(Photo courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation)
This week love is in the air. An endless stream of roses and chocolates will be on our Instagram feeds as we embrace the holiday that is inevitably coming our way this Saturday. In light of this heart-filled holiday, I incorporated it into my classic movie choice this week, and it made for an entertaining spectacle.
“How to Marry a Millionaire” with Marilyn Monroe, Lauren Bacall, and Betty Grable, was a good Valentine’s Day inspired call, as the three glamorous friends brought wit and charm to the screen. Their main goal throughout the picture was to find a man. Not just any man, only multimillionaires, please.
So, if you’re single this Valentine’s Day, here’s a step by step guide on how to bag a millionaire, as tested by the ladies of the vintage 1953 cinema picture.
Step 1: Somehow find the means to rent a luxurious penthouse apartment. The resourceful mastermind behind the whole affair, Schatze Page, played by Lauren Bacall, managed to find one to rent that was fully furnished. Of course, they had to sell the furniture in it just to make rent, but as Schatze practiced, you can come up with plenty of excuses for that.
Step 2: Meet a handsome respectable man at the grocery store. Be sure to buy a lot of groceries so the gentleman will kindly help you carry them back to your apartment. Loco Dempsey, played by Betty Grable, did this with style and grace. Tom Brookman was the gentleman that rose to the occasion, but all three ladies initially believe he is poor. Because of this, Schatze won’t give him a second look. Little does she know, he is actually worth $200 million.
Step 3: Get invited to a big-wig party where there are sure to be men of great monetary value. For the ladies, Loco used her charm to get yet another man, J.D. Hanley, to help her carry her things to her apartment. This one is in fact quite wealthy, so the money-hungry Schatze sets her eyes on him. J.D. then invited the ladies to a big party put on by an oil company. You could see dollar signs instantly appearing in the three ladies’ eyes. Of course, it wasn’t difficult for these women to have men interested in them, as they are all long-time fashion models.
These three steps worked well for these women, and if done right, i’m sure they could land you with a rock-sized diamond on your finger. As expected, each woman doesn’t actually fancy the millionaire they’ve attracted, and through a series of circumstances, ends up with men of less wealth. However, all were immensely well-suited in other retrospects.
Each one of the men they end up with are quite charming, which in light of predictability, isn’t a huge surprise. For example, Pola Debevoise, played by Marilyn Monroe, is a ditzy, amazingly beautiful women who can’t see a thing without her glasses, but refuses to wear them around men. When she reads a sign incorrectly at the airport, she ends up on the wrong plane, seated next to man who tells her he in fact loves her glasses. At that moment, you could hear the wedding bells already. The only lady that actually ends up with a millionaire is Schatze, but she doesn’t find out what Tom is actually worth until after they are married.
Each actress in the film played their part beautifully, making for witty, accessible characters that each brought a completely different personality to the table. The comical story line is entertaining to watch, and teaches us yet again not to seek out a man superficially, a fact we still forget in today’s society, making this movie timeless.
Did you bag a millionaire with this how to? Tell the reporter at dpharias@asu.edu or follow @dpharias on Twitter.
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