Product Details

• Actors: Marilyn Monroe, Betty Grable, Lauren Bacall, David Wayne, Rory Calhoun
• Directors: Jean Negulesco
• Writers: Nunnally Johnson, Dale Eunson, Katherine Albert, Zoe Akins
• Producers: Nunnally Johnson
• Format: Color, HiFi Sound, NTSC
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: 20th Century Fox
• VHS Release Date: May 29, 2001
• Run Time: 95 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (68 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6302484391
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #150,256 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Nunnally Johnson's Broadway comedy was brought to the big screen by director Jean Negulesco, built around a trio of female stars, Lauren Bacall, Marilyn Monroe, and Betty Grable. They play friends who come up with a plan to find and marry rich men. They rent a lavish penthouse and use it as their launching pad to lure men with money in the bank. But each eventually finds that love is more important that material possessions, though it takes a while. One running joke has Monroe so insecure about her looks that she refuses to wear glasses, though this means she bumps into furniture and walls. The other has Bacall rejecting suitor Cameron Mitchell because he doesn't wear a tie, assuming this means he's low-class when, in fact, he's the Donald Trump of 1954. Pre-feminist comedy captures the mindset of an era in which women's identities were based on the men they married. It has its moments, but much of the humor seems dated, though its take on sexual politics is occasionally acute. --Marshall Fine

Product Description

They're three beautiful models, looking for the man and the money of their dreams! Almost broke, they pool their funds to rent a posh Manhattan penthouse in which they plan to lure their victims. But the gold digger's plans suddenly go awry when two of them fall for men who appear to be poor! Trying to stop each other from marrying the wrong guy, Monroe, Grable, Bacall deliver the finest comedic performances of their careers. And they learn that a rich man is actually worthless- unless you're in love with him!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful Restoration on DVD, October 6, 2003

By 

Louis Barbarelli (San Francisco, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: How to Marry a Millionaire (DVD)

This movie is half a century old and followed The Robe as the second Cinemascope feature. It's visually beautiful in the DVD widescreen version, evoking the thrill of first seeing Cinemascope in 1953 (which I'm old enough to remember). Though the story and humor are extremely dated and so many of its stars are now dead, the photography and sound are both so breathtakingly clear and beautiful, it makes one realize how advanced the technical side of filmmaking was that long ago. It's amazing how cinematographers of that day were able to adapt so quickly to the much wider screen and take full advantage of its sweep even during scenes filmed in close quarters, such as those on the airliner (which was a propeller plane, by the way). It's true that Lauren Bacall, though lovely in the film, looks much older than the "25" she's supposed to be. (I saw Ms. Bacall in person pitching her bio at a bookstore 45 years later and she looked un-surgically young and beautiful, so go figure.) While the movie is not great in terms of content or performances, it's worthwhile because it's a beautifully restored piece of movie history that recaptures a more innocent (?) age and preserves an important part of the Monroe legend.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars classic Marilyn, August 7, 2002

By 

Byron Kolln (the corner where Broadway meets Hollywood) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: How to Marry a Millionaire (DVD)

HOW TO MARRY A MILLIONAIRE was the first non-musical comedy to be released in the CinemaScope ratio. The film was released in 1953, which proved to be Monroe's breakthrough, watershed year, with the success of MILLIONAIRE, GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES and NIAGARA cementing her place as one of the top box-office attractions of 1953.

MILLIONAIRE is one of Monroe's most delightful offerings. She plays the visually-challenged Pola, who, along with Chotzi (Lauren Bacall - KEY LARGO, THE BIG SLEEP) and 'Loco' (Betty Grable - MOTHER WORE TIGHTS) rents a Manhattan penthouse in the hopes of snagging rich husbands.

Of course, Fate often hands you things totally unexpected, and soon the girls realise that money can't be a substitute for happiness. There are plenty of pin-sharp observations about the opposite sex, a good 50-odd years before "Sex and the City" decided to make a whole TV show about women in the Big Apple.

Marilyn, Lauren and Betty make a colorful trio, and the CinemaSope picture is indeed a treat to the eyes.

The DVD includes restoration comparisons and trailers. Available separately or as part of the Marilyn Monroe Diamond Collection.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Whimsical comedy starring 3 gorgeous gals, May 5, 2005

By 

Cory D. Slipman (Rockville Centre, N.Y.) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: How to Marry a Millionaire [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Lauren Bacall, Betty Grable and Marilyn Monroe star in a Broadway play adaptation, as three New York models who together rent a Sutton Place apartment in order to attract rich husbands. Their plan appears to go awry when after a few months they are forced to sell the furniture in the lavishly appointed pad for living expenses.

The girls fortunes appear to turn when Bacall meets elderly Texas cattle baron J.D. Hanley played by the debonair William Powell. Grable gets lured to Maine by wealthy but married Fred Clark but winds up falling for and marrying penniless forest ranger Rory Calhoun. The visually challenged but super sexy Monroe winds up on the wrong plane when going to meet her prospective beau in Atlantic City. She winds up enamored with and marrying tax cheat and previous owner of their apartment David Wayne, who is equally blind.

Throughout the film Bacall is pursued by a Tom Brookman played by Cameron Mitchell. She dismisses him as being a poor gas station attendant. Bacall and Powell are all set to be married but at the last moment she can't go through with it. Mitchell, who Bacall really cares for, stands in for Powell and marries her. They are all shocked when they learn that Mitchell is actually worth 200 million.

The gals have their plans dashed but wind up marrying for the right reason...........LOVE.