How To Marry A Millionaire
By Kit Macdonald
This charming, Jean Negulesco-directed comedy was the first 20th Century Fox movie shot using the CinemaScope widescreen process, a quantum leap for film that still resonates today. Betty Grable, Marilyn Monroe and Lauren Bacall are the trio of star leading ladies whose characters power the film, in which they play three models scheming to marry rich husbands amid the glamour of 1950s New York City.
The film follows the trio's many comedic misadventures as they seek to carry out their grand plan. Pola Debevoise (Monroe) is near-sighted but refuses to wear her glasses in the presence of men, so afraid is she of detracting from her beauty. Loco Dempsey (Grable) is a sparky blonde who repeatedly falls victim to amusing misunderstandings in her pursuit of wealth. Meanwhile the leader of the trio, Schatze Page (Bacall), has her determination to marry rich tested by her growing feelings for a seemingly unremarkable man.