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33-490: The term "gold digger" is a slang term that has its roots among chorus girls and sex workers in the early 20th century. In print, the term can be found in Rex Beach 's 1911 book, The Ne'er-Do-Well , and in the 1915 memoir My Battles with Vice by Virginia Brooks . The Oxford Dictionary and Random House 's Dictionary of Historical Slang state the term is distinct for women because they were much more likely to need to marry

66-414: A Millionaire was the studio's first film to be shot in the new CinemaScope wide-screen sound process, although it was the second CinemaScope film released by Fox after the biblical epic film The Robe (also 1953). It was also the first color and CinemaScope film ever shown on prime-time network television (though panned-and-scanned ) when it was presented as the first film on NBC's Saturday Night at

99-458: A career out of performing, the chorus line was a common place of entry. Big names of the day like Paulette Goddard , Barbara Stanwyck , and Betty Grable are just some of the stars who began successful performing careers by joining a chorus line. One of the most popular productions of the time was the Ziegfeld Follies , operating out of New York City , which was well-known for hiring only

132-459: A chorus line was vogue during the first half of the 20th century, modern theatre uses the terms " ensemble " and " chorus " to indicate all supporting players in a stage production . In the mid-1800s, chorus lines of cartwheeling, synchronized dancing can-can "girls" began sprouting up throughout Paris with even edgier, more erotic cabarets found in venues like the Moulin Rouge , Le Lido , and

165-461: A moral panic surrounding frivolous lawsuits. Sharon Thompson's research has demonstrated how public perception of the prevalence of gold digging has created disadvantages for female spouses without their own source of income in the negotiation of alimony cases and prenuptial agreements. The gold digger stereotype triggered public discussions about heartbalm legislation during the 1930s, particularly breach of promise cases. Public outrage surrounding

198-646: A nearly six-minute overture of Newman's symphonic piece "Street Scene", which he wrote in the style of George Gershwin . It is played on-screen by an 80-piece studio orchestra (billed as "The Twentieth Century Fox Symphony Orchestra"). Newman wrote the piece for the 1931 film Street Scene , which featured his first complete film score. The film premiered at the Fox Wilshire Theatre (now the Saban Theatre ), in Beverly Hills, California on November 4, 1953. It

231-486: A villainous foil, as in both versions of Disney's film The Parent Trap . The gold digger image or trope appears in several popular songs, including " My Heart Belongs to Daddy " (1938), " Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend " (1949), " Santa Baby " (1953), " She Got the Goldmine (I Got The Shaft) " (1982), and " Material Girl " (1984). Rap music 's use of the "gold digger script" is one of a few prevalent sexual scripts that

264-418: A wealthy man in order to achieve or maintain a level of socioeconomic status. The term rose in usage after the popularity of Avery Hopwood 's play The Gold Diggers in 1919. Hopwood first heard the term in a conversation with Ziegfeld performer Kay Laurell . As an indication on how new the slang term was, Broadway producers urged him to change the title because they feared that the audience would think that

297-540: Is a 1953 American romantic comedy film directed by Jean Negulesco and written and produced by Nunnally Johnson . The screenplay was based on the plays The Greeks Had a Word for It (1930) by Zoe Akins and Loco (1946) by Dale Eunson and Katherine Albert . It stars Betty Grable , Marilyn Monroe , and Lauren Bacall as three fashionable Manhattan models, along with William Powell , David Wayne , Rory Calhoun , and Cameron Mitchell as their wealthy marks. Produced and distributed by 20th Century-Fox , How to Marry

330-698: Is a crooked speculator. When she takes a plane from LaGuardia Airport to meet him in Atlantic City, she ends up on the wrong plane to Kansas City. On the plane, she encounters the mysterious Freddie Denmark again, having unknowingly met him when he entered his apartment to retrieve his tax documents as proof that his crooked accountant stole his money and left him in trouble with the IRS. Freddie also wears glasses and encourages Pola to wear hers as well. They fall quickly in love and get married. Loco and Pola are reunited with Schatze just before her wedding to J.D. Hanley. Schatze

363-597: Is avoiding the IRS by living in Europe) and together hatch a plot to court the city's elite. On the day they move in, Loco arrives with Tom Brookman, who purchases her groceries for her because she "forgot her pocketbook". Tom shows interest in Schatze but she dismisses him, stating that "The first rule is, gentlemen callers have got to wear a necktie" and, instead, sets her sights on the charming, classy, rich widower J.D. Hanley. While courting

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396-419: Is directed at young African-American women. The 2005 hit " Gold Digger (Kanye West song) " was the ninth best selling and ninth most played song of the 2000s, according to People Magazine. Chorus line A chorus line is a large group of dancers who together perform synchronized routines, usually in musical theatre . Sometimes, singing is also performed. While synchronized dancing indicative of

429-405: Is now bedridden with measles, she begins seeing the forest ranger, Eben Salem. Loco mistakenly believes Salem is a wealthy landowner instead of a civil servant overseeing acres of forestlands. She is disappointed, telling off Brewster on the drive back to New York. Pola is myopic but hates wearing glasses in the presence of men. She falls for a phony oil tycoon, J. Stewart Merrill, unaware that he

462-482: Is unable to go through with the marriage and confesses to J.D. that she loves Tom. He agrees to call off the ceremony. Tom is among the wedding guests and the two reconcile and marry. Afterwards, the three happy couples end up at a greasy spoon diner. Schatze jokingly asks Eben and Freddie about their financial prospects, which are slim. When she finally gets around to Tom, he casually admits a net worth of around $ 200 million, which no one takes seriously. He then calls for

495-603: The Folies Bergẻre . By the late 1860s, the scandalous trend found its way to the United States with a more conservative trend of chorus lines hitting England, including Tiller Girls and Gaiety Girls . Chorus lines throughout Western Europe and the United States largely owned the stages of the early twentieth century. Chorus line dancers in early Broadway musicals and revues were referred to by slang terms such as ponies , gypsies and twirlies . Chorus lines hit vogue in

528-699: The United Nations Building , and Brooklyn Bridge in the opening sequence following the credits. Other iconic views include the Empire State Building , the lights of Times Square at night and the George Washington Bridge . A song extolling the virtues of New York follows the Gershwin-like music used for the title credits, after an elaborate five-minute pre-credit sequence showcasing a 70-piece orchestra conducted by Alfred Newman before

561-471: The 1920s and 30s, as the life and possibilities of a "chorus girl" became sensationalized in fiction, newspapers, and film, capturing the imaginations of young women seeking independence, adventure, and a happily ever after. Real-life examples of the Cinderella narrative included Lilian Russel and Billie Dove , both of whom began their careers as chorus girls and married into wealth. For women hoping to make

594-549: The 1930s, the term "gold digger" had reached the United Kingdom through a British remake of The Gold Diggers . While the film received negative critical reception, several sequels with the same title have been produced. In the 1930s, the gold digger trope was used in a number of popular American films, most notably Gold Diggers of 1933 , Gold Diggers of 1935 , Baby Face , Red-Headed Woman , Dinner at Eight , and Havana Widows . Film historian Roger Dooley notes that

627-492: The 1950s. The press and public described model/actress Anna Nicole Smith as a gold digger for marrying multi-millionaire octogenarian J. Howard Marshall II . There was even a book published as a Little Blue Book (Little Blue Book No. 1392, Confessions of a Gold Digger , by Betty Van Deventer, 1929). The recurring image of the gold digger in Western popular media throughout the 1920s and 1930s developed into an important symbol of

660-511: The Movies on September 23, 1961. The soundtrack to How to Marry a Millionaire was released on CD by Film Score Monthly on March 15, 2001. Resourceful Schatze Page, spunky Loco Dempsey, and ditzy Pola Debevoise are three women on a mission: each wants to marry a millionaire . To accomplish this task, they rent a luxurious Sutton Place penthouse in New York City from Freddie Denmark (who

693-405: The check, pulls out an enormous wad of money, and pays with a $ 1,000 bill, telling the chef to keep the change. The three astonished women faint, and the men drink a toast to their unconscious wives. Nunnally Johnson , who adapted the screenplay from two different plays, produced the picture. 20th Century-Fox started production on The Robe before it began How to Marry a Millionaire . Although

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726-417: The curtain goes up. The score for How To Marry a Millionaire was one of the first recorded for film in stereo . It was composed and directed by Alfred Newman , with incidental music by Cyril Mockridge , and orchestrated by Edward B. Powell . The album was released on CD by Film Score Monthly on March 15, 2001 as part of their series Golden Age Classics . The film's theatrical version begins with

759-488: The early 1920s. Some have argued that she was the real-life inspiration for Lorelei Lee, the protagonist in Anita Loos ’ 1925 novel Gentlemen Prefer Blondes which holds gold digging as a central theme. Additionally, some have contended that the term "gold digger" was coined to describe her. Former Olympian Eleanor Holm was dubbed the "swimming gold digger" for her divorce contest with Broadway impresario Billy Rose during

792-492: The face of competition from burlesque and strip clubs . Some popular chorus lines found their way onto the golden screen. One group in particular was Samuel Goldwyn 's dancers, the Goldwyn Girls . Popping up in numerous MGM productions, the famous Goldwyn Girls included stars who went on to find great success on-screen like Lucille Ball , Virginia Mayo , and Jane Wyman . To this day, some live performance venues keep

825-606: The front of the theatre, and the impression it leaves is that of nonsense from a few people in a great big hall." On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes , 82% of 28 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.2/10. In 1957, the film was adapted into a sitcom also titled How to Marry a Millionaire . It starred Barbara Eden (as Loco Jones), Merry Anders (Michelle "Mike" Page), Lori Nelson (Greta Lindquist) and as Nelson's later replacement, Lisa Gaye as Gwen Kirby. It aired in syndication for two seasons. In 2000, 20th Century Fox Television produced

858-402: The gold digger is one of the most common of the “stock company of stereotypes that continually reappear in the films of the 1930s.” Gold diggers in 1930s cinema were often portrayed in positive, sometimes heroic, ways. The character has featured in many films since the 1930s such as Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953) and How to Marry a Millionaire (1953), both starring Marilyn Monroe , or as

891-476: The image of frivolous lawsuits and unfair alimony payouts related to the gold digger archetype contributed to a nationwide push throughout the middle and late 1930s to outlaw heart balm legislation in the United States. The gold digger emerged as a dominant trope in American popular culture beginning in the 1920s. Stephen Sharot stated that the gold digger supplanted the popularity of the vamp in 1920s cinema. By

924-484: The latter was completed first, the studio chose to present The Robe as its first CinemaScope picture in late September or early October 1953 because it felt the family-friendly The Robe would attract a larger audience to its new widescreen process. The film's cinematography was by Joseph MacDonald. The costume design was by Travilla . Between scenes, the cinematography has some iconic color views of mid-20th century New York City: Rockefeller Center , Central Park ,

957-548: The most striking women for the chorus line. Florenz Ziegfeld Jr received the reputation of being able to objectively define and select exceptionally beautiful women. Ziegfeld's standards, then, soon became the ideal, and publications and news articles circulated with headlines like, "How I pick my Beauties" and "Picking out pretty girls for the stage". Decades later, chorus lines of a more erotic flavor found huge success on America's west coast in Las Vegas, before declining again in

990-531: The older J.D., she fends off Tom, who eventually wins her over. After every date, she insists she never wants to see him again. Meanwhile, Loco meets grumpy businessman Walter Brewster. He is married, but she agrees to accompany him to his lodge in Maine , thinking it is a convention hall of the Elks Club . Just as Loco discovers her mistake, she comes down with the measles and is quarantined. Upon recovering, while Brewster

1023-472: The play was about mining and the Gold Rush . There exist several cases where female public figures have been perceived as exemplars of the gold digger stereotype by the public. The best-known gold digger of the early 20th century was Peggy Hopkins Joyce . Joyce was a former show girl who married and divorced millionaires. She was characterized as a gold digger during her divorce battle with Stanley Joyce during

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1056-407: The traditional chorus line alive with groups like The Rockettes , but more frequently the term "chorus line" in modern terms is used to differentiate supporting singers and dancers of any gender in a musical or musical revue from the lead actors or performers. Performers who started out dancing in traditional chorus lines include: How to Marry a Millionaire How to Marry a Millionaire

1089-413: Was a box office success, earning $ 8 million worldwide and $ 7.5 million domestically, second that year only to The Robe . It was the fourth highest-grossing film of 1953 , whereas Monroe's previous feature, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes , was seventh . The New York Times ' s Bosley Crowther wrote "the substance is still insufficient for the vast spread of screen which CinemaScope throws across

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