Was Marilyn Monroe an accomplished actress, or was her reputation simply gained from playing (or being) the dumb, pneumatic blonde of many men‘s dreams?
There is no question that one of her greatest performances can be found in Some Like It Hot, directed by Billy Wilder and released in 1959. This is a classic role-reversal comedy, centred around two struggling musicians, Joe and Jerry, played by Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis who accidentally witness a Mob killing (allegedly based on the St.Valentine’s Day massacre in Chicago). In their desperation to escape the gangsters, they dress up as two spinsters (Josephine and Daphne) to join an all-female band. Marilyn Monroe plays the lead singer and ukulele player in the band, called Sugar Kane as a mesmerising mixture of vulnerable innocent and outrageous flirt with a penchant for a drink or three before performances and is very funny. In fact it's a wonderful example of comedy acting. The film is directed at a hectic pace, with many wonderful one-liners, most of which are based on the two musicians having to try to behave like women. And the final line is particularly memorable. A real-life millionaire has fallen in love with Jack Lemmon’s alter-ego Daphne and proposes to him. In desperation, Jack Lemmon’s character removes his wig and shouts “I’m a man.” “Well, nobody’s perfect!” states the millionaire.
Marilyn Monroe made many films, and some of them have not gained the legendary status of Some Like It Hot. One such film was the western River of No Return, directed by Otto Preminger and released in 1954 in which she co-starred with Robert Mitchum. Although the film was commercially successful, many people were critical of her performance, stating that it proved she couldn’t sing , act or dance. In fact Monroe was contractually forced to make the film against her will and complained bitterly about the script. The following year she went back to acting school to increase her range.
The “image” of Marilyn Monroe has become engrained in film culture, and was perpetuated by the media who were obsessed with her before her death but became even more infatuated afterwards. She was almost certainly a far more intelligent and capable woman than she was portrayed in the media. Why are we so accepting of these media portrayals?
Geoff Butts
