'How to Marry a Millionaire': 7 Fun Facts About the 1953 Film
Everyone wants to marry a millionaire, but maybe not as much as Pola Debevoise, Loco Dempsey and Schatze Page in the hit 1953 Marilyn Monroe film How to Marry a Millionaire. In it, those ladies do everything they can to try marrying a rich man of New York City (William Powell playing one of them), but after learning that most of them are creepy or con men, the three girls decide to go for compassion over cash. The screwball comedy — which offers one of the few times you'll see Marilyn Monroe wear her glasses on film — earned $8 million at the box office and recently celebrated its 70th birthday. And while, there might not be 70 facts here, we can guarantee the seven that we do have are more than enough!
The apartment in How to Marry a Millionaire
?20th Century Fox/courtesy MovieStillsDB.com
The main apartment in the film is located at 68 Sutton Place at 55th Street, New York, New York 10022. The building still stands today, and fans of the film still visit it from time to time to honor the late Marilyn Monroe.
The actual story doesn't begin until eight minutes into the film
While watching How to Marry a Millionaire, you might want to skip the first eight minutes of the film as it is filled with music, credits and a montage of New York City. This was widely unheard of at the time, making the film stand out for all of the wrong reasons.
The film made history
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How to Marry a Millionaire was the first film to ever be telecast on NBC's Saturday Night at the Movies. It aired on September 12 1961 and proved so successful that the network decided to do Monday Night at the Movies. The idea was also used by ABC and CBS.
This was one of the few films where Marilyn Monroe got along with her co-stars
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Most of Monroe’s co-stars considered her too divaish and found her incredibly hard to work with, but not Betty Grable! The actress reportedly found Monroe to be a wonderful person and would often hang out with her in between takes. Gable also painted Monroe's nails on the day of the film's promotional photoshoot.
Lauren Bacall also got along with her, hoping that if she chose not to fight with Monroe, the actress would trust her and open up.
How to Marry a Millionaire referenced Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
Both released in 1963, How to Marry a Millionaire and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes are two of Monroe’s most beloved films. And production knew that! So, to honor Gentlemen Prefer Blondes the writing time on How to Marry a Millionaire had Monroe say "You know, of course, that diamonds are a girl's best friend,” which is an obvious reference to the song of the same name from Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.
The film was shot in CinemaScope
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At the time of filming, CinemaScope was very new in the film world. It was a type of lens that was only used from 1953 until 1967, with Lauren Bacall recalling in her memoir, By Myself, “As CinemaScope was a new experiment for everyone, it was difficult. One had to keep the actors moving and not too close together, as the screen was long and narrow. You shot longer scenes in CinemaScope, five or six pages without a stop, and I liked that —it felt closer to the stage and better for me."
How to Marry a Millionaire was also Fox’s first film to ever be shot in CinemaScope.
Marilyn Monroe and David Wayne had worked together before
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Co-stars Monroe and Wayne certainly were not strangers when they met on the How to Marry a Millionaire set. The two had worked together twice before on both As Young as You Feel (1951) and We're Not Married! (1952). And while Monroe and Wayne were in "The Cop and the Anthem" segment of O. Henry's Full House (1952), they did not have any scenes together.
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