Marilyn Monroe: The Early Years (1 Viewer)

[Emcee]

Despite her iconic status, Marilyn Monroe didn't achieve stardom overnight. She originally signed with 20th Century-Fox in November 1946, but her career had a few different phases before Niagara (1953) provided her major breakthrough.

This thread is dedicated to Marilyn's earliest years in Hollywood and the movies she made during that time. It can banner out into a discussion about her professional and personal life outside of her film career from the years 1946 to 1952. I thought it would be interesting to have a conversation going about her earlier films and which ones we all like.

Any takers?

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[Matt Hough]

I love her in All About Eve. I think surrounded by all of those great actors, she rose to the challenge and matched their ease of performance. She has two great scenes in The Asphalt Jungle, not a great performance but a great showcase for her and she nailed it.

 

[Garysb]

The description on youtube said this Coke commercial was made from scenes from the film "Love Nest"



This commercial I was more familiar with.

 

[Emcee]

The description on youtube said this Coke commercial was made from scenes from the film "Love Nest"

In that commercial, she is wearing the outfit she wore in Love Nest (1951) and How to Marry a Millionaire (1953).

But these were two separate commercials that someone edited together.

 

[Emcee]

I love her in All About Eve. I think surrounded by all of those great actors, she rose to the challenge and matched their ease of performance.

All About Eve (1950) is an excellent movie. It has a stellar cast (Bette Davis, Anne Baxter, George Sanders, Celeste Holm, etc.), a flawless script (written by Joseph L. Mankiewicz), and a perfect execution (also directed by Mankiewicz).

Marilyn plays Miss Caswell, a rising young actress. It is a part that comes "dangerously close to self-parody" -- as one biography put it -- but she shines in her scenes. The movie is easily one of my favorites, and it is a definitive classic.

For some trivia, the part of Miss Caswell had been pursued by Angela Lansbury and Zsa Zsa Gabor before Mankiewicz recruited Monroe. The success of the film and the positive reaction to Marilyn's small role earned her another long-term contract with 20th Century-Fox in December 1950.

She has two great scenes in The Asphalt Jungle, not a great performance but a great showcase for her and she nailed it.

The Asphalt Jungle (1950) is a superb crime drama. It also has a great cast, great script, and a fine director -- John Huston -- behind the camera.

Marilyn plays Angela, a young mistress to an aging gangster, played by Louis Calhern. Her scenes are good and she enjoyed making the movie. She consistently spoke highly of John Huston and as late as her last interview in 1962, she said The Asphalt Jungle was her best role.

Barbara Payton auditioned for Angela before Monroe was cast.

 

[Osato]

I have not seen all of her early films but I really love her performance in “Monkey Business”!!!

 

[Emcee]

I really love her performance in “Monkey Business”!!!

It is sometimes called Howard Hawks' Monkey Business so there won't be any confusion between his 1952 version and the Marx Brothers comedy of the same name from two decades earlier.

Howard Hawks, a fine and prolific director, took a liking to Marilyn and suggested her for Lorelei Lee in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.

 

[Emcee]

I have not seen all of her early films

I have all of her pre-1953 films on DVD, except for a few.

 

[Osato]

I have all of her pre-1953 films on DVD, except for a few.

I have the Marilyn collection and a few others too.

 

[usrunnr]

I like Marilyn in "Bus Stop", William Inge's masterpiece.
She is also excellent in "The Misfits", though it isn't one of my favorite films.

Speaking of Inge: I wish there was a disc of "The Dark at the Top of the Stairs".

 

[Emcee]

I like Marilyn in "Bus Stop", William Inge's masterpiece.
She is also excellent in "The Misfits", though it isn't one of my favorite films.

Speaking of Inge: I wish there was a disc of "The Dark at the Top of the Stairs".

Good choices, but this thread is a discussion about her earlier work, specifically her career before 1953.

 

[Osato]

Pre 1953 I own:
Don’t bother to knock
Monkey Business
The Asphalt Jungle
All About Eve
Clash By Night

Her other works from before 1953 I have not seen.

 

[Emcee]

Of Marilyn's earlier work, I've always had a soft spot for a trio of modestly budgeted comedies she did in 1951.

The first she was cast in was As Young as You Feel, a story about an aging printer (Monty Woolley) who is forced to retire after turning 65. He comes up with an idea to disguise his age and pretend to be the owner of the company that released him.

Marilyn plays Harriet, a charming secretary to the company's president (Albert Dekker).

The movie was released exactly two weeks after Marilyn turned 25. It features two of my favorite old Hollywood actresses: Constance Bennett and Thelma Ritter.

She then did Love Nest, which tells the story of a young married couple running a run-down boardinghouse. The wife (June Haver) had purchased the building while her husband (William Lundigan) was away at war.

Marilyn co-stars as a young ex-WAC named Roberta "Bobbie" Stevens, a friend of the husband's during his time in the service. Of course, romantic tension plays a part in the story.

It is a pleasant little comedy.

Let's Make It Legal was the last of the three. It concerns the story of an ex-husband (Macdonald Carey) who is trying to win back the love of his ex-wife (Claudette Colbert). Issues arise when the ex-wife's old flame (Zachary Scott) comes back to town.

Marilyn co-stars as the ex-husband's new buddy, a young model who has eyes for the ex-wife's old flame.

The movie was not well-reviewed and was ultimately dubbed "the worst comedy of the year". For me, I find it quite enjoyable, and it features some early work from Robert Wagner and Barbara Bates.

 

[Bob Gu]

Marilyn Monroe's photo appeared in the 1949 Gene Autry movie, "Riders of the Whistling Pines".

 

[Osato]

Of Marilyn's earlier work, I've always had a soft spot for a trio of modestly budgeted comedies she did in 1951.

The first she was cast in was As Young as You Feel, a story about an aging printer (Monty Woolley) who is forced to retire after turning 65. He comes up with an idea to disguise his age and pretend to be the owner of the company that released him.

Marilyn plays Harriet, a charming secretary to the company's president (Albert Dekker).

The movie was released exactly two weeks after Marilyn turned 25. It features two of my favorite old Hollywood actresses: Constance Bennett and Thelma Ritter.

View attachment 162568

She then did Love Nest, which tells the story of a young married couple running a run-down boardinghouse. The wife (June Haver) had purchased the building while her husband (William Lundigan) was away at war.

Marilyn co-stars as a young ex-WAC named Roberta "Bobbie" Stevens, a friend of the husband's during his time in the service. Of course, romantic tension plays a part in the story.

It is a pleasant little comedy.

View attachment 162569

Let's Make It Legal was the last of the three. It concerns the story of an ex-husband (Macdonald Carey) who is trying to win back the love of his ex-wife (Claudette Colbert). Issues arise when the ex-wife's old flame (Zachary Scott) comes back to town.

Marilyn co-stars as the ex-husband's new buddy, a young model who has eyes for the ex-wife's old flame.

The movie was not well-reviewed and was ultimately dubbed "the worst comedy of the year". For me, I find it quite enjoyable, and it features some early work from Robert Wagner and Barbara Bates.

View attachment 162570

I’d like to see all 3. They are on my iTunes watch list for digital. Just waiting for a price drop.

 

[Emcee]

Marilyn Monroe's photo appeared in the 1949 Gene Autry movie, "Riders of the Whistling Pines".
View attachment 162581

View attachment 162582

You know, I'm unsure if I ever knew that before.

 

[Bob Gu]

I've mentioned it before, oddly enough. in the Roy Rogers Trucolor thread.

Marilyn also posed for cheesecake artist Earl Moran. You can tell which paintings are her by her widow's peak. Moran's daughter, starlet Peggy Moran, also posed for him.

 

[Emcee]

I've mentioned it before, oddly enough. in the Roy Rogers Trucolor thread.

I may have seen it there, but I don't know if I ever posted in that thread.

 

[Emcee]

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.

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.

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.

 

[Emcee]

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.

Despite the occasional outlier, her physical attributes were still a main component of her screen image. In 1952, screenwriter Nunnally Johnson was assigned to work Marilyn into the anthology comedy We're Not Married!, a story about a series of couples that learn that are not legally married. Johnson said Fox told him to write a role for Marilyn that showcased her in two bathing suits.

We're Not Married! is a delightful little movie, full of great wit and featuring an all-star casting, including Victor Moore, Ginger Rogers, Fred Allen, Louis Calhern, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Eve Arden, Paul Douglas, David Wayne, and Mitzi Gaynor. It was a box office success.

The indifferent success of Don't Bother to Knock pushed her immediately back into supporting roles as a light-headed blonde. She played Charles Coburn's attractive, but not-so-bright secretary in Monkey Business, which starred Cary Grant and Ginger Rogers.

Even though the movie reinforced her stereotype, it was director Howard Hawks who suggested her for Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953), which is probably her career-defining role.