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  1. #1
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    Best Marilyn Monroe performance?

    ..I like Niagra.shes using her natural voice and looks gorgeous..I have a soft spot for Gentlemen Prefer Blondes shes funny in that- but I guess I would choose Cherie in Bus Stop..I think shes good in Some Like It Hot..hard for me to choose hmmmm....

  2. #2
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    Nomis...no question for me...."How to Marry a Millionaire". She was at her comedic BEST and had such a great ensemble of actors to play against. My favorite moment was when the girls were in the powder room, each taking a turn in front of a 6 or 7 image mirror. It was an opportunity for the wardrobe designer to show off the goods. When it was Marilyn's turn...and her gown was mindboggling...
    she turned to walk out, and due to her nearsightedness and no eyeglasses on, she walks into a wall...magnificently!

  3. #3
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    Tough call. Over the years the three films that I have seen [[or played) the most are, "Some Like It Hot", "The Seven Year Itch" and "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes". For all its' uneveness I like "The Misfits", though I have to be in a particular mood to watch it. I enjoy the forty-five minute reconstruction of her last [[unfinished) film "Somethings Got To Give" if only to dream about what might have been. My favorite quote about her is, "She was the last of the love goddess' and the first of the love children". I believe that author Fred Lawrence Guiles was the one who said that, but I'm not 100% sure. From everything I've read [[and that's been a lot) she essentially seems to have been a very kind person, just incredibly troubled.

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    Thanks Midnight..I remember that scene from Millionare -That dress was spectacular -Travilla I believe...
    Sophisticated Soul - That footage of "Somethings Gotta Give" is mesmirisng..she just radiates warmth..
    I think she was a kind person..theres a great book by Guardian journalist W J Weatherby called "Conversations with Marilyn"..I think this captures her essence..her moods..its so wonderfully written..
    I find it hard to watch "The Misfits" I should give it another go..so much turmoil went into making that film i dont know if it was worth it..There was a guy who used to follow Marilyn around New York woth a colour super "8 movie camera..that footage has never been seen..no mistake her greatest love affair was the camera..

  5. #5
    smark21 Guest
    I think Marilyn is a bit overrated and I think her life was pathetic as she brazenly sought out success in Hollywood, did the casting couch to get ahead and ended up a sad victim. But she's quite good in The Asphalt Jungle, All About Eve, Clash by Night, Some Like it Hot, and gives very disturbing performances in Don't Bother to Knock and The Misfits. But when it comes to 50's blonde stars, I much prefer Kim Novak--a much more enigmatic actress and unlike Monroe had the strength to get out of Hollywood with her integrity and lead a very happy and satisfying life.

  6. #6
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    Smark..It wasnt even the casting couch back then...that was life for an actress in Hollywood..Marilyn left 20th at the height of her career and formed her own production company and got Lawerence Oliver to direct her first production..not bad for a prostitute from a broken home..I stongly believe Marilyns promoscuity came from that Foster home background..and like I say what we would term sexual harrasment today in the workplace back then was just called life.
    Should I check out Dont Bother To Knock? Ive never seen it...

  7. #7
    smark21 Guest
    Don't Bother to Knock is decent B picture. Marilyn Monroe plays a disturbed young woman hired to babysit a child at a hotel while the parents attend an awards banquet downstairs. Richard Widmark plays a resident across the courtyard who sees Marilyn and decides to hit on her and as he gets to know her he realizes that she is not well. Anne Bancroft plays Widmark's estranged girlfriend, a singer at the hotel.

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    Thanks Smark I will give it a go I have a soft spot for 50s B movies...

  9. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by nomis View Post
    Thanks Smark I will give it a go I have a soft spot for 50s B movies...
    Nomis, have you seen Marilyn's "Ladies Of The Chorus"? Released in 1948 by Columbia Pictures, this black & white B movies co-stars Marilyn and Adele Jergens as mother/daughter chorus dancers. Mother Adele tries to prevent daughter Marilyn from making her mistakes. Fairly light, but very entertaining. Marilyn was 21 when she did the film, she sings the oft used "Every Baby Needs A Da Da Daddy" and "Anyone Can See I Love You".

  10. #10
    smark21 Guest
    Quote Originally Posted by sophisticated_soul View Post
    Nomis, have you seen Marilyn's "Ladies Of The Chorus"? Released in 1948 by Columbia Pictures, this black & white B movies co-stars Marilyn and Adele Jergens as mother/daughter chorus dancers. Mother Adele tries to prevent daughter Marilyn from making her mistakes. Fairly light, but very entertaining. Marilyn was 21 when she did the film, she sings the oft used "Every Baby Needs A Da Da Daddy" and "Anyone Can See I Love You".
    Now that's a real B movie. Marilyn was given, like almost all starlets at Columbia in the late 40's, the Rita Hayworth look.

  11. #11
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    Quote Originally Posted by smark21 View Post
    Now that's a real B movie. Marilyn was given, like almost all starlets at Columbia in the late 40's, the Rita Hayworth look.
    It really never dawned on me but you're right, Marilyn does have the blonde version of the "Gilda" [[1946) look in "Ladies Of The Chorus".
    Last edited by sophisticated_soul; 11-02-2010 at 10:27 PM.

  12. #12
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    Ive only seen a clip from Ladies I think it was in the half hour black and white documentary Mike Wallace narrated..she does have that Hayworth look..she was on the casting couch at that time and her contract wasnt renewed if I remember correctly..If only she had stayed away from The Kennedys,sure she was messed up before she met them but that whole scene of pool parties at Lawfords and weekends to Cal Neva wrecked her life...

  13. #13
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    Quote Originally Posted by nomis View Post
    Ive only seen a clip from Ladies I think it was in the half hour black and white documentary Mike Wallace narrated..she does have that Hayworth look..she was on the casting couch at that time and her contract wasnt renewed if I remember correctly..If only she had stayed away from The Kennedys,sure she was messed up before she met them but that whole scene of pool parties at Lawfords and weekends to Cal Neva wrecked her life...
    You remember correctly. "Ladies Of The Chorus" did not do well so her contract was not renewed. I think Lawford carried a lot of guilt about Marilyn's death to his dying day. As a friend he failed her. But I guess he could hardly care for himself, he was pretty messed up on drugs and it showed. Marilyn had her issues but the Kennedy's were the straw that broke the camels back.

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    ...I believe there was maybe a couple of one night stands with JFK.But it was Robert she really fell for..Micheal Selsesman,who is still alive and did her publicity with Jacobs and Newcomb tells some very interesting stories of that fateful summer I wish he would do a book..the 1985 documentary "Say Goodbye To The President" is fascinating..either Robert was in LA that Saturday or all those witnesses are lying...what a cast of characters Greene,Murray,Lawford,Newcomb and the rest are....

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    I've always thought that ms.monroe was underrated as an actress,was she sexy hell yeah,but she could act too!!

  16. #16
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    Monroe never really impressed me as an actress but it is difficult to do comedy. The only reason I watched the Prince and the Showgirl was I could hear a normal voice and not that I wanna be loved by you voice of hers. Bus Stop was a good role for her [[I have seen all of her movies) but when she holds that guitar on the train singing Runnin Wild in Some Like it Hot I have to smile. She was a camera goddess I WILL give her that.

  17. #17
    smark21 Guest
    Bus Stop is my least favorite of Monroe's performances that I've seen. I think she's trying too hard to show she's "ACTING". She had great chemistry with the camera and was very funny as a comedienne, she created a great persona as "Marilyn Monroe". Dramatically, she did fine in Niagra, Clash by Night, The Misfits [[especially in her scenes with Monty Clift) and Don't Bother to Knock.

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