''How to Marry a Millionaire'' is a 1953 American romantic comedy film directed by

Jean Negulesco Jean Negulesco (born Ioan Negulescu; – 18 July 1993) was a Romanian Americans, Romanian-American film director and screenwriter.Oliver, Myrna"Jean Negulesco 1900–1993 ''The Los Angeles Times'', 22 July 1993. He first gained notice for his Fi ...

and written and produced by Nunnally Johnson. The screenplay was based on the plays ''The Greeks Had a Word for It'' (1930) by Zoe Akins and ''Loco'' (1946) by Dale Eunson and Katherine Albert. It stars Betty Grable,

Marilyn Monroe Marilyn Monroe ( ; born Norma Jeane Mortenson; June 1, 1926 August 4, 1962) was an American actress and model. Known for playing comic "Blonde stereotype#Blonde bombshell, blonde bombshell" characters, she became one of the most popular sex ...

, and

Lauren Bacall Betty Joan Perske (September 16, 1924 – August 12, 2014), professionally known as Lauren Bacall ( ), was an American actress. She was named the AFI's 100 Years...100 Stars, 20th-greatest female star of classic Hollywood cinema by the America ...

as three fashionable Manhattan models, along with William Powell, David Wayne,

Rory Calhoun Rory Calhoun (born Francis Timothy McCown, August 8, 1922April 28, 1999) was an American film and television actor. He starred in numerous Westerns in the 1950s and 1960s, and appeared in supporting roles in films such as ''How to Marry a Millio ...

, and Cameron Mitchell as their wealthy marks. Produced and distributed by 20th Century-Fox, ''How to Marry a Millionaire'' was the studio's first film to be shot in the new

CinemaScope CinemaScope is an anamorphic format, anamorphic lens series used, from 1953 to 1967, and less often later, for shooting widescreen films that, crucially, could be screened in theatres using existing equipment, albeit with a lens adapter. Its cr ...

wide-screen sound process, although it was the second CinemaScope film released by Fox after the biblical

epic film Epic films have large scale, sweeping scope, and spectacle. The term is slightly ambiguous, sometimes designating a film genre and at other times simply big-budget films. Like epics in the classical literary sense, it is often focused on a her ...

'' The Robe'' (also 1953). It was also the first color and CinemaScope film ever shown on prime-time network television (though panned-and-scanned) when it was presented as the first film on NBC's '' Saturday Night at the Movies'' on September 23, 1961. The

soundtrack A soundtrack is a recorded audio signal accompanying and synchronised to the images of a book, drama, motion picture, radio program, television show, television program, or video game; colloquially, a commercially released soundtrack album of m ...

to ''How to Marry a Millionaire'' was released on CD by Film Score Monthly on March 15, 2001.

Plot

Resourceful Schatze Page, ditzy Loco Dempsey, and short-sighted Pola Debevoise are three women on a mission: each wants to marry a millionaire. To accomplish this task, they rent a luxurious Sutton Place penthouse in New York City from Freddie Denmark (who is avoiding the

IRS The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the revenue service for the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, which is responsible for collecting Taxation in the United States, U.S. federal taxes and administerin ...

by living in Europe) and together hatch a plot to court the city's elite. On the day they move in, Loco arrives with Tom Brookman, who purchases her groceries for her because she "forgot her pocketbook". Tom shows interest in Schatze but she dismisses him, stating that "The first rule is, gentlemen callers have got to wear a necktie" and, instead, sets her sights on the charming, classy, rich widower J.D. Hanley. While courting the older J.D., she fends off Tom, who eventually wins her over. After every date, she insists she never wants to see him again. Meanwhile, Loco meets grumpy businessman Walter Brewster. He is married, but she agrees to accompany him to his lodge in

Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...

, thinking it is a convention hall of the Elks Club. Just as Loco discovers her mistake, she comes down with the measles and is quarantined. Upon recovering, while Brewster is now bedridden with measles, she begins seeing the forest ranger, Eben Salem. When Salem indicates the huge expanse of land he is responsible for, saying "this is all mine", Loco mistakenly believes he is a wealthy landowner instead of a state employee overseeing acres of forestlands. Discovering the truth, she is disappointed and tells Brewster about it on the drive back to New York. Pola is myopic but hates wearing glasses in the presence of men. She falls for a phony oil tycoon, J. Stewart Merrill, unaware that he is a crooked speculator. When she takes a plane from LaGuardia Airport to meet him in Atlantic City, she ends up on the wrong plane to Kansas City. On the plane, she encounters the mysterious Freddie Denmark again, having unknowingly met him when he entered his apartment to retrieve his tax documents as proof that his crooked accountant stole his money and left him in trouble with the IRS. Freddie also wears glasses and encourages Pola to wear hers as well. They fall quickly in love and get married. Loco and Pola are reunited with Schatze just before her wedding to J.D. Hanley. Schatze is unable to go through with the marriage and confesses to J.D. that she loves Tom. He agrees to call off the ceremony. Tom is among the wedding guests and the two reconcile and marry. Afterwards, the three happy couples end up at a greasy spoon diner. Schatze jokingly asks Eben and Freddie about their financial prospects, which are slim. When she finally gets around to Tom, he casually admits a net worth of around $200 million, which no one takes seriously. He then calls for the check, pulls out an enormous wad of money, and pays with a $1,000 bill, telling the chef to keep the change. The three astonished women faint, and the men drink a toast to their unconscious wives.

Cast

* Betty Grable as Loco Dempsey *

as Pola Debevoise *

as Schatze Page * David Wayne as Freddie Denmark *

as Eben Salem * Cameron Mitchell as Tom Brookman * Alex D'Arcy as J. Stewart Merrill * Fred Clark as Waldo Brewster * William Powell as J. D. Hanley

Production

Nunnally Johnson, who adapted the screenplay from two different plays, produced the picture. 20th Century-Fox started production on ''The Robe'' before it began ''How to Marry a Millionaire''. Although the latter was completed first, the studio chose to present ''The Robe'' as its first CinemaScope picture in late September or early October 1953 because it felt the family-friendly ''The Robe'' would attract a larger audience to its new widescreen process. The film's cinematography was by Joseph MacDonald. The costume design was by Travilla.

Portrayal of New York

Between scenes, the cinematography has some iconic color views of mid-20th century New York City:

Rockefeller Center Rockefeller Center is a complex of 19 commerce, commercial buildings covering between 48th Street (Manhattan), 48th Street and 51st Street (Manhattan), 51st Street in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. The 14 original Art De ...

Central Park Central Park is an urban park between the Upper West Side and Upper East Side neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City, and the first landscaped park in the United States. It is the List of parks in New York City, sixth-largest park in the ...

, the United Nations Building, and Brooklyn Bridge in the opening sequence following the credits. Other iconic views include the

Empire State Building The Empire State Building is a 102-story, Art Deco-style supertall skyscraper in the Midtown South neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, United States. The building was designed by Shreve, Lamb & Harmon and built from 1930 to 1931. Its n ...

, the lights of

Times Square Times Square is a major commercial intersection, tourist destination, entertainment hub, and Neighborhoods in New York City, neighborhood in the Midtown Manhattan section of New York City. It is formed by the junction of Broadway (Manhattan), ...

at night, the George Washington Bridge, and the

Statue of Liberty The Statue of Liberty (''Liberty Enlightening the World''; ) is a colossal neoclassical sculpture on Liberty Island in New York Harbor, within New York City. The copper-clad statue, a gift to the United States from the people of French Thir ...

Music

A song extolling the virtues of New York follows the Gershwin-like music used for the title credits, after an elaborate five-minute pre-credit sequence showcasing a 70-piece orchestra conducted by Alfred Newman before the curtain goes up. The score for ''How to Marry a Millionaire'' was one of the first recorded for film in

stereo Stereophonic sound, commonly shortened to stereo, is a method of sound reproduction that recreates a multi-directional, 3-dimensional audible perspective. This is usually achieved by using two independent audio channels through a configurat ...

. It was composed and directed by Alfred Newman, with incidental music by Cyril Mockridge, and orchestrated by Edward B. Powell. The album was released on CD by Film Score Monthly on March 15, 2001 as part of their series ''Golden Age Classics''. The film's theatrical version begins with a nearly six-minute overture of Newman's symphonic piece "Street Scene", which he wrote in the style of

George Gershwin George Gershwin (; born Jacob Gershwine; September 26, 1898 – July 11, 1937) was an American composer and pianist whose compositions spanned jazz, popular music, popular and classical music. Among his best-known works are the songs "Swan ...

. It is played on-screen by an 80-piece studio orchestra (billed as "The Twentieth Century Fox Symphony Orchestra") exploiting the film's widescreen format. Newman wrote the piece for the 1931 film Street Scene, which featured his first complete film score.

Release

Release and box office

The film premiered at the Fox Wilshire Theatre (now the Saban Theatre), in

Beverly Hills, California Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California, United States. A notable and historic suburb of Los Angeles, it is located just southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Beverly Hills ...

on November 4, 1953. It was a box office success, earning $8 million worldwide and $7.5 million domestically, second that year only to '' The Robe''. It was the fourth highest-grossing film of 1953, whereas Monroe's previous feature, '' Gentlemen Prefer Blondes'', was seventh.

Critical response

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

''s Bosley Crowther wrote "the substance is still insufficient for the vast spread of screen which CinemaScope throws across the front of the theatre, and the impression it leaves is that of nonsense from a few people in a great big hall."

Award nominations

Television adaptation

In 1957, the film was adapted into a

sitcom A sitcom (short for situation comedy or situational comedy) is a genre of comedy produced for radio and television, that centers on a recurring cast of character (arts), characters as they navigate humorous situations within a consistent settin ...

also titled '' How to Marry a Millionaire''. It starred Barbara Eden (as Loco Jones),

Merry Anders Merry Anders (born Mary Helen Anderson; May 22, 1934 – October 28, 2012) was an American actress who appeared in a number of television programs and films from the 1950s until her retirement from the screen in 1972. Early life Anders was born ...

(Michelle "Mike" Page),

Lori Nelson Dixie Kay Nelson (August 15, 1933August 23, 2020), known professionally as Lori Nelson, was an American actress and model mostly active in the 1950s and early 1960s. She had roles in the TV series ''How to Marry a Millionaire (TV series), How to ...

(Greta Lindquist) and as Nelson's later replacement, Lisa Gaye as Gwen Kirby. It aired in syndication for two seasons.

Remake

In 2000,

20th Century Fox Television 20th Television, Inc. (formerly known as TCF Television Productions, Inc., 20th Century-Fox Television and 20th Century Fox Television) is the television studio arm of 20th Century Studios, owned by Disney Television Studios, a division of the Di ...

produced a made-for-TV remake, '' How to Marry a Billionaire: A Christmas Tale''. It reversed the sex roles, and had three men looking to marry wealthy women. It starred John Stamos, Joshua Malina and Shemar Moore. In 2007,

Nicole Kidman Nicole Mary Kidman (born 20 June 1967) is an Australian and American actress and producer. Known for Nicole Kidman on screen and stage, her work in film and television productions across many genres, she has consistently ranked among the world ...

bought the rights to ''How to Marry a Millionaire'' under her production company Blossom Films, intending to produce and possibly star in a remake.Siegel, Tatiana. ''The Hollywood Reporter'' 2007-04-27
/ref>

References

Bibliography

External links

* * * *
Listing of CD and LP releases of music from the film, including "Street Scene"
{{DEFAULTSORT:How To Marry A Millionaire 1953 films 1953 romantic comedy films 1950s American films 1950s buddy comedy films 1950s English-language films 1950s female buddy films 20th Century Fox films American buddy comedy films American female buddy films American films based on plays American romantic comedy films CinemaScope films Films about weddings in the United States Films adapted into television shows Films based on multiple works Films directed by Jean Negulesco Films produced by Nunnally Johnson Films scored by Cyril J. Mockridge Films scored by Alfred Newman Films set in Maine Films set in New York City Films shot in Idaho Films shot in Los Angeles Films shot in New York City Films with screenplays by Nunnally Johnson English-language romantic comedy films English-language buddy comedy films