Blonde or a brunette? Rivals fight it out in Paris

PARIS - On a wall-mounted screen, Marilyn Monroe sings a chorus from Gentlemen Prefer Blondes next to a blown-up picture of Kristin Scott Thomas pulling off a peroxide wig to reveal the dark hair beneath.

Brunette/Blonde?, which opened this month at the Paris cinematheque, uses film and television archives, photography and art to retrace how generations of movie makers have used women's hair to seduce and shape their times.

Penelope Cruz stares out from underneath a platinum wig, her sultry Latin looks camouflaged for the camera, for the poster of the show.