31 Stars in 31 Days: Day 5 - MARILYN MONROE

Today marks the 50th anniversary of Marilyn's tragic death. And to honor the wonderful classic film actress I will be watching some of her films, which I just bought on blu-ray. I plan to watch three films of hers if I have enough time but if not at least two. The Seven Year Itch and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. We love and miss you Marilyn. Here are some of my fave things about her.


Favorite Marilyn film: THE SEVEN YEAR ITCH (1955) Without a doubt my all time
favorite Marilyn film.
Favorite Marilyn role: Lorelei Lee (GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES) - Perfection in this movie 
Favorite Marilyn co-star: toss up between Jane Russell in Blondes and Tom Ewell 
in Seven Year Itch, hence my choice of films today
Films of Marilyn seen: 15 out of 33 films

Today's films: THE SEVEN YEAR ITCH (1955) and GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES (1953)
The Seven Year Itch is a wonderful comedy by Billy Wilder, who excelled at these kind of films. Well he actually excelled at all kinds of films because he was that awesome. And so is Marilyn who is simply cast as The Girl, an upstairs neighbor to a husband (Tom Ewell) who daydreams a lot about meeting and romancing women..all women. The action heats up when his wife and kid go away for the summer and he starts chatting with The Girl. All in good natured fun but it's a treat to watch how things unfold. 


Rating: ***** out of ***** stars

 Girl falls down, man is there to catch her

In GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES,  Marilyn is amazing as Lorelei Lee, who along with best pal Dorothy Shaw (Jane Russell, all sass and I love it) take a cruise ship to Paris and have one interesting adventure. Splashy musical comedy that lets Marilyn show why she is one of cinema's great icons. Gorgeous film and two gorgeous women. What more could anyone ask for?


Rating: **** out of ***** stars

I'm with the blonde here

My plan is to watch both of these films right after church and if I do get to sneak in one more Marilyn film, it will most likely be How To Marry A Millionaire. 

My love of classic films is beyond measure

Monty

Fun Summer Movies: THE SEVEN YEAR ITCH (1955)

Summer Release Date: 3 June 1955. Starring Marilyn Monroe, Tom Ewell, Evelyn Keyes, Sonny Tufts, Marguerite Chapman, Oskar Homolka, Carolyn Jones.Written by Billy Wilder and George Axelrod. Directed by Billy Wilder.


The Seven Year Itch is my favorite Marilyn Monroe movie. Mind you not my favorite role of hers. That would be Lorelei Lee in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. But here in The Seven Year Itch, she is just as good, giving the classic Marilyn performance...breathy voice, the bemused facial expressions, the child like mannerisms..all done to perfection. It helps she has such a great co-star in Tom Ewell as the hapless Richard Sherman, a married man who fancies himself the object of desire by every woman he meets. He constantly daydreams about having secret rendezvous with all kinds of women. So when Marilyn, simply known as The Girl, and who lives above him in the same apartment building, meets him, let the fun begin.

Richard and The Girl trying to keep cool

Budgeted at $1.8 million and filmed on location in New York City, The Seven Year Itch proved to be a massive hit, one of Monroe's biggest. It made over $12 million in the United States alone. Filled with iconic moments such as Marilyn in the perfect white summer dress standing over a subway grate with the wind gusting up to blow her dress, much to her and Richard's delight. Directed by ace Billy Wilder, The Seven Year Itch is a perfect fun summer movie. And check out the great quotes..particularly by Marilyn. Notice her fondness of the word "elegant".

A stairway to nowhere! I think that's just elegant.

I think it's wonderful that you're married! I think it's just elegant! 

 I think it's just elegant to have an imagination. I just have no imagination at all. I have lots of other things, but I have no imagination.

When it gets hot like this, you know what I do? I keep my undies in the icebox! 

I wonder......

Notable Facts:


After seeing Walter Matthau's screen-test performance in the part of Richard Sherman, Billy Wilder believed he had found his lead man. However, 20th Century-Fox was unwilling to take the risk on a newcomer. That's when Wilder next turned his sights on the actor who had originated the role on Broadway, Tom Ewell.

Amazingly, Marilyn Monroe's very narrow spike heels don't get stuck or break in the subway grating that she stands on it in the movie's most famous scene, although this was a universal problem, at the time, for the countless women wearing that very popular style heel in New York City in that era. 

 The iconic scene

 The movie premiere was on June 1st, 1955 which happened to be Marilyn's 29th birthday.

 Marilyn's iconic white dress set a record when it was auctioned for $4.6 million in June 2011 (rising to $5.5 million after taxes and fees were included), quintupling the previous record for a movie costume ($923,000 for Audrey Hepburn's "little black dress" from Breakfast at Tiffany's). 

 My love of classic movies is beyond measure

Monty

The Morning Movie: THE SEVEN YEAR ITCH (1955)

Nothing like starting the day off before heading out to work than with some Marilyn Monroe in The Seven Year Itch, my favorite film of hers. A family man (Tom Ewell) who fantasizes constantly about women meets the ultimate woman in Marilyn, who lives upstairs. So while his wife and son are away for the summer, he goes into overdrive trying to romance her. It's all in good fun because his bark is worse than his bite as he never really comes close to having an affair. But it does make for one great movie. Highly enjoyable! And MM just looks stunning in that white summer dress!

At the beach: From Here To Almost Eternity.. (guest post by Irene Palfy)

Hey!

This is Irene Palfy...

- and as a little surprise for my very good friend Monty - I am posting this picture from one of my favourite films ever:

Here we have Roxanne Arlen and Tom Ewell in THE SEVEN YEAR ITCH doing their own version of the famous FROM HERE TO ETERNITY beach scene..

Be My Guest - Irene: Question #1 - What are some of your favorite feel good movies?

I couldn't get in contact with my original guest for this month so my great friend Irene of And Then They Start To Sparkle graciously stepped in to fill this month's spot. You may recall Irene just wrapped up being my guest in June, so I had to think of some more questions to ask her. And here is the first one: What are some of your favorite feel good movies? Below are her answers and my comments:

Irene: I think today I choose: THE GIRL CAN'T HELP IT (1956) - because I love how funny Jayne Mansfield is, Tom Ewell having a crush and her - and the music, the wardrobe and the whole cast..


Monty: Definitely a feel good movie. I've seen it only once but I remember it being a whole lot of fun





Irene: HELP (1965) - because the Beatles are so absurdly silly.. and I love the music..


Monty: Good choice as well.





Irene: BLUE HAWAII (1961) - just a fun film.. I dream of visiting Hawaii - and Elvis always was the guy I wanted to be my big brother.. He is very funny.. - and yes.. I like the music - how did you guess that??

Monty: Elvis did so many movies I kind of lost track, but I do remember Blue Hawaii.










(- ask me again in a week and it might be something completely different.. - but it seems like I need some music for my feel good films..)