tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509825018139758536.post6666968615980400245..comments2024-02-05T21:23:49.249-08:00Comments on Lady Eve's Reel Life: Marilyn Monroe: Out of a DreamThe Lady Evehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11963115499930520653noreply@blogger.comBlogger40125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509825018139758536.post-82714299842899654182016-11-21T17:47:18.615-08:002016-11-21T17:47:18.615-08:00Thank you for stopping by and commenting, Pauline....Thank you for stopping by and commenting, Pauline. You put it so well, "she was playing a double role." The Lady Evehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11963115499930520653noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509825018139758536.post-69027845661760209422016-11-21T15:11:47.301-08:002016-11-21T15:11:47.301-08:00LOVE the Frank Langella story - I did not know tha...LOVE the Frank Langella story - I did not know that one. Excellent post and so true, how she created herself into a persona. So when she acted she was playing a double role, a difficult feat - playing Marilyn Monroe playing another character. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509825018139758536.post-87941528184315005242014-05-31T15:31:24.919-07:002014-05-31T15:31:24.919-07:00Thanks! She's one of the most beloved stars of...Thanks! She's one of the most beloved stars of all time.The Lady Evehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11963115499930520653noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509825018139758536.post-43568206868254197852013-11-27T06:45:59.324-08:002013-11-27T06:45:59.324-08:00Great post and even better pictures. I love Meryli...Great post and even better pictures. I love Merylin MonroeRilanehttp://rilane.com/bathroom/style-up-your-bathroom-with-cool-marlyn-monroe-shower-curtains/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509825018139758536.post-73358740453108035182012-08-11T09:01:51.264-07:002012-08-11T09:01:51.264-07:00If Michael and I make it out alive we will certain...If Michael and I make it out alive we will certainly bring it back next year. ;)Jillhttp://www.sittinonabackyardfence.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509825018139758536.post-44661055349200184952012-08-09T08:33:57.388-07:002012-08-09T08:33:57.388-07:00Gypsy, Though Marilyn Monroe complained about her ...Gypsy, Though Marilyn Monroe complained about her roles, the fact is that in nearly every case, these were roles she pursued (including "the girl" in "The Seven Year Itch," Cherie in "Bus Stop," Elsie in "The Prince and the Showgirl," Sugar in "Some Like it Hot" and, initially, Roslyn in "The Misfits"). At the same time Lee Strasberg was telling her he wanted to direct her in roles like Lady MacBeth and such (which no doubt fed her frustration related to being taken seriously as an actress). I have come to like "the girl" character that made her a star and think her best route to serious parts would have been, as mentioned, to move into romantic comedy roles like Ellen Wagstaff Arden in "Something's Got to Give" and then to mature dramatic roles. She had the talent to do this and could probably have succeeded in gradually modifying her persona.<br /><br />Many who knew her have commented that while there was a fragility about her, she was not weak. Her half-sister described her strength as "...like the thread of a spider web that seems fragile but is seven times the strength of steel." From the beginning of her movie career she was known as a perfectionist on the set. I can't imagine she could have survived her starlet years and risen as high as she did without strength and commitment. But she had her insecurities. It seems to me that those insecurities, in combination with the ways she sought to relieve them, were her downfall.The Lady Evehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11963115499930520653noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509825018139758536.post-3110130200272371402012-08-09T07:35:37.963-07:002012-08-09T07:35:37.963-07:00Thank you, DaveThank you, DaveThe Lady Evehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11963115499930520653noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509825018139758536.post-72856522499923517082012-08-09T03:12:32.151-07:002012-08-09T03:12:32.151-07:00I nominated you for a Liebster award. http://www.k...I nominated you for a Liebster award. http://www.kl5film.com/2012/08/liebster-award-time.htmlDave Enkoskyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16472835951281573009noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509825018139758536.post-16747481862196263002012-08-08T16:06:24.077-07:002012-08-08T16:06:24.077-07:00Lady Eve, a bittersweet but lovely treatment of an...Lady Eve, a bittersweet but lovely treatment of an actress I’m beginning to reconsider. I have been guilty of dismissing Monroe entirely, based on her breathlessly exaggerated screen persona. I recently watched “My Week With Marilyn” twice, and while the film appears to revisit many of the accepted myths regarding her troubled life, there was some element that finally intrigued me. I had read Olivier’s biography years (and years) ago, and the actor summed up Monroe with a simple phrase, “she was a born model, she worked best when following as few directions as possible”. I found the statement insightful rather than dismissive, insight into both the actor and the actress’s psyche. However, when I watched “The Prince and The Showgirl” on Saturday, I was struck by a line uttered by Oliver’s character regarding Monroe’s character and her, “stomach turning sentimentality”. I had no idea Monroe’s production company owned the rights to the story, and the actress had final say concerning cast and director on the film. These combined in my mind to portray Marilyn Monroe as a woman confused about her role in the film industry and the true nature of her talent (which doesn’t seem to have been helped by Paula Strasberg’s near reverential treatment of an already unstable woman). She was a beautiful child, a lovely young woman and showed genuine promise in “The Asphalt Jungle”, “Don’t Bother To Knock” and “Niagara”. Marilyn Monroe could have been a woman perpetuating sentimentality most adults around her had outgrown and found exasperating. Dame Sybil Thorndike apparently believed she was “a lamb for the slaughter”, once the illusion began to predominate, it was difficult to see the woman for all "the dream light".whistlingypsyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06126688373252306609noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509825018139758536.post-88425253992750634582012-08-08T08:59:14.547-07:002012-08-08T08:59:14.547-07:00Jane Russel just SLAYS me in that movie, but you&#...Jane Russel just SLAYS me in that movie, but you're right, Marilyn is the golden girl. I have come to discover that Gentlemen is one of my all-time favorites! The first nite I got my NEW big TV, it was on and I surrendered happily to all that glorious female Technicolor. The script, the clothes, the makeup and hair...I'm all over it! Thanks for this, Lady E! <br />Love, KayMarlinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04442632575933706511noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509825018139758536.post-46118328664439080802012-08-07T20:57:53.541-07:002012-08-07T20:57:53.541-07:00Silverscreenings, For me Marilyn's love life i...Silverscreenings, For me Marilyn's love life is marginalia of only passing interest. The wild speculation regarding the circumstances of her death doesn't interest me in the least. It is the Marilyn Monroe persona and the woman who embodied it that fascinates. Marilyn was desperate to be taken seriously in her lifetime (she famously begged one journalist who interviewed her not to treat her like a joke) but was not. In death, however, she has been contemplated, at length and in depth, by writers as esteemed and diverse as Norman Mailer and Gloria Steinem and is quite possibly the most famous film star of all time. Now, THAT'S interesting...The Lady Evehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11963115499930520653noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509825018139758536.post-71573298109523308452012-08-07T18:31:42.988-07:002012-08-07T18:31:42.988-07:00This was extremely well written. I like that you f...This was extremely well written. I like that you focused on her as an actor and not on her marriages/affairs or speculations about her death. Nice job!Silver Screeningshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04955048716754142299noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509825018139758536.post-12181435009060715212012-08-07T17:52:39.079-07:002012-08-07T17:52:39.079-07:00CFB...You just made my week. Thank you!CFB...You just made my week. Thank you!The Lady Evehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11963115499930520653noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509825018139758536.post-86544381885515516432012-08-07T17:52:00.803-07:002012-08-07T17:52:00.803-07:00Kay, While I'm sympathetic toward Marilyn, I d...Kay, While I'm sympathetic toward Marilyn, I don't worship at the shrine. Obviously, I find her fascinating and her "transformation," inside and out, is what interests me most. I've become a fan of "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" lately and was talking with a friend about it the other day. We agreed that wonderful as Jane Russell is as wise-cracking Dorothy, the minute Marilyn steps into any scene, the screen was all hers.The Lady Evehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11963115499930520653noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509825018139758536.post-16091242587629942132012-08-07T17:40:20.411-07:002012-08-07T17:40:20.411-07:00FlickChick, Poetic and perfectly true, "...li...FlickChick, Poetic and perfectly true, "...like a moonbeam, impossible to hold but endlessly fascinating." I included the link to info on Marilyn Miller because though many may know that the second Marilyn was named after her, few know much at all about her.The Lady Evehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11963115499930520653noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509825018139758536.post-37662427269303448762012-08-07T17:05:12.722-07:002012-08-07T17:05:12.722-07:00Marvelous, TLE. You captured her essence better th...Marvelous, TLE. You captured her essence better than entire books do.Classicfilmboyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01278928051994100842noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509825018139758536.post-35877294582193360112012-08-07T16:13:57.551-07:002012-08-07T16:13:57.551-07:00Dear Patty,
Terrific, terrific read! I've bee...Dear Patty, <br />Terrific, terrific read! I've been reluctant to even seriously consider watching much MM in film, as I have zero patience with all the ballyhoo and worship, but your well-written and insightful article presents MM in a sympathetic, but not groveling manner. I love the information about her "transformation"...would love to know what you thought of the recent MM movie ("My Week with Marilyn?"). I found it fascinating, yet further evidence that no matter how much you doll up someone in MM makeup and gear...there's something going on behind the mask that makes Marilyn, Marilyn. Thanks for this and for your mythic take on her. I just watched Niagara for the 1st time this week and have to admit...you just can't take your eyes off her! If only she could have taken her eyes off herself! Admiringly, KayMarlinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04442632575933706511noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509825018139758536.post-562723041927309392012-08-07T15:50:37.821-07:002012-08-07T15:50:37.821-07:00Just beautiful, Lady Eve. She is like a moonbeam, ...Just beautiful, Lady Eve. She is like a moonbeam, impossible to hold but endlessly fascinating. And thanks for the link and reference to Marilyn Miller. She is my own personal favorite Marilyn and an always thrilled to bump into her at any time and any place.FlickChickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17351624749230610755noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509825018139758536.post-54561056683757352412012-08-06T14:32:35.749-07:002012-08-06T14:32:35.749-07:00R.D., It does seem that Freudian analysis, somethi...R.D., It does seem that Freudian analysis, something both Strasberg and Elia Kazan recommended for their students, and method acting were potentially damaging for a person as unstable and insecure as Marilyn. Yesterday I discovered an online magazine article in which some of Marilyn's notebooks are quoted. In one journal she wrote that she didn't think thorough self-analysis was good for her. So, she apparently had an inkling that dwelling on pain had its dangers. But she was devoted to Strasberg and, later, Dr. Greenson. In the references I've cited, Strasberg is consistently depicted as opportunistic and one biographer practically accuses Dr. Greenson of murder.<br /><br />In reality, I don't think there was any saving Marilyn Monroe. It's as if the woman had worked a form of very powerful magic to create a mythical creature that then devoured her.The Lady Evehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11963115499930520653noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509825018139758536.post-88724097760809232772012-08-06T11:37:29.343-07:002012-08-06T11:37:29.343-07:00Eve, you did a great job of describing the myth of...Eve, you did a great job of describing the myth of Marilyn and the facts behind it in your exceedingly well-researched and -written profile. These two are so intertwined that they're often hard to separate. There are certain people who are transformed by the presence of a movie camera and the context of a movie, and I think Marilyn was one of those--a creation of the screen and the things we as viewers project onto it.<br /><br />One of the best analyses of Marilyn I've ever encountered was a cable TV show a few years ago, one of a series that did "psychological autopsies" on deceased personalities. The picture the program painted of Marilyn's psychological problems and insecurities was a sad one. It traced her decline from the late 50s and attributed it to the combined effects of psychotherapy--the Freudian type that encouraged her to relive and dwell on her horrible childhood and young adulthood and then over-prescribed addicting medications to help her cope--and her idolatry of The Method, which also encouraged her to look deep into herself and dwell on her pain. I can only wonder how differently her life might have turned out it more modern methods of therapy and treatment for drug and alcohol abuse had been available to her.<br /><br />I've seen the extant footage of "Something's Got to Give," and it indeed does show a different side of Marilyn that might have rejuvenated her career and moved her beyond the kind of role she was associated with. I don't believe she had ever played a mother before, but the way she related to the children in the scenes she shot with them was a revelation.R. D. Finchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05045080274131718843noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509825018139758536.post-32947739421843180582012-08-05T23:07:18.444-07:002012-08-05T23:07:18.444-07:00Jill, I hope the SUTS blogathon becomes an annual ...Jill, I hope the SUTS blogathon becomes an annual event, it's a perfect accompaniment to TCM's schedule and many thanks to you and Michael for hosting it. Though I certainly didn't set out to make anyone cry, it is very rewarding to know that this piece affected you emotionally.The Lady Evehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11963115499930520653noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509825018139758536.post-60601238515610115922012-08-05T22:18:52.896-07:002012-08-05T22:18:52.896-07:00Thank you, Kim. I'm guessing Marilyn was at le...Thank you, Kim. I'm guessing Marilyn was at least her mid-20s when the photo of her without makeup was taken - but she looks about 13. I'm not quite done with Marilyn yet - next up, "Let's Make Love" for CMBA's Gene Kelly centenary blogathon coming up in a little over 2 weeks.The Lady Evehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11963115499930520653noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509825018139758536.post-62556964138253076892012-08-05T22:15:42.862-07:002012-08-05T22:15:42.862-07:00Eve--
"50 years ago Marilyn Monroe stepped o...Eve--<br /><br />"50 years ago Marilyn Monroe stepped out of the dream and into eternity."<br /><br />I have to admit I got teary eyed while reading your essay. A truly beautiful tribute to Monroe. Thank you for sharing with all of us. And thank you for contributing to the blogathon.Jillhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04700390138336575888noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509825018139758536.post-61630873667720269442012-08-05T21:37:08.243-07:002012-08-05T21:37:08.243-07:00Just a wonderfully researched and written article,...Just a wonderfully researched and written article, Patty. I especially enjoyed seeing the photo of her without makeup.Kimberly J.M. Wilsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09078951928157843937noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509825018139758536.post-54995129444234306182012-08-05T10:57:56.417-07:002012-08-05T10:57:56.417-07:00Rick, Frank Langella may have accidentally run int...Rick, Frank Langella may have accidentally run into Marilyn, but he knew Arthur Miller well. Miller wrote a play, "After the Fall," based on his relationship with Marilyn - the original Broadway production, directed by Elia Kazan and starring his wife, Barbara Loden, and Jason Robards, Jr., opened only 1-1/2 yrs. after Marilyn's death. The play failed and was criticized for poor taste. Langella starred in a Williamstown Theatre Festival production (directed by Miller) in 1977 - but critics still hated it. Then, in 1984, Langella mounted an Off-Broadway production in which he again starred (with Dianne Wiest). Previews went well but opening night reviews were critical and Miller was once again accused of dancing on Marilyn's grave. The play had failed again and Miller said, "They'll never forgive me."The Lady Evehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11963115499930520653noreply@blogger.com