Marilyn Monroe: The Early Years (1 Viewer)

[Emcee]

Home Town Story (1951), the B-movie melodrama, is widely circulated in dollar stores and online. It has long fell into the public domain, so it can therefore be issued freely and without charge.

Marilyn has a small role as a secretary named Iris to a boss played by future Gilligan's Island star Alan Hale, Jr. Her role is over by the time is 20 minutes in (if not before), but modern releases promote her as the star of the piece. Go figure, because marketers know she'd be the "name" to get people to buy this no-name movie.

For some trivia, the movie marked the third time she wore her own wardrobe for a part. She wore the same sweater outfit in both All About Eve and The Fireball the previous year.

 

[Osato]

Home Town Story (1951), the 1951 B-movie melodrama, is widely circulated in dollar stores and online. It has long fell into the public domain, so it can therefore be issued freely and without charge.

Marilyn has a small role as a secretary named Iris to a boss played by future Gilligan's Island star Alan Hale, Jr. Her role is over by the time is 20 minutes in (if not before), but modern releases promote her as the star of the piece. Go figure, because marketers know she'd be the "name" to get people to buy this no-name movie.

For some trivia, the movie marked the third time she wore her own wardrobe for a part. She wore the same sweater outfit in both All About Eve and The Fireball the previous year.

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This is one that I have never seen.

 

[Emcee]

This is one that I have never seen.

Well, you honestly haven't missed much. The movie is barely an hour long, but it is sluggish and something of a bore.

 

[Osato]

What's interesting about Marilyn's early filmography is the outliers we find. Sure, she had already been labeled a "dumb blonde" and Fox chief Darryl F. Zanuck felt she was "best suited for comedy" as far back as 1950. Still, she was occasionally cast against type.

Her role in The Asphalt Jungle (1950) was stronger than her previous work. One commentator noted that her small, but critical role as Angela alluded to her "acting range [being] broader than her earlier appearances suggested". It was Johnny Hyde, the frail William Morris agent, that secured the audition for her, but Monroe's sudden friendship with film director John Huston secured her the job. As earlier stated, Marilyn often pointed out how important she felt The Asphalt Jungle was to her career.

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In 1951, Marilyn started pleading with Fox for bigger and more challenging roles. Agreeing to be loaned out to RKO Pictures, she had a choice supporting role in Clash by Night (1952), a Barbara Stanwyck vehicle, a film adaptation of the Clifford Odets play. Marilyn played the fish cannery worker girlfriend of Keith Andes, and received positive reviews for her work.

During filming, she bonded with movie star Barbara Stanwyck, who helped coach her performance.

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Marilyn's finest pre-1953 performance was in the 1952 melodrama Don't Bother to Knock. Co-starring leading man Richard Widmark, the film tells the story of a mentally disabled young woman (Monroe) who is hired to care for a young child in an upscale hotel.

Reviews in 1952 were mixed, but the movie has been reanalyzed in the years since, receiving almost universal acclaim. I've never found anything, however, where Marilyn said anything about the movie or her performance in it.

The indifferent reviews and box office reception made Fox weary of challenging Monroe's on-screen persona, but one wonders how her career might have turned out had she continued to rotate personas.

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Did a blind buy on this one and I really enjoyed it.

I recently saw “Ladies of the Chorus” and it was ok.

Marilyn was great in her very small role in “Love Happy”. The film was not great overall though.

I noticed many of he older Marilyn films are online for free too.

Giving “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes” a watch tonight. It’s on Hulu / Disney+ but it appears to be the same transfer as my iTunes copy.