Hit Me With Your Best Shot - Gentlemen Prefer Blondes

There were Technicolor pictures made before Howard Hawks's Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, and there were Technicolor pictures made after it, but I don't think there is one that is MORE of a Technicolor picture than this one.

I MEAN. Have you ever seen such red? Even Dorothy's ruby slippers don't come close to this. And Hawks (and DP Harry J. Wild) knows just the best ways to make sure the colors of costume designer Travilla's glorious costumes really pop:

Put them in front of neutral colors...

...or in front of contrasting colors.

The film is just saturated with color everywhere you look.... except for one VERY important scene:

Yes, indeed, the (in)famous "Is Anybody Here For Love?" number is beige, beige, beige, the only other color being Jane Russell's black outfit, red lips, and turquoise earrings. The men almost literally become furniture for her!

BRONZE MEDAL

But back to the film's explosion of color, which is noticeably absent for one of its most famous numbers, and quite notably present in its other most famous number.

SILVER MEDAL

Yes, in case you were unaware, this is the Marilyn Monroe movie that contains the "Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend" number that has become so iconic and so associated with Miss Monroe that anyone and everyone has tried to imitate it. Of course, each has become iconic in different ways (most notably Madonna's), but this is the capital-L Legendary version.

The thing is, it shouldn't work. That pink dress against that red backdrop should be tacky beyond belief, especially with that ridiculous amount of costume (one assumes) jewelry. But somehow, it isn't. It's just another example of Hawks's masterful use of color in this movie. In particular, I noticed it in my choice for Best Shot.

GOLD MEDAL - BEST SHOT

It's those hearts. They are the exact same red as the background. They practically blend right in, and that's the point. There's Marilyn, with her angelic halo of blonde hair and bright pink dress and - most importantly - glittering jewels, singing about how much she loves diamonds. As she's said numerous times before, she doesn't care about love nearly as much as she cares about money. So the background for this number - which she is performing for her ex - HAD to be red, the color of love. And she herself HAD to be in pink, that girliest of all colors. And of course, there HAD to be heart-shaped props that practically become part of the background, because she doesn't care about love. And of course this particular shot had to be framed just so, a frame of red around a frame of black around a frame of red, pointing your eye right to.... well, what else? The title of the song! The center of the frame (I measured) is right underneath her mouth, leading you to be looking right at that diamond necklace framing that gorgeous face. It's quite genius, actually, and shows a tremendous level of collaboration among the filmmaking team that we know happens all the time, but of which we so rarely get to see such pure examples. That's why this one is a scene - and a film - for the ages.

*                    *                    *

Also, what with the Absolutely Fabulous movie coming out soon, please enjoy this bit of French & Saunders. We are all about the synergy here at Dancin' Dan on Film:

 

Part One

 Part Two