Forget your troubles, come on, get happy and join us as The Vito Project LGBTQ+ Club returns with its brand new season – Imitations of Life: Deconstructing Camp in Classic Hollywood. We will explore how camp has been used not only to bring joy and laughter to audience, but also as a tool to get subversive queer, feminist and socially-charged content to the screen – all the while eluding critics in the process! Each movie is preceded by an introduction and followed by a panel discussion discussing the movie through a queer lens, and a conversation with the audience.

Our season kicks off with one of the best loved, most quoted, but rarely surpassed titles in camp classic canon: the masterpiece of musical comedy Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, directed by Howard Hawks.

Starring the indomitable Jane Russell and a radiant Marilyn Monroe in one of her breakthrough roles, this classic still shines bright like a diamond as one of the most luminous examples of female friendship on the screen. This glitzy Technicolor romp features a long list of iconic moments that cemented their place in pop culture history, but just to name a few that you wouldn’t want to miss – an extremely ‘love sick’ Jane Russell singing “Isn’t Anyone Here For Love” to a bevy of beefy but oblivious scantily-clad bodybuilders; and of course, Marilyn’s dazzling rendition of “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend”, which has inspired homages by everyone from Madonna to Miss Piggy.

Based on the 1949 stage musical of the same name, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes tells the story of two glamorous showgirls have everything a girl could want – except engagement rings! In a quest for true love, Lorelei (Marilyn Monroe) and her gold-digger pal Dorothy (Jane Russell) set sail on a luxury liner for France. While on board, the pair hit rocky waters when a manipulative detective (Elliot Reid), an aging millionaire (Charles Coburn), and the entire men’s Olympic gymnastics team try to put an anchor in their marriage-minded mischief.

Whether you have seen it once or 100 times, you haven’t seen Gentlemen Prefer Blondes until you have seen it on the big screen with an audience laughing along to one of funniest and most glorious buddy comedies of all time.

The film length is 91 mins, and will be preceded by an introduction and followed by a discussion.

Doors open at 17.00, for a 18.00 start.

Refreshments will be available in our licensed cafe/bar.

TICKETS & PRICING

Tickets £8 in advance or on the door.

Advance tickets may be purchased from Ticketlab, or direct from the Museum by calling 020 7840 2200 in office hours.