But Gentlemen Marry Brunettes
Encyclopedia
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
written by Anita Loos
Anita Loos
Anita Loos was an American screenwriter, playwright and author.-Early life:Born Corinne Anita Loos in Sisson, California , where her father, R. Beers Loos, had opened a tabloid newspaper for which her mother, Minerva "Minnie" Smith did most of the work of a newspaper publisher...
. It is the sequel to her 1925 novel Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (novel)
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes: The Illuminating Diary of a Professional Lady is a comic novel written by Anita Loos first published in 1925. Loos was inspired to write the book after watching a sexy blonde turn intellectual H. L. Mencken into a lovestruck schoolboy. Mencken, a close friend, actually...
.
But Gentlemen Marry Brunettes follows the further adventures of Lorelei Lee and Dorothy Shaw and is illustrated by Ralph Barton
Ralph Barton
Ralph Barton was an American artist best known for his cartoons and caricatures of actors and other celebrities...
.
As a sequel to the 1953 film Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, the 1955 film Gentlemen Marry Brunettes
Gentlemen Marry Brunettes
Gentlemen Marry Brunettes is a 1955 musical film produced by Russ-Field productions, starring Jane Russell and Jeanne Crain, and released by United Artists...
used only the book's name and starred Jane Russell
Jane Russell
Jane Russell was an American film actress and was one of Hollywood's leading sex symbols in the 1940s and 1950s....
and Jeanne Crain
Jeanne Crain
Jeanne Elizabeth Crain was an American actress.-Early life:Crain was born in Barstow, California, to George A. Crain, a school teacher, and Loretta Carr; she was of Irish heritage on her mother's side, and of English and distant French descent on her father's...
playing characters who were the daughters of Dorothy Shaw.
Publication
Originally published in 1927, But Gentlemen Marry Brunettes is the sequel to Anita Loos'Anita Loos
Anita Loos was an American screenwriter, playwright and author.-Early life:Born Corinne Anita Loos in Sisson, California , where her father, R. Beers Loos, had opened a tabloid newspaper for which her mother, Minerva "Minnie" Smith did most of the work of a newspaper publisher...
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (novel)
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes: The Illuminating Diary of a Professional Lady is a comic novel written by Anita Loos first published in 1925. Loos was inspired to write the book after watching a sexy blonde turn intellectual H. L. Mencken into a lovestruck schoolboy. Mencken, a close friend, actually...
; both began as sketch series originally published in Harper’s Bazaar. Loos had planned on retiring after writing Gentlemen Prefer Blondes in order to care for her partner, Emerson
John Emerson
John Emerson was the 15th mayor of Calgary, Alberta. He was the mayor at the time that Alberta became a province of Canada, which was on September 1, 1905....
. However, she had promised Harper’s Bazaar a sequel and so Loos and Emerson did not leave for Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
until shortly after the sequel had been published.
Summary
The sequel to Gentlemen Prefer BlondesGentlemen Prefer Blondes (novel)
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes: The Illuminating Diary of a Professional Lady is a comic novel written by Anita Loos first published in 1925. Loos was inspired to write the book after watching a sexy blonde turn intellectual H. L. Mencken into a lovestruck schoolboy. Mencken, a close friend, actually...
, is also narrated by Lorelei, the bubbly blonde, however she tells the tale of her friend. Dorothy, a bright talented young woman, grew up in a carnival company; she is discovered by Charlie, who helps her find her way to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
as a young woman. In New York she is introduced to a broker
Broker
A broker is a party that arranges transactions between a buyer and a seller, and gets a commission when the deal is executed. A broker who also acts as a seller or as a buyer becomes a principal party to the deal...
who is to introduce her to Mr. Ziegfeld, so that she might have a chance at becoming one of the Ziegfeld Follies
Ziegfeld Follies
The Ziegfeld Follies were a series of elaborate theatrical productions on Broadway in New York City from 1907 through 1931. They became a radio program in 1932 and 1936 as The Ziegfeld Follies of the Air....
. The broker is thrown off by Dorothy's unique style and personality and does little to refer her to Mr.Ziegfeld. Dorothy takes matters into her own hands and waits outside Mr.Ziegfeld's office and lands the position without any help. Dorothy marries Lester, a saxophone player from the Follies, she soon finds that marriage is not everything she wanted it to be...
"It is the bright ideas that keep home fires burning and prevent a divorce from taking the bloom off a romance". -Anita Loos, 1927
Main characters
- Dorothy- Protagonist, an eccentric young woman with lots of talent, wit and independence.
- Charlie- Discovered Dorothy when she was in a reform school after leaving the circus. Dorothy's second husband.
- Mr.Ziegfeld- The founder of the famous Ziegfeld FolliesZiegfeld FolliesThe Ziegfeld Follies were a series of elaborate theatrical productions on Broadway in New York City from 1907 through 1931. They became a radio program in 1932 and 1936 as The Ziegfeld Follies of the Air....
, gives Dorothy a job. - Lester- saxophone player, marries Dorothy
- Gloria- Dorothy's friend
- Jerry- violent background, hired to kill Lester
- Claude- Dorothy's new lover
Critical Analysis
Both Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and But Gentlemen Marry Brunettes were viewed by female scholars as celebration bordering on satire. Gentlemen Marry Brunettes is often considered the weaker of the two, and only works as a companion piece to Loos’s first installment.Film Adaptation
The film based on the novel, Gentlemen Marry BrunettesGentlemen Marry Brunettes
Gentlemen Marry Brunettes is a 1955 musical film produced by Russ-Field productions, starring Jane Russell and Jeanne Crain, and released by United Artists...
, is very loosely based on Loos’s book. The plot is very different. “Gentlemen Marry Brunettes is a 1955 musical film
Musical film
The musical film is a film genre in which songs sung by the characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, though in some cases they serve merely as breaks in the storyline, often as elaborate...
made by Russ-Field productions, starring Jane Russell
Jane Russell
Jane Russell was an American film actress and was one of Hollywood's leading sex symbols in the 1940s and 1950s....
and Jeanne Crain
Jeanne Crain
Jeanne Elizabeth Crain was an American actress.-Early life:Crain was born in Barstow, California, to George A. Crain, a school teacher, and Loretta Carr; she was of Irish heritage on her mother's side, and of English and distant French descent on her father's...
, and released by United Artists
United Artists
United Artists Corporation is an American film studio. The original studio of that name was founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charles Chaplin, Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks....
. It was directed by Richard Sale
Richard Sale
Richard T. Sale is a journalist and novelist, best known for The Blackstone Rangers , a book-length investigative report on the Black P. Stone Rangers. He is also the author of Traitors : the worst acts of treason in American history from Benedict Arnold to Robert Hanssen .-References:...
, produced by the director and Bob Waterfield
Bob Waterfield
Robert "Bob" Stanton Waterfield was an American football player.Waterfield attended Van Nuys High School, in Van Nuys, California and went on to play college football for UCLA. In 1943 he led the Bruins to the Pacific Coast Conference football championship...
(Russell's husband) with Robert Bassler
Robert Bassler
Robert Bassler was an American television and film producer.-Biography:Bassler started his film career off in the late 20s as an editor, becoming a producer in 1942, with his first film, the Rita Hayworth musical My Gal Sal...
as executive producer, from a screenplay by Mary Loos
Mary Loos
Mary Loos was an American actress, screenwriter and novelist.Born in San Diego, California, she was the daughter of Dr. Clifford Loos, co-founder of the Ross-Loos Medical Clinic. She was the niece of screenwriter Anita Loos....
and Sale, based on the novel But Gentlemen Marry Brunettes by Anita Loos. Anita Loos was the author of the novel and play Gentlemen Prefer Blondes which had been turned into a smash film with Jane Russell
Jane Russell
Jane Russell was an American film actress and was one of Hollywood's leading sex symbols in the 1940s and 1950s....
and Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe was an American actress, singer, model and showgirl who became a major sex symbol, starring in a number of commercially successful motion pictures during the 1950s....
two years before. This film was not as well received as the earlier one. Anita Loos had entitled her book But Gentlemen Marry Brunettes, but the studio dropped the first word from the title for the film.” (IMDb)