I know Marilyn Monroe is famous for her looks as was Ava Gardner, but for me, Lauren Bacall, especially in her major debut To Have and Have Not, was more beautiful than either of them. Easily one of the most beautiful women I've ever seen on screen.
You got that right!! And she was so young! 18 or 19 and looked so mature and poised and then there's was that voice!!

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Virna Lisi? Looks a bit like Michelle Pfeiffer lo, both are really pretty. I think Marilyn Monroe is one of the most beautiful women I have ever seen, but I can understand why others might feel she is way overrated.

That's true. Marilyn Monroe was pretty but she wasn't the most stunning blonde bombshell. I think Virna Lisi fits more of the description, she had the most gorgeous eyes and refined face.
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They are completely disparate types, totally different shades of beauty so it's a matter of preference. Monroe had soft, lush, girl-woman features with her wide yet heavy-lidded bedroom eyes and luscious mouth; whereas Bacall looked mature and flinty even as a mere teenager, her bone structure was geometric with precise lines and angles, spare features consisting of those elongated, come hither eyes and thinnish lips. Lookswise Monroe was flamboyant and feminine, curvaceous and pliant; Bacall minimalist and masculine, narrow and angular.
That said, I do think she was superior to Monroe in looks. Bacall was the best of her class when it came to handsome imposing type of beauty. Monroe was not a great beauty and wasn't even at the time widely regarded as such like Lamarr, Gardner, Taylor, Tierney were; sex symbol extraordinaire to be sure, but not an extreme beauty. Many people mistake and conflate sex appeal/charisma with beauty when they are separate elements.
An apt comparison would be someone like Lana Turner, a hot bombshell blonde who was I thought superior to Monroe with her exquisitely cut features and delicate yet sensual doll-face.

Bacall was stunning in her early year w/the right lighting and make-up. She was also a very attractive older women but she said in interviews that she was never a beauty. She referred to herself to as an average looking girl even when she was a teen model. So much about Bacall was her personality and how she carried herself w/such amazing self confidence. She was a tough lady not always friendly to the general public and could be very distant and aloof. She was even that way with her adult children at times and had a distant relationship w/her grandchildren. She had said that in a few interviews due to her constant need to be working and away from home.

For me, different adjectives go with each lady. Like others have said, I think Lauren Bacall was sultry and seductive, and while I find Monroe pretty, she had more innocenceda0 to her beauty and a childlike quality to her features.

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"More beautiful than Monroe"
Nope. Not even close. Bacall had always had a "trying to hard to be sexy" vibe. Not in any lifetime is this woman sexier than Marilyn. I won't even address the Ava Gardner comment because that's just silly. LOL!!!
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Oh, ok .lol
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Bacall certainly was gorgeous when she was younger, but she was definitely not as beautiful as some of old Hollywood beauties. Women like Ava Gardner, Elizabeth Taylor, Rita Hayworth, Grace Kelly, Audrey Hepburn, and yes, Marilyn Monroe. Bacall was sultry and sexy, but she didn't look as good in motion compared to her photos. I even think Martha Vickers was way prettier than her. Oh, and she didn't age nicely either.

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Thank you! Why does one star always have to pitted against another? Bacall and MM were totally different types. Comparison is silly.

I wouldn't go as far as saying "more beautiful" since both were knockouts. In my opinion though, looks wise, Monroe's beauty exuded sex & playfulness whereas Bacall's beauty exuded class & romance.
Two very different types of beauty, but I personally couldn't say one was more beautiful than the other.

No way Bacall was gorgeous, but Marilyn was another level of beautiful that not many were able to touch.
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Bacall was attractive at best. She did have a look to her that drew people in, much like Bette Davis. Davis was not beautiful but also had an allure.

Marilyn IS the most beautiful. Bacall didn't hold a candle to her in the looks department.
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Please. She is not even as beautiful as Naomi Watts.

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I agree wholeheartedly. A beautiful talented woman who will be missed by so many.