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Marilyn Monroe: A Biography

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Melody Stacker
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« Reply #15 on: June 03, 2009, 01:12:52 pm »

Career Development

In March 1952, Monroe faced a possible scandal when one of her **** photographs from 1949 was featured in a calendar. The press speculated about the identity of the anonymous model and commented that she closely resembled Monroe. As the studio discussed how to deal with the problem, Monroe suggested that she should simply admit that she had posed for the photograph but that she should emphasize that she had done so only because she had no money to pay her rent.[23] She gave an interview in which she discussed the circumstances that led to her posing for the photographs, and the resulting publicity elicited a degree of sympathy for her plight as a struggling actress.[23]

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« Reply #16 on: June 03, 2009, 01:13:00 pm »

She made her first appearance on the cover of Life in April 1952, where she was described as "The Talk of Hollywood."[24] 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."[25] It was also during this time that she began dating the baseball player, Joe DiMaggio. A photograph of DiMaggio visiting Monroe at the 20th Century Fox studio was printed in newspapers throughout the United States, and reports of a developing romance between them generated further interest in Monroe.[26]

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« Reply #17 on: June 03, 2009, 01:13:15 pm »

Over the following months, four films in which Monroe featured were released. She had been loaned to RKO Studios to appear in a supporting role in Clash by Night, a Barbara Stanwyck drama, directed by Fritz Lang.[27] 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.[28] This was followed by two films released in July, the comedy We're Not Married, and the drama Don't Bother to Knock; We're Not Married featured Monroe as a beauty pageant contestant, and while Variety described the film as "lightweight," its reviewer commented that Monroe was featured to full advantage in a bathing suit, but that some of her scenes suggested a degree of exploitation.[29] In "Don't Bother to Knock," she played a starring role[30] as 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.[30] Monkey Business, a Howard Hawks directed comedy, costarring Cary Grant and Ginger Rogers, was released in September, and achieved good ticket sales despite weak reviews.[31]

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« Reply #18 on: June 03, 2009, 01:13:51 pm »



First issue of Playboy
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« Reply #19 on: June 03, 2009, 01:14:39 pm »



with Keith Andes in Clash by Night (1952)
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« Reply #20 on: June 03, 2009, 01:14:56 pm »

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.[32] During filming, Monroe's make-up artist, Whitey Snyder, noticed the stage fright that was to mark her behavior on film sets throughout her career, and was assigned by the director to spend hours gently coaxing and comforting Monroe as she prepared to film her scenes.[33]

Much of the critical comment following the release of the film was in relation to Monroe's overtly sexual performance,[32] and a scene which shows Monroe (from the back) making a long walk towards Niagara Falls was frequently referred to in reviews.[34] After seeing the film, Constance Bennett reportedly quipped, "There's a broad with her future behind her."[35] 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."[34]

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« Reply #21 on: June 03, 2009, 01:15:06 pm »

While the film was a success, and Monroe's performance was reviewed positively, 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. Joan Crawford was quoted in Louella Parsons' newspaper column, discussing Monroe's "vulgarity" and describing her behavior as "unbecoming an actress and a lady."[36] She 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.[37] A photograph from this event was used on the cover of the first edition of Playboy in December 1953, with a **** photograph of Monroe, taken in 1949, inside the magazine.[38]

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« Reply #22 on: June 03, 2009, 01:15:42 pm »



As Rose in Niagara
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« Reply #23 on: June 03, 2009, 01:16:27 pm »

Mainstream success

Her next film was Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953) co-starring Jane Russell and directed by Howard Hawks. Playing Lorelei Lee, a gold-digging showgirl, she was required to 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."[39] She later recalled that Monroe showed her dedication by rehearsing her dance routines each evening after most of the crew had left, but was 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.[40]

At the Los Angeles premiere of the film, Monroe and Russell pressed their hand- and foot prints 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.[41] 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 Monroe was dressed by William Travilla, a designer who would go on to dress 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.[42]

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« Reply #24 on: June 03, 2009, 01:16:38 pm »

How to Marry a Millionaire, a comedy about three models scheming to attract a wealthy husband, teamed Monroe with Betty Grable and Lauren Bacall, directed by Jean Negulesco.[43] 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."[44]

Monroe's films of this period established her "dumb blonde" persona and contributed to her popularity. In 1953 and 1954, she 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.[45]

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« Reply #25 on: June 03, 2009, 01:17:20 pm »



Performing "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend" in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953)
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« Reply #26 on: June 03, 2009, 01:17:33 pm »

During this time, Monroe discussed her acting ambitions, telling the New York Times "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."[46] 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.[47]

Instead, she was assigned to the western River of No Return, opposite Robert Mitchum. It was directed by Otto Preminger who resented Monroe's reliance on Natasha Lytess, who coached her and gave her verdict at the end of each scene. Eventually Monroe refused to speak to Preminger, and Mitchum was required to mediate.[48] On 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 CinemaScope process."[49]

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« Reply #27 on: June 03, 2009, 01:18:03 pm »



Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell putting signatures, hand and foot prints in cement at Grauman's Chinese Theater, 1953
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« Reply #28 on: June 03, 2009, 01:18:23 pm »

In late 1953, Monroe was scheduled to begin filming The Girl in Pink Tights with Frank Sinatra, and when she failed to appear for work, she was suspended by 20th Century Fox.[50] She and DiMaggio were married in San Francisco on January 14, 1954, and travelled to Japan soon after, combining a honeymoon with a business trip previously arranged by DiMaggio. For two weeks she took a secondary role to DiMaggio as he conducted his business, and said to a reporter, "Marriage is my main career from now on."[51] She then travelled alone to Korea where she performed for 13,000 American Marines over a three-day period, and later commented that the experience had helped her overcome a fear of performing in front of large crowds.[52]

Returning to Hollywood in March 1954, Monroe settled her disagreement with 20th Century Fox and appeared in There's No Business Like Show Business, a musical which failed to recover its production costs.[49] The film was received poorly; Ed Sullivan described Monroe's performance of the song "Heat Wave" as "one of the most flagrant violations of good taste" he had witnessed,[53] Time compared her unfavorably to co-star Ethel Merman, while Bosley Crowther for The New York Times said that Mitzi Gaynor had surpassed Monroe's "embarrassing to behold" performance.[54] The reviews echoed Monroe's opinion of the film, which she had made reluctantly, with the assurance that she would be given the starring role in the film adaption of the Broadway hit The Seven Year Itch.[55]

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« Reply #29 on: June 03, 2009, 01:18:34 pm »

In September 1954, Monroe filmed one of the key scenes for The Seven Year Itch in New York City. In it, she stands with her co-star, Tom Ewell, while the air from a subway grating blows her skirt over her head. A large crowd watched as director Billy Wilder ordered the scene to be refilmed many times. Among the crowd was Joe DiMaggio, who was reported to have been infuriated by the spectacle.[56] After a quarrel, witnessed by journalist Walter Winchell, the couple returned to California where they avoided the press for two weeks, until Monroe announced that they had separated.[57] Their divorce was granted in November 1954.[58] The filming was completed in early 1955, and after refusing what Monroe considered to be inferior parts in The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing and How to Be Very, Very Popular, she decided to leave Hollywood, at the advice of Milton Greene.

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