There’s been a few books over the years in this genre, from 1964’s Films Of Marilyn Monroe to 2001’s Blonde Heat, all with their own approach to Marilyn’s career and work.This is the second volume to focus exclusively on her career at 20th Century Fox.
This is not a critical review but more of a glorious Technicolor celebration of her time there. Lavishly illustrated with photos from the Fox archives, with brief notes on each film & interesting trivia such as deleted dialogue from Bus Stop and censored scenes. It serves as a brilliant companion to the DVD box sets of Marilyn’s Fox films, but is far from a serious perspective of Marilyn’s work.
However, what is apparent is Fox’s lack of imagination when it came to Marilyn’s own aspirations as to which direction she wanted her career to take. She must have found it so frustrating at times to be offered the same type of roles in films that were below her abilities and not worthy of a star of her magnitude. Ofcourse, we all know that Marilyn battled with the studio time and time again and eventually she did negotiate a contract that granted her a greater independence and control, almost unheard of for a performer before that time.
It would mark a serious break in the studio system, eventually bringing an end to the old studio system. Marilyn had that type of power, which is often overlooked.It’s amazing to see her make a film like Bus Stop and be so involved with how she wanted her character presented on screen, leave the studio to make two independent films;- “The Prince & The Showgirl” & “Some Like It Hot” all of which were so highly acclaimed, especially outside America and then to return to the Fox studios to do a film like “Let’s Make Love.” It just proves that Fox didn’t have the material for her. It’s quite sad in a way.
However, there was a flicker of light with “Something’s Got To Give,” which offered Marilyn a new challenge & may have been a landmark picture. Of the surviving footage, a comic performance from Marilyn looked set to match the heights of her Sugar Kane character in “Some Like It Hot.” Sadly it was not to be and the troubles surrounding that film and the Fox studio at the time brought an end to everything.
There’s also a miniature version of Cindy’s book, similar in it’s design but it has some previously unpublished pictures not included in the large version. It was published in 2008 and is called simply Marilyn. Details below.
By Fraser Penney
