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Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953)
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953) poster

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953)

Comedy, Romance • 1h 31m

Director: Howard Hawks

Cast: Jane Russell, Marilyn Monroe, Charles Coburn, Elliott Reid, Tommy Noonan, George Winslow, Marcel Dalio, Taylor Holmes, Norma Varden, Howard Wendell, Steven Geray, David Ahdar, Alex Akimoff, Aladdin, John Alban, Gordon Armitage, Virginia Bates, Mary Ellen Batten, Harry Baum, Mary Bayless, Kip Behar, Eumenio Blanco, Herman Boden, Jack Boyle, Paul Bradley, Tex Brodus, William Cabanne, Peter Camlin, Harry Carey, Jr., Steve Carruthers, Albert Cavens, George Chakiris, Spencer Chan, Jack Chefe, Beulah Christian, John Close, Robert Cole, Joan Collenette, Paul Cristo, Roy Damron, Drusilla Davis, George Davis, Jean De Briac, Josette Deegan, Jean Del Val, Bobby Diamond, Deena Dikkers, Jack Dodds, Dan Dowling, Joe Evans, Adolph Faylauer, Bess Flowers, George Ford, Robert Foulk, Alex Frazer, Raoul Freeman, Joel Friend, Robert Fuller, Ed Fury, Kay Garrett, Kenneth Gibson, Joe Gilbert, June Glory, James Gonzalez, Herschel Graham, Bennett Green, Stanley Hall, Sam Harris, John Hedloe, Bill Hickman, Chuck Hicks, Stuart Holmes, Casse Jaeger, Dorothy Kellogg, Colin Kenny, Larry Kert, Tommy Ladd, Richard LaMarr, Judy Landon, Joan Larkin, Henri Letondal, Carl M. Leviness, Shirley Lopez, Robert Locke Lorraine, Herb Lurie, Warren Mace, John Marlin, Alphonse Martell, Matt Mattox, Bert May, Frank McLure, Russell Meeker, Buzz Miller, Harold Miller, King Mojave, Ray Montgomery, Alvy Moore, Roger Moore, Donald Moray, Leo Mostovoy, Fred Moultrie, James Moultrie, Noel Neill, Julie Newmar, Robert Nichols, Ron Nyman, William H. O'Brien, Monty O'Grady, Gayle Pace, Alfred Patix, Stephen Papich, John Pedrini, Ralph Peters, Hamil Petroff, Foster H. Phinney, Joe Ploski, José Portugal, Frank Radcliffe, Fred Rapport, Ellen Ray, Steve Reeves, Barry Regan, Jack Regas, Suzanne Ridgway, James H. Russell, Loretta Russell, Paul Russell, Rolfe Sedan, Bernard Sell, Harry Seymour, Peggy Smith, Buddy Spencer, Ray Spiker, Norman Stevens, Roberta Stevenson, Robert Street, F. Philip Sylvestre, Charles Tannen, Lee Theodore, Arthur Tovey, Blaine Turner, Tyra Vaughn, Ray Weamer, John Weidemann, Dick Wessel, Leo Wheeler, Marc Wilder, Max Willenz, James Young

Fox Blu-ray

Best English-friendly release · updated 1 year ago

Overview

Lorelei Lee is a beautiful showgirl engaged to be married to the wealthy Gus Esmond, much to the disapproval of Gus' rich father, Esmond Sr., who thinks that Lorelei is just after his money. When Lorelei goes on a cruise accompanied only by her best friend, Dorothy Shaw, Esmond Sr. hires Ernie Malone, a private detective, to follow her and report any questionable behavior that would disqualify her from the marriage.

Release details

Best Video Release

Fox Blu-ray, DNR

TSPDT
2026: #623
2025: #604
2024: #589
2023: #582
2022: #582
Length
91 mins
Type
Movie

More from Howard Hawks

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Director: Howard Hawks

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Indicator Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)

Director: Howard Hawks

Best English-Friendly & Video:

WB Blu-ray

Director: Howard Hawks

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly & Video:

WB 4K Blu-ray

Best Audio:

1988 WB VHS

Director: Howard Hawks

Best English-Friendly:

Criterion Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)

Best Video:

Criterion/Capelight

Video Notes:

Criterion/Capelight. MoC uses older master

Best Audio:

Theatrical Cut: France Wild Side Blu-ray

Pre-release Cut: ?

Director: Howard Hawks

Best English-Friendly & Audio:

Criterion Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)

Best Video:

Criterion, 4k transfer

Director: Howard Hawks

Best English-Friendly & Video:

WB Blu-ray

Best Audio:

1991 MGM LaserDisc

Director: Howard Hawks

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Criterion 4K Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab) · slow.pics (opens in a new tab)

Video Notes:

Criterion 4K Blu-ray (not by much, caps)

Best Audio:

Closest to original: 1995 Columbia LaserDisc

But Sony 4K Blu-ray is the best available one.

Audio Notes:

From cbc:

I much prefer the 4K Blu-ray track. LaserDisc has several nasty constant hums, and even after you remove that, the detail level is on-par with the 4K Blu-ray and has a lot of crackling. The 4K Blu-ray has some variable noise reduction, but it's done well and non-intrusive IMO, I watched it with that track and was happy.

Directors: Henry Hathaway & Howard Hawks & Henry King & Henry Koster & Jean Negulesco

Best English-Friendly:

UK Signal One Blu-ray

Video Notes:

UK Signal One, France ESC or Germany Plaion Blu-ray no comparison available online

Director: Howard Hawks

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Indicator Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)

Director: Howard Hawks

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Warner Archive Blu-ray

More from Fox

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Director: Chris Columbus

Video format: 4K Streaming

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Disney+ has Streaming in 4K

Video Notes:

Fox has Blu-ray

Best Audio:

1995 Fox LaserDisc

Director: Terence Young

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly:

WB 4K Blu-ray

Best Video:

WB 4K Blu-ray despite frozen grain

Best Audio:

UK mix: 1984 CBS Fox VHS Hifi but missing one scene
International mix: WB 4K Blu-ray though source origin is unknown

1995 MGM stereo remix: 1998 LaserDisc and 2000 DVD fix gunbarrel dropout

Director: David Butler

Video format: Only Unofficial Sources

Sources: archive.org (opens in a new tab)

Best Video:

The DVD isn't an official one, and according to a user review on Amazon:

This DVD comes from Archive.org, where the movie can be viewed for free. The original source, comes from the Fox Movie Channel

Director: James Cameron

4K · Disappointing
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Fox Blu-ray

Sources: movie-censorship.com (opens in a new tab)

Video Notes:

Fox Blu-ray for original cuts without the extra scene added in the re-release and AI upscaling

Newer Blu-ray/4K has the extra scene, but is poor and has excessive AI upscaling

Additional Info:

An additional scene was added to the ending of the movie in the 2022 re-release: https://www.movie-censorship.com/report.php?ID=493908

Director: Peter Faiman

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Australia Cut: Australia Fox DVD

International Cut: Paramount Blu-ray

Encore Cut: Germany Winkler Film 4K Blu-ray, censored but good encoding

Sources: movie-censorship.com (opens in a new tab)

Upcoming Release:

US Paramount 4K Blu-ray, is the International US Cut and not the Encore Cut

Best Audio:

Australia Cut: Laserdisc

Additional Info:

The film exists in three versions:
- the original Australian cut (~104 minutes at 24fps/~100 minutes at 25fps);
- the American/international version (~98 minutes at 24fps/~94 minutes at 25fps) trimming some exposition in the Outback first half of the film and some shorter extensions of a few seconds in the New York section, altering some of the dialogue – including censoring a "fuck" to "screw" – but featuring one additional dialogue extension not in the Australian version (a comparison of the two cuts can be found at Movie Censorship);
- the Australian Encore Cut (~95 minutes at 24fps/~91 minutes at 25fps) which uses the international version source so it already has those alterations but also removes approximately three minutes consisting of parts of two scenes featuring Mick grabbing the crotch of a cross-dressing prostitute and a later sequence when he does the same thing at a party to a woman with a deep voice (a comparison of the international version and the Encore Cut can be found at Movie Censorship).

Director: Ridley Scott

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Theatrical Cut: Fox 4K Blu-ray 

2003 Directors Cut: Fox 4K Blu-ray 

Video Notes:

(additional scenes appear to be upscaled)

Best Audio:

Original Theatrical 70mm 6-Track Stereo: Fox 4K Blu-ray (DTS-HD MA 4.1)

Original Theatrical 35mm Matrixed Dolby Stereo: 1999 DVD? (2.0 mix on the UHD is a downmix)

2003 Directors Cut: Fox 4K Blu-ray, Fox Blu-ray (DTS-HD MA 5.1)

Director: Matthew Vaughn

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Fox 4K Blu-ray

Director: Matthew Vaughn

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Fox 4K Blu-ray

Director: David O. Russell

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Fox 4K Blu-ray

Directors: Neil Nightingale & Barry Cook

Best English-Friendly, Video & Audio:

Fox 3D Blu-ray

Video Notes:

Fox 3D Blu-ray has both the theatrical cut and the "Cretaceous Cut"

Additional Info:

Fox 3D Blu-ray has both the theatrical cut and the "Cretaceous Cut" which removes the dialogue and the framing device, essentially serving as a director's cut of the film. The "Cretaceous Cut" is not available on the 2D Blu-ray or on digital streaming.

More Comedy on Blu-ray

TV series

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Warner Archive Blu-ray

Video Notes:

4K restoration from Original Camera Negative for all episodes

Director: Norman Taurog

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Warner Archive Blu-ray

Video Notes:

4K restoration from Original Camera Negative

Director: Delbert Mann

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Warner Archive Blu-ray

Video Notes:

4K restoration from Original Camera Negative

Director: Charles Walters

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Warner Archive Blu-ray

Video Notes:

4K restoration from Original Camera Negative

TV series

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Warner Archive Blu-ray

Director: Garson Kanin

Video format: 1080p Blu-ray

Upcoming Release:

Warner Archive Blu-ray

Best Video:

Only Streaming has 1080p

Director: Preston Sturges

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Kino Lorber Blu-ray

Video Notes:

No information on French Elephant Films Blu-ray

Director: Ralph Bakshi

Best English-Friendly & Video:

OOP Germany Ascot Blu-ray

Video Notes:

Tentative alternative is US Xenon DVD

Director: Tommy O'Haver

Best English-Friendly, Video & Audio:

OOP Canada Alliance Blu-ray

Video Notes:

International Blu-ray releases from Lionsgate/Paramount plaster the Miramax logo, cutting some scenes and the unique logo transition for the film.

Director: Peter Bogdanovich

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Criterion 4K Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab) · Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab)

Upcoming Release:

Eureka UK are considering doing a 4K and actively exploring the possibility: https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.php?p=24363810&postcount=264

Video Notes:

Wonderful underlying remaster by Criterion and Resillion, but NexSpec encode has clipped highlights with the occasional blockiness. The Criterion Blu-Ray, sourced from their 4K remaster, ironically makes for a more consistent and overall pleasing experience.

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· last reviewed 1 year ago

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