Just about a month ago, I was in LA and decided to do the Grauman’s (now TCL) Chinese Theater tour after reading an essay about how beautiful it was inside. (It was!) The tour ends at the plaza where the handprints are on display, and easily the most -popular one was that of Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell and you can see a big rhinestone dotting the “i” in Marilyn’s name. The story goes that she wanted to put a diamond as the dot, but the theater was worried that people would try to steal it. I highly recommend the tour as it’s a half-hour and you get to sit in the main auditorium as part of it, which is really neat.
What a lovely tribute. I remember the day her death was announced on the car radio. We were driving back from a vacation. The news came on and she was gone. My mom pulled over and we shared our favorite scenes from her movies. What a talent.
I was hoping that I would encounter a perspective on her impact today.
Happy birthday, SER! It's fun to know with whom one shares a birthday. There are a few on mine, but I'm proudest to say I share my birthday with Jimmy Kimmel.
I really enjoy your entertainment-themed posts. As for Marilyn: while I do like most of her movies, "Some Like It Hot" is probably my favorite.
I LURVE All About Eve. Mom loved Some Like It Hot, she found farce hysterical. How To Marry A Millionaire is also in my collection, those women are brilliant actors and seeing them together is so satisfying. The lollipop line is one I use from time to time, I remember hearing it in West Wing and appreciating the hat tip, though I don't recall if it was during the Sorkin years or after.
Happy birthday Mr Robinson, may it be a favourite year in your retelling, preferabbly in the not too distant future. The year everything changed for the better.
Happy birthday! Love this post, because I love Marilyn Monroe and her movies. I've never seen "All About Eve," and enjoyed the clips you posted featuring Miss Monroe. After my chores for the day are done, it looks like a great movie to watch. I might also re-watch "Niagara," which I have seen, but it's been awhile. Marilyn really shows off her acting chops in that one, and Joseph Cotten is always good.
I'm a fan of all the movies that she was in, just like Stephen describes. But the one he doesn't mention (the Misfits) is, to my mind, one of her best and shows the real Marilyn inner struggles. Starring Clark Gable (a terrible misogynist in real life), Eli Wallach (always compelling), and Montgomery Clift (plenty of issues of his own), it's set in the modern West of the 60's. It's well worth adding to your list, and it's heart-rending.
Love this. I admit, I have a soft spot/fascination for actresses plagued by mental illness and gone too soon-Marilyn Monroe, Vivien Leigh, Brittney Murphy. Alas, some talented souls shine bright and beautiful before the light consumes them and they gradually become more icon than human. No one epitomizes that more than Ms Monroe, who had the star making chops but not the resilience she was going to need to survive. Rest easy, good lady.
Just about a month ago, I was in LA and decided to do the Grauman’s (now TCL) Chinese Theater tour after reading an essay about how beautiful it was inside. (It was!) The tour ends at the plaza where the handprints are on display, and easily the most -popular one was that of Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell and you can see a big rhinestone dotting the “i” in Marilyn’s name. The story goes that she wanted to put a diamond as the dot, but the theater was worried that people would try to steal it. I highly recommend the tour as it’s a half-hour and you get to sit in the main auditorium as part of it, which is really neat.
Happy (belated) birthday
Happy birthday!
What a lovely tribute. I remember the day her death was announced on the car radio. We were driving back from a vacation. The news came on and she was gone. My mom pulled over and we shared our favorite scenes from her movies. What a talent.
I was hoping that I would encounter a perspective on her impact today.
A very complicated and fascinating person was Marilyn Monroe.
And a happy birthday to you!
Happy birthday, SER! It's fun to know with whom one shares a birthday. There are a few on mine, but I'm proudest to say I share my birthday with Jimmy Kimmel.
I really enjoy your entertainment-themed posts. As for Marilyn: while I do like most of her movies, "Some Like It Hot" is probably my favorite.
Happy Born Day SER.
I LURVE All About Eve. Mom loved Some Like It Hot, she found farce hysterical. How To Marry A Millionaire is also in my collection, those women are brilliant actors and seeing them together is so satisfying. The lollipop line is one I use from time to time, I remember hearing it in West Wing and appreciating the hat tip, though I don't recall if it was during the Sorkin years or after.
Happy birthday Mr Robinson, may it be a favourite year in your retelling, preferabbly in the not too distant future. The year everything changed for the better.
Cheers!
Happy birthday! Love this post, because I love Marilyn Monroe and her movies. I've never seen "All About Eve," and enjoyed the clips you posted featuring Miss Monroe. After my chores for the day are done, it looks like a great movie to watch. I might also re-watch "Niagara," which I have seen, but it's been awhile. Marilyn really shows off her acting chops in that one, and Joseph Cotten is always good.
I'm a fan of all the movies that she was in, just like Stephen describes. But the one he doesn't mention (the Misfits) is, to my mind, one of her best and shows the real Marilyn inner struggles. Starring Clark Gable (a terrible misogynist in real life), Eli Wallach (always compelling), and Montgomery Clift (plenty of issues of his own), it's set in the modern West of the 60's. It's well worth adding to your list, and it's heart-rending.
Thanks for the rec, I’ll seek it out
Supposedly Gable hated working with her on that film.
Thanks, I will! It's another one that I haven't seen.
Happy birthday! What a lovely post, thanks for the break in the drudgery!
And look at the guys she chose to marry--Joe Dimaggio and Arthur Miller. How does that compute?
And somehow to squeeze John F. Kennedy in on the side...
They treated her like crap too, although DiMaggio sent roses to her grave several times a week for something like 20 years.
She knew how to pick 'em!
Love this. I admit, I have a soft spot/fascination for actresses plagued by mental illness and gone too soon-Marilyn Monroe, Vivien Leigh, Brittney Murphy. Alas, some talented souls shine bright and beautiful before the light consumes them and they gradually become more icon than human. No one epitomizes that more than Ms Monroe, who had the star making chops but not the resilience she was going to need to survive. Rest easy, good lady.