Here's a gallery of Marilyn photos that we hope will be useful to everyone—both young people who haven't seen these films (in which case, we envy you!) and those who have, as these are films that can be watched over and over again. The important question: are Marilyn's five greatest roles also her five greatest films? Mostly, but not always. Crash in the Night is actually better than Don't Bother to Knock, released the same year (1952), but even Marilyn's small role in Crash can't compare to her stunningly masterful performance as a nanny with serious mental problems. And All About Eve (1950), in which a very young Marilyn appears in one blissful scene, may be the greatest film of her career—but it's not her leading role. Despite these caveats, yes, these are Marilyn's greatest roles. и her greatest films. Taken together, they showcase her brilliance, dazzling beauty, subtle comedic talent, and (if you watch The Misfits) what a future as a dramatic actress might have awaited her. Now, more than ever, she looks like a dream movie star.
More from Variety
-
The Marilyn Myth: Why We're Still Obsessed with the Sex Goddess
-
Marilyn Monroe at 100: Understanding Her Legend and Legacy.
-
Marilyn Monroe's final interview marked the film's release and confirmed her acceptance of sex symbol status: "I'd never done erotic scenes before, and I always wanted to try.".
Don't Knock (1952)
Don't Knock (1952)
Encountering the early Marilyn Monroe is a paradox and a bit of a shock. We imagine her as a naive young woman who gradually gained self-confidence and maturity. But in 1952, at 25, Monroe starred in two films, and in both, she demonstrated the confidence of a cunning, adventurous actress. In the tempestuous "Stay Night," she plays a cannery worker who refuses to let any man tell her what to do, and in "Don't Worry About Knocking," she masterfully plays a nanny who gradually reveals herself to be mentally unstable and even mentally unstable. The entire film takes place in a hotel, where Richard Widmark, as a jilted womanizer (that's Anne Bancroft doing the jilting!), attempts to arrange a private party with Nell (Monroe), who is babysitting the child of two guests. Marilyn Monroe only began studying method acting under Lee Strasberg in 1955, but her performance here is a minor miracle of the method: she's simultaneously melancholy, furious, sensual, and confused. It's better than the film itself (which focuses on Widmark's gruff character learning empathy), but it's a striking embodiment of the serious actress Marilyn always was.
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953)
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953)
To this day, Lorelei Lee, the dancer played by Monroe in Howard Hawks's brilliant musical romantic comedy, is often called a "dumb blonde" because she's obsessed with diamonds and the desire to land a rich man who can provide them. But if you look at what we see on screen, there's nothing dumb about Lorelei; she's an incredibly intelligent and cunning schemer. It's just that her values are misplaced. The tension in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes lies in how much the girl should care about diamonds while living in a material world ruled by men? Monroe, uttering witty remarks capable of cutting glass (old tycoon: "You have the nerve to tell me that you don't want to marry my son because of his money?" Lorelei: "I want to marry him because of yours Monroe, who plays the lovelorn and capricious Dorothy, displays a lyrical glow as she and Jane Russell embark on a cruise to France, flirting and scheming along the way. It's Monroe's eroticized dreaminess in "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend" that makes it one of the most captivating musical scenes in cinema.
The Seven Year Itch (1955)
The Seven Year Itch (1955)
No Marilyn Monroe moment—no movie moment—is more iconic than the one in which she stands over a subway grate in her pleated white, backless dress, letting the updraft lift her skirt, creating a look of what appears to be symbolic orgasm on her face. Monroe plays an aspiring New York actress known only as The Girl, who works as a TV model in a toothpaste commercial, while Tom Ewell is the nerd downstairs whose wife and son are away for the summer. Will she satisfy his seven-year-old passion? Monroe's performance embodies one image: a wide-eyed, cooing, incredibly sexy, and accommodating lover, completely oblivious to her influence over men. She has never been more beautiful than in this role of a sweet platinum goddess, and at the same time, never so stylized for comedic effect. The joke in Seven Years of Desire is that Marilyn is playing a fantasy, which the filmmakers know perfectly well is just that.
«The Losers (1961)
«The Losers (1961)
It was Monroe's final role, and a film that has become legendary for both its off-screen events and its on-screen ones (her marriage to Arthur Miller, who wrote the screenplay for her, was crumbling, and Monroe's chronic lateness to the set had escalated from a habit to a genuine dysfunction). Part of the warped power of John Huston's dry but gripping modern Western, however, is that it seems to capture all that dark, screaming, apocalyptic energy. In the most impressively serious role of her career, one that hints at the career she might have had if tragedy hadn't intervened, Monroe plays a divorcee at a loss, fragile yet with a radiant sense of freedom, who forms a relationship with an aging cowboy (Clark Gable, simply superb) and his friends (Montgomery Clift and Eli Wallach), then tries to stop them from rounding up and killing a pack of wild mustangs. In fact, she fights for a world where men don't squeeze every ounce of energy out of women.
Some Like It Hot (1959)
Some Like It Hot (1959)
The first and still greatest of Hollywood cross-dressing comedies, the film's slapstick farce and twisted romantic escapades reach such dizzying complexity that they resemble some demented modern version of Shakespeare (A Midsummer Night's Dream in Chiffon). But amid these droll identity games, there's a delightful oasis: Marilyn Monroe's performance as Sugar Kane, a ukulele player in an all-girl band who leaves her whiskey-drinking melancholy behind when she's courted by a fake millionaire played by Tony Curtis—who, like the Cary Grant he parodies, has the cunning to trick Sugar into pursuing her. his attention. In her final, quintessential performance as Marilyn, Monroe plays the role with a radiant yet meaningful daze, glowing with a whimsical innocence that seems to embody the very soul of love.
The best of variety
-
Mortal Kombat 2 cast list: who lives, who dies, and how they compare to the fighters from the video game.
-
All the references, bonuses, and Easter eggs from the Super Mario Galaxy video game: explained.
-
'Super Mario Galaxy' Post-Credits Scene: [SPOILER] Revealed, Plus All 'Smash Bros.' and 'Mario' Cameos.
Subscribe to the Variety newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.