What I Really Need To Do Is...Marry A Millionaire
By Preston Sinclair
"That's the beautiful thing about a bear trap, you don't have to catch a whole heard of them. Just one nice big fat one." Schatze
Truer words have never been spoken. Therein lies the rub. What constitutes a bear, and how exactly does one build a better trap? Comedy ensues as these three bombshells show us how, step by step.
Schatze Page (Lauren Bacall)starts out as the brains of the organization, yet she becomes more delusional and confused than the rest of them as the movie progresses. She's mean to her ardent suitor, Tom Brookman (Cameron Mitchell). While she's ambivalent toward her potential sugar daddy, JD Hanley (William Powell).
Here's what Lauren Bacall had to say about her co-stars.
"Betty Grable was a funny, outgoing woman, totally professional and easy. Marilyn was frightened, insecure-trusted only her coach and was late"
Lauren Bacall
from By Myself
Loco (Betty Grable) lives up to her name, and almost gets it right with Eben (Rory Calhoun). Except that Eben isn't really a bear, he's more of a svelte otter type. Yet, with those dreamy eyes who can blame the girl for falling for a guy who isn't holding...anything but trees.
J. Stewart Merril (Alexander D'Arcy)and Pola (Marilyn Monroe) set up one of best scenes in the movie. They're on a date, and Pola walks into the wall because she's too vain to wear her glasses. There's an audible thump as she hits the wall. There wasn't another actress in Hollywood who could have pulled off this gag better than Marilyn.
"He sounds wonderful, but I was naturally curious to know what he looked like." Pola
Another highlight of the movie was Pola's scene with Freddie Denmark (David Wayne) on the airplane. Their comedic timing was perfect. The whole conversation about glasses was priceless, and well edited. We were watching Pola fall in love with a man who wasn't holding. She couldn't help it.
I went to a screening of the documentary Miss Representation, directed by Jennifer Siebel Newsom, at a local Community College. This insightful doc explored the media's role in spreading propaganda that marginalizes the role of women in society. While watching, I couldn't help but wonder how Bacall, Grable and Monroe felt about the characters they were portraying. Did Schatze, Loco, and Pola have some sense of empowerment over the men in their lives? Or were they victims of society?
Today, in our Housewives Of Wherever reality TV world, we have become immune to the portrayal of women as gold diggers. Yet, in the post World War Two era, women were expected to leave the factories where they had been building planes and enter the kitchens as their men came marching home from war. This didn't leave women many choices. What kind of kitchen would any woman prefer, a pump jockey's or a millionaire's? Don't judge them. Not everyone could live the June Cleaver "Father Knows Best" lifestyle. Women had to make hard choices and use the assets that they had in order to be happy.
This begs the question, what makes us happy? Try turning the table and watching this movie from the guy's point of view. In the end, the men were working with what they as hard as the women were. Each guy was playing the hand he was dealt the best he could.
For example, J.D. loved Schatze, yet he had enough class to know that he couldn't really make her happy. While at the same time, Schatze knew that she was happiest when she was with Brookman. However, Brookman wanted her to fall in love with him for himself, not his money.
Happiness comes from inside. No one can "make" you happy. The final scene says it all as they are sitting around the diner counter fixing burgers. Which reminds me that I'm hungry. Who knows? Maybe I'll meet somebody at the deli.
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