If Only 20th Century-Fox had Bought the Book!!
GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES was a hit book in the 1920's. A few years later Anita Loos wrote a second book BUT GENTLEMEN MARRY BRUNETTES which further continued the adventures of Dorothy and Lorleli.
In 1953, Jane Russell and Marilyn Monroe starred in the film version of the hit 1949 Broadway musical adaption which of course was a huge hit. Jane Russell bought the film rights to the second novel but there was one little problem - as an independent producer she could not afford Marilyn Monroe as a costar so basically GENTLEMEN MARRY BRUNETTES is a completely n new story about two showgirls (sisters this time) on the prowl in Paris and has nothing to do with the novel of the same name other than using it's title. One particularly interesting tidbit is the BRUNETTES movie was co-written by Mary Loos, niece of the original author Anita Loos but alas Mary did not have the zest and humor in her writing as her aunt did and the 1955 film was one of the big misfires of Jane's career.
It's too bad 20th Century-Fox wasn't apparently interested in buying the second Anita Loos' book then we could have had Marilyn and Jane reunited for the further adventures of Lorleli and Dorothy rather than the lukewarm mishmash she produced for United Artists. (Of course the Fox movie ended with a double wedding for the gals so that might have been a problem for a sequel!)