Marilyn Monroe Movies To Watch Before "Blonde"
With special guest Katie Carter!
It’s been over 60 years since Marilyn Monroe’s death at age 36, and yet she remains one of the most indelible figures in the history of Hollywood and American popular culture. You may know her as a sex symbol, or from her celebrity entanglements with Joe DiMaggio, Arthur Miller, and JFK, or maybe you just know her from the famous Andy Warhol painting. But, do you know her from her screen performances?
Monroe was more than just a blonde bombshell. She was a preternaturally talented presence on camera, submitting iconic performances throughout the 1950s. In advance of Blonde, director Andrew Dominik’s fictional biopic starring Ana de Armas debuting on Netflix on September 28, let’s recommend some Marilyn Monroe movies! To help us out, we brought in one of the most knowledgeable people we know on all things classic Hollywood, frequent DYLA contributor Katie Carter!
You can find Katie’s work at katieatthemovies.com, on Instagram @katieatthemovies, and on Twitter @katiel_carter.
Katie recommends…
Don’t Bother to Knock
Sandwiched smack in between her memorable supporting turns in the now-classic films All About Eve and The Asphalt Jungle and 1953’s one-two-three punch of Niagara, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, and How to Marry a Millionaire, which cemented her as one of Hollywood’s most bankable stars, Marilyn Monroe took on a role unlike any other in her all-too-brief film career: that of a babysitter on the verge of a mental breakdown in director Roy Ward Baker’s 1952 psychological noir Don’t Bother to Knock. Based on Charlotte Armstrong’s novel Mischief, the film, set entirely inside a New York City hotel, starts off down one path before veering off in a very different direction in its brisk 76 minute runtime.
Monroe plays Nell, a young woman whose uncle is the hotel’s elevator operator, who suggests her services to a pair of guests in need of someone to watch their daughter Bunny while they attend a function downstairs in the hotel’s banquet hall. Co-lead Richard Widmark—a reliably great actor whose gruff edge was well-suited to playing villains and anti-heroes—plays Jed, a pilot who checks into the hotel to try to win back his ex-girlfriend, the hotel’s lounge singer. When his attempt at reconciliation fails, he retreats to his room, where he glimpses Nell dancing in the room across from him. Jed invites himself over for what he obviously believes will be an illicit rendezvous, but which quickly devolves into a far more dangerous situation.
Don’t Bother to Knock fills out its cast with phenomenal performers, from the great Anne Bancroft in her very first film role as Jed’s ex, to memorable character actor and noir staple Elisha Cook Jr. as the elevator operator Eddie, to the future Thurston Howell III Jim Backus as Bunny’s father. And Baker’s direction and Daniel Taradash’s screenplay make effective use of the story’s one-location setting, keeping close to the characters while using the hotel’s bustling backdrop to connect them and heighten the suspense (you never know what you might glimpse from your window, or who or what might be hiding behind closed doors). But it’s Monroe who runs away with the movie, turning in a performance that sidesteps the usual hallmarks of a femme fatale while offering up some of the best examples of her dramatic chops. Monroe herself, with her soft voice and curious eyes, possessed an inherent vulnerability that seemed to make everyone who loved her want to protect her, and while she is sweet and unassuming in her first scenes in Don’t Bother to Knock, that fragility really surfaces as the film unfolds. She lets on to her character’s more sinister tendencies with a subtle yet unsettling glint in her eye and an edge to her voice, and her behavior is wildly unpredictable as she effortlessly shifts from innocent to seductive to deadly to depressed and confused. Rather than pursuing a narrow view of a disturbed woman, Don’t Bother to Knock takes a more nuanced approach, refusing to vilify her even in scenes where it would have been simple to do so. And as she peels back the layers to Nell, Monroe—with her talent for harnessing her natural charisma and sex appeal for either comedic or dramatic effect—lets loose an arsenal that the majority of her roles seldom allowed her to deploy.
Available to rent on digital platforms
Drew recommends…
Some Like It Hot
When we first meet Marilyn Monroe’s jazz band singer Sugar "Kane" Kowalczyk in Some Like It Hot, she is in the bathroom sneaking a swig of liquor from a flask. Right away, we are introduced to so much of what made Monroe special as an actress. Her unmatched ability for sensual magnetism was often juxtaposed against a darker loneliness that revealed itself even in a bawdy comedy like Billy Wilder’s brilliant 1959 classic. Monroe could play a terrific dumb blonde, yes, but as Sugar she supplies the shades of melancholy that deepen what could’ve been a caricature.
It’s a small miracle that Some Like It Hot still absolutely holds up today with its risky premise and suggestive humor. Essentially, it’s a cross-dressing comedy about two jazz musicians that disguise themselves as women in order to escape Chicago gangsters after witnessing a murder. In immaculately charming lead performances, Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis play the musicians who dress in drag. The whole film is laced with crackerjack energy, witty writing (with perhaps the greatest final line in cinema history), and very committed acting.
Writer-director Billy Wilder – who is responsible for masterpieces like Sunset Boulevard, Double Indemnity, and The Apartment – was always able to collaborate with his stars in a way that resulted in some of their best work, which is certainly the case for Marilyn Monroe. She had worked with Wilder before on 1955’s The Seven Year Itch, which became one of her most indelible performances. However, by the late 50s she was struggling with a pill addiction, which exacerbated problems on the set of Some Like It Hot. Monroe was constantly late and had trouble memorizing her lines. Despite the production difficulties, Wilder, with characteristic wit, reportedly told a cast member, "My Aunt Minnie would always be punctual and never hold up production, but who would pay to see my Aunt Minnie?"
If Monroe was having personal issues during the movie’s filming, you can’t tell at all from the performance. As Sugar, she is as alluring and alive on screen as ever. She had spent time working with famous acting coach Lee Strasberg (known as “the father of method acting”), and it certainly shows, because Monroe combines her natural charisma with a practiced ability to inhabit her character. She’s equally at home in scenes that call for comedy, romance, and singing, all while adding on a hint of vulnerability that makes the audience lean in even more. Sadly, Some Like It Hot was her last truly great performance in a truly great movie, as she only made two more films before her untimely death. Fortunately, she submitted a lasting image of everything that made her a golden icon.
Available to rent on digital platforms
Billy recommends…
All About Eve
My first Marilyn. The name of my inevitable biography. Or just a statement that proves I’m not really fit to write this blurb. Luckily, Katie is leading off for us today! All About Eve is about Eve Harrington (Anne Baxter), a theater lover with a particular obsession with Margo Channing (Bette Davis). Eve has a knack for creating an amazing first impression, enchanting a room immediately. So much so that her idol Margo hires her as her assistant.
Eve’s pervasive charm eventually becomes a threat to Margo. Brilliant paranoiac outbursts happen every other scene by Bette Davis. Creating a wonderful dynamic of a naive up-and-comer not understanding her inherent threat and a veteran worried about that person stealing her place.
I came to All About Eve to study a Marilyn Monroe piece and this is certainly not the best vehicle to start with. Not because of lack of quality, it is magnificent, but she is on screen for about 3-5 minutes with some comedic relief as Miss Casswell. A not-so-surprising young actress who is being paraded around Margo Channing’s party to strike the fancy of some powerful theater figures. She gets an audition and is going to read with Margo. Margo missed the audition due to a hangover and Eve stepped in. Eve unexpectedly steals the spotlight right from Miss Casswell and furthering her threat towards Margo.
This scene naturally brings a comparison to Marilyn’s own life. A figure that stole the spotlight from day one and posthumously. Probably market-correcting many actresses who were trying to get the same thing she has. When she came on screen in All About Eve I felt so dumb being impressed by her. I felt like Tim Meadows laughing at Michael Scott when he told his joke at Chili’s, cackling at something I didn’t expect to love.
Marilyn as gossip and the tabloid features of her life have shined the brightest for me. And will be front and center again with Blonde. Which is unfortunate because her talent even in 3-5 minutes is clearly so massive. Use All About Eve as a small gateway into her filmography. You won’t regret it.
Available to rent on digital platforms
Links
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