The 30 Day Film Challenge is a (self-explanatory) challenge that lasts thirty days, talking about films. Here’s the breakdown:

Day 1 – Your Favorite Film
Day 2 – Your Least Favorite Film
Day 3 – A Film You Watch to Feel Good
Day 4 – A Film You Watch to Feel Down
Day 5 – A Film That Reminds You of Someone
Day 6 – A Film That Reminds You of Somewhere
Day 7 – A Film That Reminds You of Your Past
Day 8 – The Film You Can Quote Best
Day 9 – A Film With Your Favorite Actor (Male)
Day 10 – A Film With Your Favorite Actor (Female)
Day 11 – A Film By Your Favorite Director
Day 12 – A Film By Your Least Favorite Director
Day 13 – A Guilty Pleasure
Day 14 – The Film That No One Expected You To Like
Day 15 – The Film That Depicts Your Life
Day 16 – A Film You Used to Love, But Now Hate
Day 17 – Your Favorite Drama Film
Day 18 – Your Favorite Comedy Film
Day 19 – Your Favorite Action Film
Day 20 – Your Favorite Romantic Film
Day 21 – Your Favorite Sci-Fi/Fantasy Film
Day 22 – Your Favorite Horror Film
Day 23 – Your Favorite Thriller/Mystery Film
Day 24 – Your Favorite Animated or Children’s Film
Day 25 – Your Favorite Documentary Film
Day 26 – Your Favorite Foreign Language Film
Day 27 – Your Favorite Independent Film
Day 28 – The Most Obscure Film You’ve Ever Seen
Day 29 – Your Favorite Film As a Kid
Day 30 – Your Favorite Film This Time Last Year

So, on to today’s essay:

Your Favorite Film:

Extremely hard to narrow it down, so I picked one that always makes me smile,
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes is the epitome of 50s musical charm. It also has a lot of elements that go unseen to the casual viewer. Sure, the jokes and the costumes are great, but the forms of independence (despite the overwhelming dependence of the plot circling around ‘getting’ men), the character development, the writing…love it.

One of my favorite jokes in the movie is after the girls’ have been stranded in France and forced to do their dang and song routines to make enough money to get back to America. After Lorelei (Marilyn Monroe) has been accused of stealing a diamond tiara that was given to her by a suitor, her buddy Dorothy (Jane Russell) is trying to boost her out the window as the door is knocking with who they thought were cops, but was Lorelei’s former beau, Gus.

(KNOCKING)

DOROTHY: The cops! Sister, we really are in a jam. Come on. l’ll give you a boost.

GUS: Lorelei? lt’s me, Gus.

DOROTHY: Gus! He’s your best chance.

LORELEI: He can’t boost me any higher than you.

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Lorelei doesn’t even think that Dorothy means she can sweet-talk Gus into getting her out of there. Her head is so full of cotton candy and visions of tiaras that she doesn’t think past her main objective, to boost out the window.

But it only seems that Lorelei is playing dumb, because she is smart enough to realize that men want someone who needs them.

She knows exactly how to play Gus. He won’t go with her to Paris to get married? No worries, she’ll take her best gal pal and go shopping with his line of credit. He takes away her credit so she’ll come back? Quickly thinking on her feet, her and Dorothy work what they know and become quickly-rising to famous ranks of a cabaret club. As soon as she knows she has the upper hand again, she folds her cards and melts in his arms again.

I usually watch this movie to cheer up a rare bad mood, but it’s not without its own sad moments. Dorothy feels used by the one guy who could keep up with her wit and I feel my heart break a little while looking in her eyes. There are also some moments that can in turn feel like Marilyn was writing her own lines:

LORELEI: It’s men like you who have made me the way I am. If you loved me at all, you’d feel sorry for the terrible troubles I’ve been through and not hold them against me.

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As much as I love Marilyn, Jane Russell has always been my favorite in her role as sassy, happy playgirl Dorothy Shaw. Her lines are so quick and funny I just can’t stand it.

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LORELEI: I’m so pleased Dorothy is taking an interest in you. I mean, she’s never been interested in anyone worthwhile.
MALONE: No taste, eh?
DOROTHY: No, I’m a hobo collector. I might even find room for you.

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DOROTHY: I like men that can run faster than me.

So, I could go on and on, describing every single scene and the meanings behind it, but then the few people that do read this will glaze over and not read the other 29 days of movie goodies. Suffice it to say that although the girls are the clear main characters of the story, there is one gentleman that does steal the show: Mr. Henry Spofford III.

Also, to keep you reading til the end, I decided to scour the web and post a movie-related item at the end:

Justin Russo’s poster for Moon.