Marilyn Monroe-Films

 

 

 

In 1952, Monroe faced a possible scandal when one of her nude photos from her 1949 session with photographer Tom Kelley was featured in a calendar. The press speculated about the identity and commented the anonymous model,  resembled Monroe. The studio discussed how to deal with the problem, Monroe suggested that she should simply admit that she had posed for the photograph and she had done so only because she had no money to pay her rent. She gave an interview in which she discussed the circumstances that led to her posing for the photographs. The resulting publicity elicited a degree of sympathy for her plight as a struggling actress.

 

Monroe made her first appearance on the cover of Life magazine in April 1952. She was described as "The Talk of Hollywood". The following year, Monroe was photographed by noted Life magazine photographer Alfred Eisenstaedt, considered "The father of photojournalism." He photographed Monroe on the patio of her Hollywood home. Many of the images from that sitting have been reproduced in numerous subsequent publications and by Life magazine. Monroe was pleased with his images of her, later telling him, "You made a palace out of my patio."

 

Stories of her childhood and upbringing portrayed her in a sympathetic light. A cover story for the May 1952 edition of True Experiences magazine showed a smiling and wholesome Monroe beside a caption that read, "Do I look happy? I should — for I was a child nobody wanted. A lonely girl with a dream — who awakened to find that dream come true. I am Marilyn Monroe. Read my Cinderella story."

 

It was also during this time that she began dating baseball player Joe DiMaggio. A photograph of DiMaggio visiting Monroe at the 20th Century Fox studio was printed in newspapers throughout the United States. Reports of a developing romance between them generated further interest in Monroe.

 

Four films in which Monroe featured were released beginning in 1952. She had been lent to RKO Studios to appear in a supporting role in “Clash by Night”, a Barbara Stanwyck drama, directed by Fritz Lang. Released in June 1952, the film was popular with audiences, with much of its success credited to curiosity about Monroe, who received generally favorable reviews from critics.

 

This was followed by two films released in July, “We're Not Married!”, and “Don't Bother to Knock”. “We're Not Married!” featured Monroe as a beauty pageant contestant. Variety described the film as "lightweight". Its reviewer commented that Monroe was featured to full advantage in a bathing suit. Some of her scenes suggested a degree of exploitation. In “Don't Bother to Knock” she played the starring role of a babysitter who threatens to attack the child in her care. The downbeat melodrama was poorly reviewed, although Monroe commented that it contained some of her strongest dramatic acting.

 

“Monkey Business”, directed by Howard Hawks starring Cary Grant and Ginger Rogers, was released in September and was the first movie in which Monroe appeared with platinum blonde hair.

 

In “O. Henry's Full House”, Monroe had a single one-minute scene with Charles Laughton. Monroe received top billing alongside him and the film's other stars, including Anne Baxter, Farley Granger, Jean Peters and Richard Widmark.

 

Darryl F. Zanuck considered that Monroe's film potential was worth developing and cast her in “Niagara”, as a femme fatale scheming to murder her husband, played by Joseph Cotten. During filming, Monroe's make-up artist Whitey Snyder noticed her stage fright (that would ultimately mark her behavior on film sets throughout her career); the director assigned him to spend hours gently coaxing and comforting Monroe as she prepared to film her scenes. Reviews of the film dwelled on her sexuality, while noting that her acting was imperfect.

 

Much of the critical commentary following the release of the film focused on Monroe's overtly sexual performance, and a scene which shows Monroe (from the back) making a long walk toward Niagara Falls received frequent note in reviews. After seeing the film, Constance Bennett reportedly quipped, "There's a broad with her future behind her." Whitey Snyder also commented that it was during preparation for this film, after much experimentation, that Monroe achieved "the look, and we used that look for several pictures in a row ... the look was established." While the film was a success, and Monroe's performance had positive reviews, her conduct at promotional events sometimes drew negative comments.

 

Her appearance at the Photoplay awards dinner in a skin-tight gold lamé dress was criticized. Louella Parsons' newspaper column quoted Joan Crawford discussing Monroe's "vulgarity" and describing her behavior as "unbecoming an actress and a lady". Monroe had previously received criticism for wearing a dress with a neckline cut almost to her navel when she acted as Grand Marshall at the Miss America Parade in September 1952. A photograph from this event was used on the cover of the first issue of Playboy in December 1953, with a nude photograph of Monroe, taken in 1949, inside the magazine.

 

Monroe next replaced Betty Grable in the musical film “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes”  co-starring Jane Russell and directed by Howard Hawks. Her role as Lorelei Lee, a gold-digging showgirl, required her to act, sing, and dance. The two stars became friends, with Russell describing Monroe as "very shy and very sweet and far more intelligent than people gave her credit for". She later recalled that Monroe showed her dedication by rehearsing her dance routines each evening after most of the crew had left. Monroe arrived habitually late on set for filming. Realizing that Monroe remained in her dressing room due to stage fright, and that Hawks was growing impatient with her tardiness, Russell started escorting her to the set.

 

At the Los Angeles premiere of the film, Monroe and Russell pressed their hand- and footprints in the cement in the forecourt of Grauman's Chinese Theatre. Monroe received positive reviews and the film grossed more than double its production costs. Her rendition of "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend" became associated with her. “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes” also marked one of the earliest films in which William Travilla dressed Monroe. Travilla dressed Monroe in eight of her films including “Bus Stop”, “Don't Bother to Knock”, “How to Marry a Millionaire”, “River of No Return”, “There’s No Business Like Show Business”, “Monkey Business”, and “The Seven Year Itch”. “How to Marry a Millionaire” was a comedy about three models scheming to attract wealthy husbands. The film teamed Monroe with Betty Grable (who she replaced in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes) and Lauren Bacall, and was directed by Jean Negulesco. The producer and scriptwriter, Nunnally Johnson, said that it was the first film in which audiences "liked Marilyn for herself [and that] she diagnosed the reason very shrewdly. She said that it was the only picture she'd been in, in which she had a measure of modesty... about her own attractiveness."

 

Monroe's films of this period established her "dumb blonde" persona and contributed to her popularity. Monroe was listed in the annual "Quigley Poll of the Top Ten Money Making Stars", which was compiled from the votes of movie exhibitors throughout the United States for the stars that had generated the most revenue in their theaters over the previous year. "I want to grow and develop and play serious dramatic parts. My dramatic coach, Natasha Lytess, tells everybody that I have a great soul, but so far nobody's interested in it."

 

Monroe told the New York Times. She saw a possibility in 20th Century Fox's upcoming film, “The Egyptian”, but was rebuffed by Darryl F. Zanuck who refused to screen test her.

 

Monroe was assigned to the western “River of No Return”, opposite Robert Mitchum. Director Otto Preminger resented Monroe's reliance on Natasha Lytess, who coached Monroe and announced her verdict at the end of each scene. Eventually Monroe refused to speak to Preminger, and Mitchum had to mediate. Of the finished product, she commented, "I think I deserve a better deal than a grade Z cowboy movie in which the acting finished second to the scenery and the Cinema Scope process."

 

In late 1953, Monroe was scheduled to begin filming “The Girl in Pink Tights” with Frank Sinatra. When she failed to appear for work, 20th Century Fox suspended her.