Marilyn Monroe – 100th Birthday Celebration
The movie community is in the midst of celebrating Marilyn Monroe’s 100th birthday.
Museum exhibits
The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles has a highly acclaimed exhibit, thanks to those private collectors who loaned their treasures to make it possible. Members of clubs such as Marilyn Remembered <https://marilynrememberedfanclub.com/> made the brilliant exhibit possible. A gala opening night included celebrity fans. The exhibit is called “Hollywood Icon”, and there is no one who deserves that honorable title more than Marilyn.
Festival presentation
Palm Springs celebrated what would have been Marilyn Monroe’s 100th birthday with a four-day festival (May 29–June 1) that shattered a Guinness World Record for the largest gathering of Marilyn lookalikes. A sea of 1,037 fans dressed in iconic white halter dresses and blonde curls gathered downtown.
Also erected for permanent display is Forever Marilyn <https://visitgreaterpalmsprings.com/things-to-do/attractions-and-activities/forever-marilyn/>, a 26-foot-tall sculpture by artist Seward Johnson that immortalizes her iconic billowing-dress scene from the film The Seven Year Itch.
On-air movies
Turner Classic Movies celebrates throughout June by playing many of her films. They will remain available on demand. <https://tcm.com/articles/now-playing-newsletter/60072/star-of-the-month-marilyn-monroe>
At auction
Julien’s Auctions often specializes in original vintage Marilyn memorabilia. For her 100th birthday, their auction selection is exceptional. <https://juliensauctions.com/en/auctions/100-years-of-marilyn>
Marilyn and her work – she worked with the best
In retrospect, Marilyn Monroe left us with a highly remarkable body of film work. When she, in an effort to learn her craft, left 20th Century Fox to study in New York, she did so to gain better projects and take control of her work when she returned to Hollywood. She did just that, but in retrospect she already had a resume of work that would have been enviable to not only any of her contemporary actors but to anyone’s career portfolio.
The directors:
From 1956 to 1961, Marilyn made the films Bus Stop (1956, dir. Joshua Logan); The Prince and the Showgirl (1957, dir. Laurence Olivier); Some Like It Hot (1959, dir. Billy Wilder); Let’s Make Love (1960, dir. George Cukor); and The Misfits (1961, dir. John Huston). Brilliant, but what about those movies made during her main 20th Century Fox contract career period? Including some loan out assignments, Marilyn worked with the best.
Joshua Logan, known to be difficult to work with, praised her work, devotion to character and what he could only describe as a magic relationship with the camera, one that he observed only Greta Garbo and Charles Chaplin to possess.
John Huston, Tay Garnett, John Sturges and Joseph L. Mankiewicz were amongst the first directors who worked with her. Fritz Lang, Howard Hawks, Henry Hathaway, Otto Preminger and Jean Negulesco joined them during her star years.
The writers:
During her star years she played in scripts by Nunally Johnson, Charles Brackett, Clifford Odets, Daniel Taradash and O. Henry. Huston, Mankewicz and Wilder wrote scripts they directed her in, and of course the great Arthur Miller wrote The Misfits just for her.
Legacy
Marilyn, together with the finest artists in the business, left a brilliant legacy on film.
She is one of the most photographed persons of all time. Countless books of photography have been published and her original photographs are held in high esteem by collectors. Indeed, at WalterFilm we present original Marilyn photography as often as possible.
It is her film work that we now have to remember Marilyn by. It should be honored, preserved and studied.