DVD: Divine Viewing Diversions, Marilyn Monroe Movies
She was a model, she was an actress, she was a phenomenon, she was a sex symbol.
And her controversial 1962 death at age 36 assured that she would, in the eyes of the world trained on her, remain THE blonde bombshell forever.
Yep, Norma Jeane Mortenson was, is, and would forever be Marilyn Monroe. And debate her talents all you want, but her magical movie career was one of a kind.
Here, then, is a partial recitation of her accomplishments on the movie screen.
THE ASPHALT JUNGLE (1950)
With a few low-impact films behind her – including “Ladies of the Chorus” and “Love Happy” – and sporting her new name, Monroe contributed a memorable, iconic bit to this intense, John Huston-directed-and-co-written ensemble crime drama of the “one final heist” variety. The highly acclaimed film also featured Sterling Hayden, Louis Calhern, Jean Hagen, James Whitmore and Sam Jaffe. Not yet a big star but well on her way to stardom in much bigger and showier roles, she did herself loads of good by fitting in as Calhern’s young mistress. The movie would garner four Oscar nominations – for Best Screenplay, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor (Jaffe), and Best Black-and-White Cinematography. But a parade of small roles like this one was the ticket to her being noticed.
MONKEY BUSINESS (1952)
Her role in this enormously entertaining screwball comedy – not to be confused with the Marx Brothers romp with the same title – about the inadvertent development of a fountain-of-youth serum was another supporting turn. But Monroe got to work as a secretary with severely limited secretarial skills and in support of two major stars in Cary Grant and Ginger Rogers under master director Howard Hawks. Watching these appealing adults turn back into adolescents is a hoot. And Monroe, playing yet another minor variation of her can’t-take-your-eyes-off-her persona, easily holds her own despite the august comedic ensemble. But bigger roles beckoned.
GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES (1953)
Howard Hawks also directed this big, broad musical comedy, which provided Monroe with a splashy starring role as gold digger Lorelei Lee, teaming her with Jane Russell as her witty, knowing sidekick. Based on Anita Loos’ Broadway adaptation, it features songs including “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend,” which Monroe belts out memorably – and that’s her singing, rumors to the contrary notwithstanding. With the Monroe-Russell “buddyship” convincing and sympathetic and Monroe’s singing at the very least respectable, it was time for the moviegoing audience that was used to enjoying simply looking at her to admit that she had considerable performing talents as well.
HOW TO MARRY A MILLIONAIRE (1953)
Next: Another comedy designed to showcase Monroe that did just that – with a little help from her friends. Monroe teamed up with Betty Grable and Lauren Bacall as a trio of striking models, male-hunting females who pool their money and connive to corral eligible bachelors in this shallow comedy scripted by producer Nunnally Johnson and directed by Jean Negulesco. The veteran ensemble cast includes William Powell, Rory Calhoun, David Wayne, Fred Clark, and Cameron Mitchell in a remake of the 1932 film, “The Greeks Had a Word for Them.” Perhaps predictably, Powell is the acting standout, but the film’s box-office punch and popularity seemed at the time to be the audience’s ever-increasing response to Monroe. And comedy wasn’t the only genre in which she could thrive.
RIVER OF NO RETURN (1954)
Robert Mitchum was one of the marquee-name luminaries co-starring in this absorbing western thriller and Monroe was the other. Their director was Otto Preminger and he got strong, showy work from both of them. The film is set in the Canadian Rockies during the gold rush. Itinerant farmer Mitchum and his young son must make their way downriver on a raft that they share with saloon singer Monroe, and they encounter all kinds of obstacles and dangers as they proceed and as the inevitable romance develops. Monroe gets to sing again and each lead brings an undeniable and irresistible presence to the outdoorsy adventure. Detractors would now have to admit that Monroe could do drama as well and was every bit the major star she appeared to be.
THERE’S NO BUSINESS LIKE SHOW BUSINESS (1954)
Monroe gets the chance to sing yet again in a sentimental musical dramedy that gets its title from a song in “Annie Get Your Gun.” It’s about the ups and downs of a family of singing and dancing vaudevillians known as The Five Donahues as life keeps intruding on their showbiz efforts. Walter Lang was in the director’s chair, and the classic songs are by the great Irving Berlin. Joining Monroe in the ensemble are Ethel Merman, Dan Dailey, Donald O’Connor, Mitzi Gaynor and Johnnie Ray. Sensitive and sexy, Monroe plays opposite the splendid O’Connor, and not only does she participate in chorus numbers, but she also gets to belt out two songs – “Heat Wave” and “After You Get What You Want, You Don’t Want It.” Taking our eyes off her remains out of the question.
THE SEVEN YEAR ITCH (1955)
The following year, it was the gifted writer-director Billy Wilder who was in charge of this decidedly adult comedy – an adaptation of the Broadway sex farce by George Axelrod – featuring Tom Ewell as a husband who finds himself home alone while his wife is off taking a summer vacation. Not surprisingly, and with his imagination in hyperdrive, he fantasizes about the very attractive neighbor, a model-actress played by Monroe, who has just moved in upstairs. Even those who have never seen this entertaining romp are familiar with the film’s most famous iconic image, that of Monroe dressed in a white dress that is billowing while she stands on a subway grate. The on-screen legend of Marilyn Monroe was off and running.
BUS STOP (1956)
Monroe’s co-star in this folksy comedy-drama based on the play by William Inge was Don Murray, under the direction of Joshua Logan. Murray is a cowboy who falls hard for Monroe’s barroom singing and decides to marry her without informing her of his intentions. Both Monroe and Murray are fine, with Murray receiving an Academy Award nomination as Best Supporting Actor for his performance while MM, singing yet again, delivers an iconic version of “That Old Black Magic.” While the acting honors more or less landed in Murray’s lap, Monroe managed to get the strongest reviews of her career thus far, with many critics finally admitting that she could indeed act. But the best was yet to come.
SOME LIKE IT HOT (1959)
Which brings us to the film named in a BBC critics poll as the greatest comedy ever made. (No arguments from this corner.) Shot in black-and-white by director and co-writer Billy Wilder – reuniting with Monroe – it’s a gender-bender farce about two unemployed musicians, played by Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis, who inadvertently witness the Valentine’s Day Massacre in 1929 Chicago. So they dress in drag and escape the thugs trying to kill them by joining an all-female band, whose vocalist is played by a singing Monroe. Best Actor Oscar nominee Lemmon is brilliant and hilarious, Curtis delivers a career-best turn, and Monroe is as fetching as she is funny. This is one for the ages and Monroe’s Sugar Kane is perfect.
THE MISFITS (1961)
John Huston directed Monroe, Clark Gable, Montgomery Clift, Eli Wallach and Thelma Ritter in this decidedly downbeat drama written by playwright Arthur Miller, Monroe’s husband at the time. MM plays a sensitive woman who has come to Reno to get a divorce. Gable and Clift are the contemporary rodeo cowboys she gets involved with who are out to capture wild mustangs in a way that sickens her. The script doesn’t exactly hold up, but with all that star power, the film is nothing if not absorbing. And given that she was coming off the magnificent “Some Like It Hot,” there was nowhere to go but down in what turned out to be her (and Gable’s) last film. And as was usually the case, even when her cast colleagues were this sparkling, we still just can’t take our eyes off the magnetic Marilyn Monroe.
