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written by Cool-Story.com | views: 7835

Final days of Marilyn Monroe

Final days of Marilyn Monroe picture 1

Marilyn Monroe (1926 - 1962) surrounded by reporters and fans outside Grauman's Chinese Theater in Hollywood, California

In the early months of 1962., Marilyn Monroe, was set to go before the cameras for her 30th film. She'd been absent from the screen for over a year and the comedy Something's Got to Give would offer her a comeback. Legendary filmmaker George Cukor was brought in to direct. The film also included some of Hollywood's most respected character actors. But eight weeks after production began, Marilyn was fired. Two months later, the star was found dead of an apparent sleeping pill overdose.

The movie became one of the most talked-about unfinished films in Hollywood history. For nearly four decades a 5 minutes of unedited footage sat in storage in the vaults at Twentieth Century Fox. The story of the film and of Marilyn 's tragic final days was seemingly lost.

By January of 1962 Marilyn Monroe had been Fox's most bankable star for over a decade. Her 20 pictures for the studio had grossed over $ 2 million making Marilyn its biggest commodity since Shirley Temple. But Monroe hadn't worked for her own studio in two years and Fox was facing financial problems due to costly delays on the epic production of Cleopatra.

The studio needed Marilyn back at work as soon as possible So they sent veteran producer David Brown to entice the star with a script for a comedy entitled Something's Got to Give. Marilyn really didn't want to make the movie. She was under a slave contract, having made films away from Fox. And studio insisted she live up to the contract and this was given to her. Something's Got to Give was a remake of the 1940 comedy My Favorite Wife. Marilyn was a woman who returns home after five years stranded on an island to find herself legally declared dead and her husband newly re-married.

The film would be co-produced by Fox and Marilyn Monroe Productions, a company set up in 1955. to give Marilyn creative control over her projects. In September 1961, Marilyn submitted a list of directors she'd agree to work with. It included some famous names. Among them, George Cukor. But after a difficult experience with her in the 1960 Let's Make Love Cukor had misgivings about working with Marilyn again. In January of 1962, Cukor reluctantly signed on to the film. David Brown now had a major director and a star attached to the project but he had no final script despite the efforts of Fox's staff writer Arnold Schulman.

Monroe's tardiness was legendary in Hollywood. She had been blamed for creating costly delays on nearly all her films. To make matters worse, she started to have growing dependency on pills and alcohol. Concerned that Marilyn 's problems would add to Fox's financial woes studio chief Peter Levathes recruited the help of Marilyn 's psychiatrist, Dr. Ralph Greenson. But what the doctor began controlling was the movie.

He pushed out David Brown in favor of his friend, producer Henry Weinstein. Director George Cukor was furious at Brown's dismissal. Two centers of power began emerging on the set, one between Marilyn and Weinstein, and the other between Cukor and his associate producer and art director, Gene Allen. But both sides agreed on one thing and that was that the script still needed work.

Oscar winner Nunnally Johnson was brought in to do some rewrites. He had written How to Marry a Millionaire a great success for Fox and Marilyn. Johnson and Monroe would work together to update Something's Got to Give. One of the mistakes Henry Weinstein made was he didn't confer with Cukor. Cukor was furious to be left out of the meetings. He felt Johnson 's version strayed too far from the original charm of My Favorite Wife. Within two months, Johnson was replaced with a writer named Walter Bernstein.

A dark cloud seemed to hover over Something's Got to Give. And Marilyn Monroe now had more to accomplish and more to prove than ever before. By late March 1962 there were only three weeks left before the first day of photography. The race was on to meet the tight deadline. As Cukor and Bernstein pounded out a new draft associate producer Gene Allen oversaw completion of the set an exact replica of Cukor's own home and back yard. And producer Henry Weinstein struggled to keep track of Marilyn Monroe.

On April 10, Marilyn arrived for makeup and costume tests. But to her surprise, George Cukor did not show up to supervise and direct. It was a big mistake for Cukor not to have done that. She was at her best, and she had to take it as a put down. Despite Cukor's absence Marilyn's performance convinced everyone she was in top form.

Do you think Marilyn Monroe is the best platinum blond ever?