Marilyn Monroe #1

[JenniferEdieRose]

Does anyone know where i can watch let's make love online??? I love this movie, marilyn is gorgeous in it!

 

[rainy_spring]

thanks for the pics! i loooove MM and i was lucky enough to be in Germany when The Last Sitting by Bert Stern was being shown. so inspiring.

 

[lady stardust]

more hot pics!
source - ebay

 

[lady stardust]

same source

 

[lady stardust]

oops 2 more!
ebay

 

[Lily530]

The first one in post #770 is one of my favourites.

 

[Jadee]

I've been rewatching The Misfits for the 10 000th time recently. Marilyn is so wonderful in it. It's such a good film anyway. I especially like her relationship with Montgomery Clift- who's my favourite character in the film.

I've done some research on the net and I came across an amazing review of The Making Of The Misfits. You can read it there. The whole review is fantastic but I'll just post some excerpt about Marilyn.

Magnum sent a barrage of photographers to hang out on the location - and document the entire process. We're talking about photographers like Henri Cartier-Bresson, Eve Arnold, Inge Morath ... and more. People who are famous. So this is also one of the most documented shoots EVER. Every single second of it is captured by at least one of these photographers. The photos are amazing. I've spoken about Eve Arnold before ... and her gift with photographing Marilyn (although Marilyn was one of the most photogenic women ever to grace the planet).


So there is that as well (having all the photographers there). The photographers were not clustered on the edges, trying to get a good shot (the way they were on the Cleopatra shoot - which was barred to outsiders and press - because of the sensitivity of the fact that Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton were openly cheating on their spouses - who were RIGHT THERE) ... The Misfits, a grueling difficult shoot, was documented by people who were asked to be there. These are not blurry paparazzi shots. ... these are works of art.

By Bruce Davidson

Marylin and Clark Gable by Eve Arnold

It surprised me, reading this book, how professional Marilyn Monroe was - what a trooper she was. Not that I didn't think she was professional - but just from all the stories I've heard of what a nightmare she could be (she had a real problem with memorizing lines - it is thought that she probably was undiagnosed dyslexic - she would invert words, repeatedly - causing much problems with simple lines like, "We're over here!" A small line like that could take 70 takes for Marilyn to get right.) I had assumed that the entire story here in this book would be one of growing annoyance, or impatience ... with her illnesses, her tantrums, all that ... but that's not the case at ALL. I'm obviously a huge fan of Marilyn Monroe, and I feel protective of her (I realize this is ridiculous, but whatever) ... so I was so pleased to read that while yes, she had some mental and physical problems during the shoot - shooting had to stop while she was airlifted to a hospital in Los Angeles so she could recover - Everyone still had to be paid during the time she was gone - and, uhm, Clark Gable was the freakin' star - so the costs started skyrocketing. But besides all of that - I was happy to read about how much the crew loved her, how much the people of Dayton (the little town in Nevada where they shot a lot of the film) loved her - "When she wasn't filming, she would talk to anybody. She was real down to earth" - said one Dayton resident. Stuff like that ... I am not surprised at all. A sweet woman - whose life fell apart during the filming of this movie.

Okay, so anyone who discussed impressions of Marilyn Monroe, anyone who knew her, came into contact with her, has my ear. Listen to Henri Cartier-Bresson's impressions of this woman:

"I saw her bodily - Marilyn Monroe - for the first time, and I was struck as by an apparition in a fairy tale. Well, she's beautiful - anybody can notice this, and she represents a certain myth of what we call in France la femme eternelle. On the other hand, there's something extremely alert and vivid in her, an intelligence. It's her personality, it's a glance, it's something very tenuous, very vivid that disappears quickly, that appears again. You see it's all these elements of her beauty and also her intelligence that makes the actress not only a model but a real woman expressing herself. Like many people I heard many things that she had said, but last night I had the pleasure of having dinner next to her and I saw that these things came fluidly all the time ... all these amusing remarks, precise, pungent, direct. It was flowing all the time. It was almost a quality of naivete ... and it was completely natural. "In her you feel the woman, and also the great discipline as an actress. She's American and it's very clear that she is - she's very good that way - one has to be very local to be universal."
​

"One has to be very local to be universal." God, this is also food for thought. This is something I have been working on in my own writing, my own acting, my own art - for years. The best artists are, indeed, "very local" and it is this very local-ness that makes them universal. Thanks, Henri. And thanks for appreciating Miss Monroe in such a specific way.

Henri Cartier-Bresson, photographer. That's Thelma Ritter, Monroe, and Huston - discussing an upcoming scene

Monroe could not work in the morning - due to many issues, mainly having to do with insomnia - and always crashing into the deepest of pill-induced sleeps at around 6 a.m. This kind of thing was always a problem for her - ALWAYS. John Huston took care of her, was gentle with her, made her feel confident about her ability to play the part - never harassed her - and yet obviously was frustrated that he could not begin shooting with her until noon, at the earliest. They got so little done, waiting for Monroe. And every single night - Huston and a couple of buddies - sat up gambling and drinking. So everyone was sort of losing it - in terms of sleep, (and also money - Huston lost a ton - thousands of dollars). Monroe was addicted to sleeping pills and Huston could never walk away from a bet. Eventually the situation cracked and Monroe's health broke down. She was flown to Los Angeles to recover. Shooting stopped.
Take a look at this photo.

Cornell Capa, photographer


Members of the crew and also locals in the town ... gathering to see Marilyn off. This photo goes a long way to explaining Marilyn's affect on people, and even though she was a pain in the *** - she was so well loved. I mean, obviously - she was a huge star - that wasn't an accident - audiences loved her as well - who cares that it took her an entire day to get out the line "Where's the bourbon" in Some Like it Hot? Yes, it drove Billy Wilder to distraction that she could not get the line right ... but when push comes to shove, she's Marilyn Monroe, and her mere presence in a film was enough to justify all that crap (Lindsey Lohan - who I actually like, and think is very talented - needs to realize that she is not yet at that place ... she may be some day ... but not yet). When the cameras rolled, and Marilyn was on ... you didn't want anybody else to be there. You didnt' care about the lost day of work. Because she is Marilyn Monroe and you can count on 1 or 2 or 3 fingers the actors who had that kind of magic. Not only that - but the photo shows her relationship with the crews on her films - having a good rapport with the crew was always very important to her. She loved crews - the gaffers, and grips, and carpenters. They treated her with kindness, they loved her, and she loved them back. She had a harder time with the executives, the business folks - who treated her like a wh*re who just got lucky. The dudes holding sound equipment up on ladders knew better. A lucky wh*re? Are you kidding me? Have you seen what happens to this woman when the cameras start to roll? Marilyn, in her scenes, often played to them - the crew - because she knew how much she was loved, it made her feel comfortable and confident.

Marilyn Monroe herself finally consented to an interview. Here are a couple of excerpts:

"I'd prefer not to analyze it [acting] ... it's subjective; rather, I want to remain subjective while I'm doing it. Rather than do much talking I'd rather act. When it's on the screen, that's when you'll know who Roslyn is. I don't want to water down my own feeling ... Goethe says a career is developed in public but talent is developed in private, or silence. It's true for the actor. To really say what's in my heart, I'd rather show than to say. Even though I want people to understand, I'd much rather they understand on the screen. If I don't do that, I'm on the wrong track, or in the wrong profession.... Nobody would have heard of me if it hadn't been for John Huston. When we started Asphalt Jungle, my first picture, I was very nervous, but John said, 'Look at Calhern (the late Louis Calhern, a veteran actor), see how he's shaking. If you're not nervous, you might as well give up.' John has meant a great deal in my life. It's sort of a coincidence to be with him ten years later."​

Inge Morath photos ( she became Arthur Miller wife after the shoot)

Eve Arnold photos

photos source

 

[Jadee]

Some pictures from http://www.inicia.es/de/cinemania/vidas.html

With Arthur Miller

 

[Jadee]

same source

Learning her lines... It makes me sad, don't know why.

 

[fashion_freek]

great pics jadee!!

 

[Jadee]

from sheilaomalley.com

http://images5.************/thumbs/5d/9af816c416f0bac537aed7be8a73c55d.th.jpg

Food for thought:

Eve Arnold has written a couple of books about Marilyn (mainly photo books) and there's a lot of great insights in there about the relationship between Marilyn and the camera, which even directors who found her a handful and a half to direct (like Billy Wilder) could not deny was something completely out of the ordinary. The camera turned on, and Marilyn DECIDED to become Marilyn. And the audience - millions of miles away, and months away from the time of shooting, GOT her. Marilyn skipped right over the heads of the directors, the editors, the publicists, and went STRAIGHT to the public, who loved her. Men and women.

Here are some of Arnold's quote about Marilyn's magic:

I never knew anyone who even came close to Marilyn in natural ability to use both photographer and still camera. She was special in this, and for me there has been no one like her before or after. She has remained the measuring rod by which I have -- unconsciously -- judged other subjects.​

Story after story from photographers tell of this plain-looking rather blanched-faced woman showing up at the studio - who then just transformed when the camera was clicking. It was not just a matter of makeup. There are plenty of beautiful girls. It was a matter of turning a light on inside. And Monroe was not only conscious of this - this was no accident of talent, or coloring, or working hard ... She knew how to be photographed better than anybody.
Eve Arnold again:

If an editor wanted her, he had to agree to her terms. She knew how she wanted to be seen, and if her cooperation was sought, she reserved the right of veto. She knew she was superlative at creating still pictures and she loved doing it.
She had learned the trick of moving infinitesimally to stay in range, so that the photographer need not refocus but could easily follow movements that were endlessly changing.
At first I thought it was surface technique, but it went beyond technique. It didn't always work, and sometimes she would tire and it was as though her radar had failed; but when it did work, it was magic. With her it was never a formula; it was her will, her improvisation.
​

Amazing. There's a mystery at the heart of it. I love it. My friend Anne said to me in high school, "Everyone has magic inside of them. But only some people have theatre magic."
Photographer Burt Glinn had this to say:

She had no bone structure -- the face was a Polish flat plate. Not photogenic in the accepted sense, the features were not memorable or special; what she had was the ability to project.​

Yup. That's the actress in her. She PROJECTED herself into the dreams and fantasies of the audience - you can see it in the photos, sure, but you can also see it in the films. Watch her. Watch how her face moves. How her eyes close slightly, open, become serious and wide, and then drowsy again - This is projection. It cannot be duplicated. She is literally in a class all her own in this regard. People try to imitate Monroe, and fail. Because, at heart, she is one of our most organic of actresses. If she didn't FEEL it (like Arnold wrote above), she couldn't do it. This is why she could be a nightmare on the set. If she didn't feel "her" when it came time to shoot the scene (she would refer to that person who came out of her when the cameras were rolling in the third person ... "So do you want to see 'her'?") - panic would set in, and she would lock herself in her trailer, or get lost on the way to the location, or whatever. Panic. Fear. It had to come from inside, or she couldn't do it.
But that's neither here nor there. Every artist has his or her demons. Those were Marilyns.



We are so used to seeing images of Marilyn Monroe - it's hard to remember how out-of-the-ordinary she is. How nobody does it like her. Her eyes are half-closed, she's got a soft and vulnerable look on her face ... she lets the camera IN. Beautiful. No wonder audiences always felt PROTECTIVE of her. Anyone that vulnerable obviously needs protection. Ernest Cunningham, another photographer who worked with her, describes the whole magic in the following quote - and what I love about this quote, is that we get a quote from Marilyn herself, showing her awareness about the whole thing - she was in charge of what was going on.




Ernest Cunningham, another photographer who worked with her, describes the whole magic in the following quote - and what I love about this quote, is that we get a quote from Marilyn herself, showing her awareness about the whole thing - she was in charge of what was going on. Anyway, here's Cunningham:

I worked with Marilyn Monroe. A rather dull person. But when I said "Now!" she lit up. Suddenly, something unbelievable came across. The minute she heard the click of the camera, she was down again. It was over. I said, "What is it between you and the camera that doesn't show at any other time?" She said, "It's like being screwed by a thousand guys and you can't get pregnant."​

That's what it is, isn't it? She felt intimate with the camera. It was where she could project. She knew that the camera could see everything and so she LET it see everything. She was loved by that camera more than she was ever loved by any human being.
But I don't mean to pathologize this woman - that's not what interests me about her.


What interests me, above all, is her magic.

 

[Jadee]

Some quotes from abillings.livejournal.com

* "Joe doesn't think any man can love me except him. He's my best friend in the world. I don't want to lose him. I don't want to lose Jose (Bolanos). Oh, help me, somebody..."

* "It's far better to be unhappy alone than unhappy with someone - so far."

* "I never intentionally mean to hurt anyone, but you can't be too nice to people you work with, else they will trample you to death."

* "I've never liked the name Marilyn. I've often wished that I had held out that day for Jean Monroe. But I guess it's too late to do anything about it now."

* "I was a mistake. My mother didn't want to have me. I guess she never wanted me. I probably got in her way. I know I must have disgraced her. A divorced woman has enough problems getting a man, I guess, but one with an illegitimate baby.... I wish, I still wish, she had wanted me."

* "Well-behaved women rarely make history."

* "My great ambition is to have people comment on my fine dramatic performances."

* "It would be wonderful to enjoy success without seeing envy in the eyes of those around you."

* "I won't be satisfied until people want to hear me sing without looking at me.* "I am a failure as a woman. My men expect so much of me because of the image they have made of me and that I have made of myself, as a sex symbol. Men expect so much and I can't live up to it. They expect bells to ring and whistles to whistle, but my anatomy's the same as any other woman's. I can't live up to it."

* "No one ever told me I was pretty when I was a little girl. All little girls should be told they are pretty, even if they aren't."

* "I want to grow old without face-lifts ... I want to have the courage to be loyal to the face I have made. Sometimes, I think it would be easier to avoid old age, to die young, but you'd never complete your life, would you? You'd never wholly know yourself."

* "Suicide is a person's privilege. I don't believe it's a sin or a crime. It's your right if you want to, though it doesn't get you anywhere."

* "Better Marilyn late than most of the others on time." (Director Billy Wilder on Marilyn's legendary tardiness on set.)

* "I don't mind living in a man's world as long as I can be a woman in it."

* "My illusions didn't have anything to do with being a fine actress. I knew how third rate I was. I could actually feel my lack of talent, as if it were cheap clothes I was wearing inside. But, my God, how I wanted to learn, to change, to improve!"

* "Please don't make me a joke. End the interview with what I believe. I don't mind making jokes, but I don't want to look like one. I want to be an artist, an actress with integrity."

 

[Lily530]

Marilyn quotes are just as sweet as her photos.

 

[nel16]

Thanks for all the pictures and quotes, she sounds so sad in them. These one particularly:

"I was a mistake. My mother didn't want to have me. I guess she never wanted me. I probably got in her way. I know I must have disgraced her. A divorced woman has enough problems getting a man, I guess, but one with an illegitimate baby.... I wish, I still wish, she had wanted me."

"I am a failure as a woman."

"I want to grow old without face-lifts ... I want to have the courage to be loyal to the face I have made. Sometimes, I think it would be easier to avoid old age, to die young, but you'd never complete your life, would you? You'd never wholly know yourself."

 

[60swildchild]

scans

Photographer: Eve Arnold


Photographer: Sam Shaw


Photographer: Sam Shaw

 

[lady stardust]

never seen this photo before, she looks so young..
source ebay

 

[nmyngan]

i love that pic too, she looks very beautiful, i love her Norma Jean pics so much

 

[fashion_freek]

great pics 60swildchild

 

[nmyngan]

from everlasting forum

 

[lady stardust]

thx for that beautiful pic nmyngan!

more pics
from - ebay