Quartile rating: 7/10 · 1 rating
Three women set out to find eligible millionaires to marry, but find true love in the process.
How to Marry a Millionaire is a breezy, lightweight romantic comedy buoyed by the charisma of its three leads — Marilyn Monroe, Betty Grable, and Lauren Bacall — but hindered by a thin, formulaic plot that relies on predictable misunderstandings and a tidy resolution. The acting is the film's chief asset, with Monroe delivering genuine comic charm and Bacall providing sharp wit, though the material rarely challenges them. Cinematography is competent and benefits from its early CinemaScope presentation, giving it a certain visual distinction for its era. The premise of gold-digging women finding true love instead is a well-worn trope with little reinvention, keeping novelty modest. The ending wraps up neatly but without surprise, satisfying genre expectations without exceeding them.