete team, and is disappointed that they are required to go to bed right at the shank of the evening. Lorelei meets the rich and foolish Sir Francis "Piggy" Beekman (Charles Coburn), the owner of a diamond mine, and is attracted by his wealth and naively returns his geriatric flirtations. Piggy is entranced and his wife, annoyed. Lady Beekman (Norma Varden) proudly shows Lorelei her diamond tiara.

Lorelei invites the old gent to her and Dorothy's cabin, whereupon he recounts his travels to Africa. Malone spies through the window and takes pictures of Piggy hugging Lorelei under the guise of explaining how a python squeezes a goat. Dorothy catches Malone walking away nonchalantly after taking pictures of Lorelei and Piggy. She tells Lorelei, who fears for her reputation. They come up with a scheme to recover the incriminating film. They invite Malone for drinks, spill water on his lap, take his pants off to dry them out, and find the film in his pants pocket. Lorelei promptly prints and hides the negatives. Piggy is relieved his wife won't see the pictures. Lorelei, feeling she deserves a reward, persuades Piggy to give her his wife's diamond tiara as a thank-you present. But then Malone reveals that he has taped Lorelei's and Piggy's conversations, for which Dorothy scolds him. Malone implies Lorelei is a golddigger and, when Dorothy dismisses him out of hand, admits that he himself is a liar. When Dorothy tells Lorelei she is falling for Malone, Lorelei chastises her for choosing a poor man when she could as easily have a rich man – and diamonds. They arrive in Paris and spend time shopping, but are then kicked out of the hotel; Lorelei's letter of credit has been cancelled because of what Gus's father has learned from Malone. When Gus shows up at their show, Lorelei rebuffs him. It is at this point that Lorelei performs "Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend," the musical number whose lyrics explain why and how women need to pursue men with money in order to pay their rent and buy food.

While Lorelei and Dorothy fulfill their Paris nightclub engagement, Lady Beekman (Norma Varden) has filed charges regarding her missing tiara, and Lorelei is charged with theft. Dorothy persuades Lorelei to return the tiara, but it's missing from her jewelry box. Sir Francis tries to weasel out of his part in the tiara affair when Malone catches him at the airport. Dorothy stalls for time in court by pretending to be Lorelei, disguised in a blonde wig and mimicking her friend's breathy voice and mannerisms, and putting on a musical number show in the middle of the courtroom, which attracts, confuses and flusters the assembled, including the judge.

When Malone appears in court and is about to unmask "Lorelei" as Dorothy, she reveals to Malone in covert language that she, Dorothy, loves him but would never forgive him if he were to do anything to hurt her best friend, Lorelei. Malone withdraws his comments. But he does reveal that Piggy has the tiara, which is returned to him by the court. Back at the nightclub, challenged by the elder Esmond, Lorelei impresses him with her acumen on the subject of patriarchal money: "I don't want to marry him for his money; I want to marry him for your money. Don't you know that a man being rich is like a girl being pretty? You wouldn't marry a girl for being pretty, but doesn't it help?" She also explains that, if he had a daughter, he would want the best for her, and that it is only fair for her to want the same. Once Esmond sees how smart she is, he willingly consents to their marriage. The two women have a double wedding, still singing together as they did in their nightclub act.