With all the talent that worked on it, nurturing and enhancing Marilyn’s inimitable magic, “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend” became the focal point of the movie. The number would become a classic in movie musical history and forever associated with Marilyn Monroe.
Audiences were gaga over the movie and enthralled with Marilyn. She absolutely glows. Her inner light is so radiant that it’s difficult to believe anything dark ever happened to her—you don’t want to believe it, yet you know there’s darkness there. Audiences wanted to love Marilyn and protect her.
And the critics seemed well aware that Monroe was something special and was going to be around for a while: “And there’s Marilyn Monroe! Zounds, boys, what a personality this one is!” wrote the Los Angeles Examiner. “Send up a happy flare. At last, she’s beautifully gowned, coiffed, and a wonderful crazy humor flashes from those sleepy eyes of hers.”
After Blondes Marilyn Monroe was no longer a popular movie actress who captured the hearts of her generation. She became an eternal iconic image, a beloved symbol: She was of this earth but also out in the stratosphere, her name inscribed in the annals of history. Marilyn became well aware of her place in popular culture as “The blonde.” It caused her, in turns, extreme delight or deep anxiety. She was now a star. She had dreamed it. She had worked hard for it. Now she intended to keep it.
* * *
Marilyn’s next film was the kind of lightweight romp the studio was now sure audiences wanted to see her in: How to Marry a Millionaire, written by Nunnally Johnson and directed by the Oscar-nominated director Jean Negulesco.
Encouraged by the pairing of Marilyn with sex symbol Jane Russell, the studio cast Marilyn opposite two movie queens from the previous decade, Betty Grable and Lauren Bacall. It was to be the first comedy the studio was filming in CinemaScope, a new wide-screen process that showed a huge, panoramic view of the movie being projected.
The plot revolves around three Manhattan models on the hunt for a wealthy husband. Both Monroe and Grable are “dumb blondes.” It’s Bacall, as the smart and sassy brunette, who hatches the scheme for them to pool their resources so they can live in an expensive Manhattan apartment long enough for at least one of them to snare a millionaire—preferably rich enough to take care of them all.
“We had a great time on How to Marry a Millionaire,” Lauren Bacall said. “Marilyn was just sweet.… She was late a lot. But she wasn’t late to make a statement, she was late because she was frightened and because she was insecure. And she had, you know, quite a lousy childhood, I think.”
Bacall described how Marilyn’s insecurity manifested on the Millionaire set. “During our scenes she’d look at my forehead instead of my eyes; at the end of a take, look to her coach, standing behind Jean Negulesco, for approval. If the headshake was no, she’d insist on another take. A scene often went to fifteen or more takes, which meant I’d have to be good in all of them as no one knew which one would be used. Not easy—often irritating. And yet I couldn’t dislike Marilyn. She had no meanness in her—no bitchery. She just had to concentrate on herself and the people who were there only for her.”
Sometimes the growing pressures and demands would get to Marilyn, and she would confide in Bacall. “She was going with Joe DiMaggio at the time,” Bacall remembered. “She would come into my dressing room and say, ‘Oh, I really just want to be with Joe eating spaghetti in San Francisco.’” Of course it was more complicated than that. Marilyn continued to be torn but—at this time—her desire to be a great actress was greater than her desire to be safe.
Marilyn would credit this movie with broadening her female audience. Her character, Pola, is very nearsighted and refuses to wear glasses in public for fear that men won’t find her attractive. The gorgeous Pola becomes all the more adorable because she’d rather bump into waiters and walk into walls than be seen wearing glasses. This display of insecurity added a touch of vulnerability to her knockout looks. Women of the day had their own self-doubts about their appearances, and they were touched by the fact that Marilyn Monroe—considered the most desirable woman in the world—also showed uncertainty about the way she looked.
When How to Marry a Millionaire was released, it was another blockbuster. The New York Herald Tribune said: “Her stint as a deadpan comedienne is as nifty as her looks. Playing a near-sighted charmer who won’t wear her glasses when men are around, she bumps into the furniture and reads books upside down with a limpid guile that nearly melts the screen.”
* * *
It was extraordinarily difficult for Marilyn to transition from being “a nobody” into being an integral part of the consciousness of the world. Her name was synonymous with beauty and sex—that’s what they loved about her. Because Marilyn wanted to be loved more than anything else, she tried to live up to what was expected. She was simultaneously gratified and terrified of the image that surrounded her: How could she ever live up to everyone’s expectations?
Murray Garrett, who had started photographing Marilyn at events as early as 1950 and became close to her, observed: “If she went to a premiere it’s because that’s what Fox wanted. They didn’t seem to care that she was a human being who could have a terrible headache or be nauseous. That was something I saw quite often with her. She would get physically ill from her nerves. And often I’d ask, ‘Hey are you okay?’ And she had a marvelous answer to that. It was: ‘Sorta.’”
Garrett got a glimpse of the quandary she found herself in when he witnessed her first taste of great fame during her appearances in 1953. “She was not the same every time,” he noted. “She understood that she was sexy, but she couldn’t understand why she was so disrespected by the members of the press—they were not treating her like the special person that she was. For example, they would scream out for to her to stick out her rear or to bend over forward so we could see her bust come bulging out of the dress she was wearing. Those were things that she didn’t want to do anymore. She had started it a few years before to get attention. Now that she made it she resented having to do it all the time. She was not someone who was pleased with what went on in Hollywood. She didn’t like the rules that were set up in becoming a star, and then the things they required you to do if you managed to make it.”
All at once intense adoration would become frightening. She said, “If they love you that much without knowing you, they can also hate you.” Garrett said: “The mob would start getting out of control. She would say to me, ‘Could you get me out of here?’ And I’d say, ‘Marilyn, I don’t think that’s something I should be doing for you. If you need to get out of here, walk into the mob, get into a car, and leave. There are plenty of limos out there. If you feel that it’s out of hand and you’re being pushed around you should say, ‘Hey I’ve had enough tonight and I’m leaving.’ Then the part of her that was enjoying it would take over and she’d start posing again. A little while later, when I got near her, she’d say. ‘Oh my God, I’ve got to get the heck out of here.’ And an hour later she would say, ‘Oh, my God, get me away from this.’ It was just amazing. Here she was the biggest thing that anyone had ever seen in Hollywood, and no one really understood it. Including herself.”
* * *
At breakneck speed 1953 went on to be a pivotal turning point for Marilyn. On June 26 Marilyn, along with her costar Jane Russell, was escorted to a block of wet cement in front of the Grauman’s Chinese Theatre. In front of throngs of photographers and onlookers, together they would immortalize their own prints among those of the industry greats.
Marilyn was already in preparation for her next picture, a formulaic Western to be called River of No Return. In the movie she would play Kay, a down-on-her-luck “tramp” with a good heart, who works as a saloon singer during the gold rush in 1875 Canada. When Kay’s crooked fiancé abandons her with a macho widower and his young son, Kay must travel across Indian-infested territory with them, often taking to the treacherous river on a wooden raft as they fight off Indians and other dangerous enemies.
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Marilyn had no interest in appearing in a Western and thoroughly disliked the script, but the studio appeased her by hiring the popular, handsome hunk Robert Mitchum for her leading man (as the rugged widower) and the respected director Otto Preminger, who was responsible for classic films like Laura and Forever Amber.
In late June 1953 the cast and crew departed for Canada, where they would be shooting all the outdoor location shots—the movie was to be filmed in wide-screen CinemaScope to take advantage of many stunning backdrops for the outdoor drama.
Along with Natasha Lytess, Joe DiMaggio decided to accompany Marilyn to the location. He told her it was to keep her company, look out for her, and give her moral support. But another reason was to keep an eye on any sexual heat that might develop between his beautiful girlfriend and the notorious ladies’ man Mitchum—especially since they had a few steamy scenes together.
Soon the filming became tumultuous and antagonistic. Preminger grew agitated by the presence of Marilyn’s coach, Natasha Lytess, on the set and her meddling in Marilyn’s acting. He vehemently disagreed with the control Natasha was exercising over Marilyn’s characterization—with some justification. The overexaggerated lip movements and articulation that Natasha emphasized in her performances had worked perfectly for the first part of her career, when she was playing cartoonlike dumb blondes. But as a gutsy frontierswoman, she sounded bizarrely out of place.
River of No Return has the distinction of exhibiting Marilyn Monroe’s worst performance: Working from a mediocre script, with a hostile director and an incompetent coach, Marilyn seems lost as to how to play the down-on-her-luck Kay. At times she appears to be attempting a hard-boiled, husky-voiced saloon singer, and in others she slips into Lorelei Lee’s baby voice. The result is a performance that comes across as awkward and petulant.
Yet this contrived Western is not without some merit. The outdoor location scenery is spectacularly beautiful, and Marilyn Monroe is even more so. At twenty-seven, Marilyn’s physical appearance was as magnificent as it would ever be. And Marilyn and Mitchum manage to generate some on-screen chemistry, particular as he rubs her legs to warm her up after being soaked with freezing water.
* * *
While Marilyn was back at the studio shooting additional footage for River of No Return, Milton Greene arrived in Los Angeles from New York to photograph her for Look magazine. Greene was the hot photographer of the moment—considered a superstar in the field. But the person he most wanted to meet was Marilyn, and he asked her press agent to arrange it. Marilyn looked at Greene’s portfolio—stunning portraits of Hollywood personalities that were both glamorous and revealing—and agreed to a meeting. When Marilyn first laid eyes on Greene the first thing that struck her was his boyish good looks.
“You’re just a boy!” she exclaimed.
Greene didn’t miss a beat. “You’re just a girl!” the thirty-one-year-old photographer shot back. They clicked instantly.
Like Marilyn, Greene had been a stutterer as a child, and he was also awkward and shy. In contrast to his robust and outgoing brothers, Greene was scrawny and anemic-looking, but burning with ambition to improve and make a name for himself.
As an adult he rapidly rose through the ranks to become a superstar among fashion and celebrity photographers. With his success he learned to cover his anxiety with a calm and relaxed demeanor, “even when you knew everything was screaming inside,” a friend said. Like Marilyn, Greene would go through phases when he would attempt to quiet his internal turmoil with alcohol and pills.
Feeling unappreciated and lost in the assembly-line type of production of the studio system, Marilyn once again needed to feel recognized and singled out. Greene fit the bill. He saw something in her no one else had since Johnny Hyde—he saw her potential to go further.
A photo session was set for 10:00 a.m. at the offices of Look magazine. Greene brought the clothes and all the props he wanted to use. Marilyn arrived on time, her makeup already done. Greene shot her in a bulky sweater, smoking and strumming on a mandoline, and naked under a black, floor-length sweater-robe she teasingly opened to allow an inviting flash of creamy flesh. There was a remarkable give-and-take between photographer and model, and their chemistry emanates from the photos.
Always on the lookout for someone who could help her and be on her team, Marilyn was able to focus on the person who was in front of her to lean on for courage and direction. For the moment it was Milton Greene. She zeroed in on the possibilities of what they might accomplish together.
In spite of the multifaceted attraction they were developing for each other, Greene had recently become engaged to the dark, elegant, and self-assured Cuban-born Amy Franco, who had been a model and then a fashion buyer for Lord & Taylor.
Marilyn was in the midst of a deepening relationship with DiMaggio. Yet they felt an affinity for each other that was apparent to everyone who encountered them. Although she originally considered Marilyn a tacky sexpot, even Amy acknowledged their bond: “You have to understand that Milton and Marilyn spoke their own language,” she said. “I’m not talking sex.… I’m just talking about the connection between two human beings.”
Greene left Hollywood and went home to New York, but their bond was too strong to end there. When the pictures came out in Look he received a dozen roses from Marilyn. An excited call followed: “You made me look interesting!” she declared.
In October, Greene returned to Los Angeles with his new bride. Marilyn met Amy at a party given by Gene Kelly, who liked to entertain at his house on Rodeo Drive, informal get-togethers where the guests would play charades.
Milton and Marilyn continued to reveal more of themselves over long dinners. All the while Greene continued to take extraordinary photos of Marilyn. She told him about her past struggles to make it in Hollywood and what she had to go through to achieve her current level of success. She was proud of her accomplishments, but she was afraid—afraid that if she kept playing the same type of characters over and over the public would grow tired of her.
She was resentful that the studio treated her like a commodity and refused to listen to her ambitions to play different kinds of characters. Above all else she was passionate, and Greene got caught up in her passions. She needed someone on her side who understood and connected with her image of how she saw herself—a serious artist. Greene saw it.
“I’ll help you,” he told her.
TEN
DISSATISFACTIONS
Without even notifying Marilyn, the studio announced to the press that her movie following River of No Return would be a musical comedy titled The Girl in the Pink Tights. Her leading man would be Frank Sinatra.
Until then Marilyn had accepted all the roles the studio offered her and worked exceedingly hard on each film set. Marilyn would get top billing in the The Girl in Pink Tights, but Sinatra would be paid $5,000 a week, while Marilyn would continue to get $1,250, holding her to the terms of her 1951 contract.
Although Marilyn knew her worth to the studio, she kept repeating that she didn’t care about the money. She wanted Zanuck and the other Fox executives to appreciate her. She demanded that they allow her to see the script before preproduction. The studio refused. Meanwhile DiMaggio would remind her of the importance of money—money meant respect. DiMaggio still disapproved of her career; he would have preferred her to get out of show business altogether and let him take care of her. But he loved Marilyn, and so he couldn’t help but get involved in conferring with her lawyer and her agent. Most of all he wanted to marry her.
Natasha Lytess, on the other hand, sided with the studio. She wanted Marilyn to make The Girl in Pink Tights and encouraged her to do so. Not that she thought it would be a good movie—she couldn’t know one way or another about that; no one had seen the script. Natasha was worried about what would happen to her salary if Marilyn didn’t work.
Completely financially dependent on Marilyn, Natasha asked her for five thousand dollars for a down payment on a house. Marilyn
didn’t give her that, but she sold a fur stole that Johnny Hyde had given her so that she could give Natasha one thousand dollars. On the inside some anger toward Natasha started to build.
Following Joe DiMaggio’s advice, Marilyn responded to the studio’s demands with silence. She simply stopped attending meetings, answering the phone, or responding to telegrams from Fox regarding The Girl in Pink Tights. Marilyn and DiMaggio spent most days holed up in her Doheny Drive apartment, ignoring the phone and not answering the door.
Marilyn’s behavior baffled and confounded the studio. There were thousands of Hollywood starlets dreaming of being exactly where she was. “Why doesn’t she just content herself with being blond, beautiful, and bewitching? Think of all the girls who would be happy just being Marilyn Monroe,” stated a coworker at Fox. They were offended by her artistic aspirations. They made fun of her and laughed at her for trying to take herself seriously. They thought she was absurd.
* * *
After three months she had still given Fox no indication that she would be doing Pink Tights. Outraged, they threatened to replace her with a pretty young starlet named Sheree North. In an attempt to intimidate Marilyn into doing what she was told, Fox set out to demonstrate how unspectacular and disposable she really was.
They intended to create another Marilyn Monroe, threatening that all it would take was a starlet with a nice figure and a pretty face, blond hair dye, and some revealing costumes. It didn’t work.
Finally, desperate to get Marilyn in front of the cameras, Zanuck sent her a copy of the script. The Girl in Pink Tights would have Marilyn playing a primary-school teacher who becomes a burlesque queen in order to put her boyfriend through medical school. Mortified, she announced that she “blushed to the toes” at the thought of herself playing “a rear-wiggling school teacher doing bumps and grinds in the great name of medicine.”
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