Marilyn 100
“A wise girl knows her limits, a smart girl knows that she has none.” Even when she was still Norma Jeane, Marilyn Monroe already knew all the cards she held to make it big in show business. With the look of a ‘dumb blonde’ and the instinct of a shrewd business woman, Marilyn worked her way up to become thé most famous bombshell in film history.
On her status as a sex symbol – magnified by the press and by the film studios – the actress commented: “If I’m going to be a symbol of something, I’d rather have it be sex than some other things we’ve got symbols of.” Sexism was a known fact in Hollywood. Studio heads, directors and actors – do we even have to mention that these were all men? – merely saw her as an object with sex appeal. Why not play into this, Monroe thought. She herself sculpted the myth Marilyn.
Despite her success, Monroe was plagued by severe stage fright and low self-esteem, which resulted in questioning her own abilities, her notorious tardiness and later a dependency on prescription drugs. In hopes of getting rid of this insecurity, Monroe worked closely with acting coaches and took classes at the famous Actors Studio to hone her talent. In addition to stereotypical and comic roles, Monroe wanted to venture more into dramatic work. After a disagreement with 20th Century-Fox about her typecasting bombshell roles, Monroe was suspended by the studio. She was not allowed to make any more movies until the dispute was settled. After a settlement was reached, the actress funded her own production company in New York, Marilyn Monroe Productions (MMP). A move that came to symbolise the end of the studio system.
While she was alive, Marilyn Monroe was scrutinised by the public eye for her personal life and emotional struggles. But those who took the time to get to know her and worked with her, remember her intelligence, sensitivity and dedication to her craft. A talented actress with an exceptional comedic timing and an extraordinary emotional range. “She was an absolute genius as a comedic actress, with an extraordinary sense for comedic dialogue,” said director Billy Wilder who shot SOME LIKE IT HOT and THE SEVEN YEAR ITCH with Monroe. “It was a God-given gift. Nobody else is in her orbit. Everyone else is earthbound by comparison.”
On the 1st of June 2026, Marilyn Monroe would have turned 100 years old. In order to honour film history’s most misunderstood icon, we screen a couple of gems from her movie career.
“I can be smart when it’s important. But most men don’t like it.” – geïmproviseerd door Marilyn Monroe als Lorelei Lee in GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES.
In the musical GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES Monroe stars next to Jane Russell as showgirls on a transatlantic cruise to Paris. Monroe’s rendition of the original musical number Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend in the pink dress is a quintessential pop culture moment and was recreated by many artists, like Madonna and Beyoncé (and even Ryan Gosling as Barbie’s Ken). The musical was praised by the public and critics alike. German director Rainer Werner Fassbinder even ranked the musical in sixth place in his top 10 of best films.
“Men aren’t attentive to girls who wear glasses.” – Marilyn Monroe as Pola Debevoise in HOW TO MARRY A MILLIONAIRE
In HOW TO MARRY A MILLIONAIRE three of Hollywood’s biggest and most popular stars share the screen. Marilyn Monroe was accompanied by Betty Grable, that other blonde bombshell, and by Lauren Bacall. The three star actresses play Manhattan models who are looking for a rich husband. And not just rich, their potential husbands-to-be have to at least be a millionaire.
“I’m a performer. Didn’t you know? Songs and dances.” – Marilyn Monroe as Kay Weston in RIVER OF NO RETURN
The western RIVER OF NO RETURN links Monroe to film noir hero Robert Mitchum. The screenplay was loosely inspired by Vittorio De Sica’s BICYLCE THIEVES and follows a father, his young son and a singer who have to survive the harsh conditions of America’s west. The shoot was troubled, by heavy rainfall as well as accidents on set. Director Otto Preminger insisted his actors did their own stunts, which led to Monroe nearly drowning and Mitchum and Monroe ending up in the titular river when their raft was upturned. Despite these setbacks, the movie became a box office hit and a classic within the western genre.
“Story of my life. I always get the fuzzy end of the lollipop.” – Marilyn Monroe as Sugar Kane Kowalczyk in SOME LIKE IT HOT
In SOME LIKE IT HOT, two musicians (Hollywood stars Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon) are on the run from the mob and go into hiding – disguised as women – as members of an all-female band, led by the alluring Sugar Kane (Monroe). Upon its release, the movie was banned in Kansas. Luckily, we’re not in Kansas anymore…
Meanwhile, the difficult production of this legendary comedy has also reached mythical proportions. Monroe required many retakes, didn’t know her lines and was reluctant to take on the umpteenth ‘dumb blonde’ role. This led to an acrimonious relationship with director Billy Wilder – who was known to be difficult in his own right. Fortunately, the eventual result and the success of the movie straightened everything out. “Anyone can remember lines, but it takes a real artist to come on the set and not know her lines and yet give the performance she did.” Words of praise by the once so irritated Wilder.
*On the anniversary of Marilyn’s death on the 4th of August, we organise an open-air screening of SOME LIKE IT HOT during the Zomer van Antwerpen’s Cinema Urbana programme.*
“Maybe all there really is is just the next thing. The next thing that happens. Maybe you’re not supposed to remember anybody’s promises.” – Marilyn Monroe as Roslyn Taber in THE MISFITS
Monroe’s final finished movie was written by her then husband and writer Arthur Miller and directed by John Huston. In THE MISFITS Monroe displayed her talent for dramatic roles as a recent divorcée, who befriends three ageing cowboys, played by Clark Gable, Eli Wallach and Montgomery Clift. The shoot took place during the height of Monroe’s addiction and had to be paused several times due to her health problems. But despite these troubles, director Huston praised Monroe’s talent. “She was not pretending to an emotion. It was the real thing. She would go deep down within herself and find it and bring it up into consciousness.” “She was not pretending to an emotion. It was the real thing. She would go deep down within herself and find it and bring it up into consciousness.”
“Have you even noticed ‘What the hell’ is always the right decision to make?” – The Actress in INSIGNIFICANCE
As a bonus, we screen Nicolas Roeg’s INSIGNIFICANCE, based on a play by Terry Johnson. The movie narrates an alternative history, in which four icons meet each other in a New York hotel room in 1954. The Actress (played by Theresa Russell and modelled after Marilyn Monroe), The Ballplayer (played by Gary Busey and based on Joe DiMaggio), The Professor (played by Michael Emil and inspired by Albert Einstein) and The Senator (played by Tony Curtis and based on Joseph McCarthy) cross paths and their meeting comments on the zeitgeist of the fifties and the concept of fame versus reality. The catalyst for this movie was an epiphany Roeg had: “Nobody knows a damn thing about anyone.”
And the same is true for Marilyn Monroe. The myth, the icon, immortalised on the screen, but eternally a mystery.
Photo: © Alfred Eisenstaedt (1953)
