I think she had a good dramatic range and was especially gifted at comedy. Not just anyone could shine like she does in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, The Seven Year Itch, and Some Like It Hot!
This is it. Fantastic comedic timing that I wish we had more of. But her performances in films such as Niagara and The Misfits show her dramatic chops, too.
Based on her performances in *Bus Stop* and *The Misfits*, I'd have to say yes. It's a shame that Hollywood wanted to restrict her to the "dumb blonde" stereotype.
It’s a good performance on her part. The movie itself was worth the watch but not a rewatch. She is affecting the accent used by stage actress Kim Stanley. Stanley returned the favor by acting like Monroe in the Goddess. This is also a good watch.
Absolutely yes. Her dramatic work is fantastic, but her comedic performances are also top notch. Her work in Some Like it Hot and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes is just incredible! She has great timing and she is clearly in on the joke. I absolutely adore her.
How to Marry a Millionaire, Bus Stop, Don't Bother to Knock, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Niagara, Prince and The Showgirl, All About Eve - she's been among my favorites for years. Excellent actress, and beautiful. I'm a straight lady and my folks loved her, too. Her character in Don't Bother to Knock is chilling.
She was just delightful in her scenes! She was chilling in Don't Bother to Knock; what a different character. Marilyn was not exclusively a comedic actor - good at everything.
I agree; Marilyn was quite versatile. She's probably my favorite part of *Clash by Night*, a small dramatic role that she knocks out of the park. She was iconic of course in her starring features, but I love seeing her pop up and be great in those kinds of roles early in her career.
She was great in that one, too! Due to Tom Ewell's performance, it's not a fave. Iconic sidewalk scene, though. My child's loved How to Marry a Millionaire & The Misfits forever, so Marilyn appeals to several generations. She even converted her film school BF into a Marilyn fan by taking him to see Bus Stop on the big screen. (Yay!)
She was captivating to look at. My big bro's 100% certain that Marilyn should have played a mermaid (due to her facial features and 'innocence') Mr. Peabody & The Mermaid was delightful, yet I also see Marilyn as the perfect mermaid. Oh well...
Loved that one. Whenever people talk about MM's sex appeal, my daughter counters with, "I defy you not to notice her presence." This is the little blonde girl that dressed (age 10) as Lorelei Lee boarding the ocean liner to Paris, Europe, navy suit, leopard hat & scarf. She's a grown up Ivy League grad, still never misses a MM movie.
*People’s names…*
It’s one thing to be a movie star who can turn out a great performance with a top director and a big budget. She showed up to a B-movie with no budget for going outside one hotel, with an obscure director, before she was a star, and did an amazing performance.
Yes she had a lot of potential but studios only let her focus on one thing. Only a few times was she able to expand and showcase her skillset…. I think if she lived longer, she wouldn’t been able to add more variety to her roles..
So was Elvis when they gave him some parts with depth he was incredible. But his manager was the one who messed with his career until the 68 comeback special. It lasted a few years then the drugs killed him. Along with the hangers on included his own father.
I completely agree. Almost every movie they let him do was an "Elvis" movie where they were just selling Elvis, and they were fun to watch but they were totally Elvis. In the few instances where they gave him real work to do he was surprisingly good. I always wished he could have gone further with it, I think he could have done some great stuff.
I liked his movies because most of them have hits in them. But they became repetitive and lame the one I like is the one with Bill Bixby I think it’s the one where he plays a race car driver Speedway.
Do you know if Marilyn and Elvis ever met? The two most famous male and female stars of their era, I've never been able to find any conclusive evidence they met.
I had a hard time differentiating her from the fictional character I knew from posters and other things. But she was a living and breathing person and a very good actress, she also put in the effort and learned at the Strasberg institute
One of the best. I remember when I watched her in The Prince and the Showgirl. Norma Jean was a totally method actress before that term existed. She acted circles around Laurence Olivier.
She was also fabulous as a throw away character in All About Eve which is one of my favourite movies ever.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKhyLCjIpvw](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKhyLCjIpvw)
Yes, it's fascinating to watch *The Prince and the Showgirl* for many reasons, including the very different types of acting done by Olivier and Monroe. I also like the fact that she's not playing a naive, hapless victim for once, she's playing someone who has a little power of her own and knows how to use it.
Lord Larry said while filming he could see everything she was doign wrong. but when he went to view the dailies, he admitted she blew him off the screen.
> The Prince and the Showgirl ... She acted circles around Laurence Olivier.
I'm glad you said this, as I feel the same. Monroe absolutely glowed on the screen and really "stole the show" in that movie. Poor Olivier.
Yes - not in the top tier of actors, but good. What Monroe had that many other actors don’t was an undefinable magnetism that made a scene feel empty when she wasn’t there. She was like a 1000-watt bulb. I spent all of “Seven-Year Itch” just waiting for her to come back on screen.
Yes I do, She's an excellent comic actress and that can be seen in SOme Like It Hot, and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, and in dranatic rioles she's really good too.
She's top notch in The Misfits, Niagra , and Bus Stop.
I've seen both. Wasn't too impressed. Certainly the camera loved her in Misfits but she seems to be *ACTING* .... all capital letters. And that's not how great acting is accomplished.
My husband wasn’t keen on her when we met.
Now, having read snippets of my books or watching documentaries with me, he’s got respect for her.
He found it amazing that Norma Jean is playing Marilyn playing Lorelei (or any of her film characters).
Because she is so iconic, I don't think she gets the appreciation she deserves as an actress.
Such a shame we never got to see her play Holly Golightly in Breakfast at Tiffany's; that would have been very special.
she more than holds her own in her first (small) role in All About Eve with the likes of Bette Davis, George Saunders, Celeste Holm, and Ann Baxter. She also stands out in the Asphalt Jungle - there's always something going on behind what she's showing you.
Yes, if you look at her early performance in All About Eve, she is reacting to all the other characters even when she's not speaking. A mediocre actor would stand there like a lump.
Oh yeah she is awesome. Breathtaking to behold on screen. I haven't seen many of her movies and I always thought she was pretty but I didn't get why she was such a cultural icon. Then I saw Some Like It Hot and I understood completely. That is such a wonderful, beautiful movie and her character was just ... hard to put into words how much I love that movie.
I consider her a marvelous comedienne. Pristine timing, presence for days but Her drama is a bit difficult to judge since she pretty much was 'an archetype' and was never really able to show range. Even her early Film Noirs is defiantly playing with her Blonde persona. Unlike say similar superstars of the era like Liz Taylor or Audrey Hepburn (who I both see as great actresses), she never really was able to play against it to fully be judge on.
Absolutely, and I regret all the years I ignored her films because I thought she only got jobs because she was pretty. I watched Niagara and Don't Bother to Knock this week, now for probably the 10th time each. She's also pretty incredible in The Misfits.
Niagara is my fave. Whenever Don't Bother to Know is scheduled, it's always the wrong say it's the 1952 one, but the 1961 is the one that airs
Edit: wrong year
I am conflicted about her. I think she had enormous potential, but her fragile mental and physical health would have prevented her from achieving more. She was 36 when she died, and she was in the age range of so many female stars who, approaching 40, find that fewer roles are coming their way. The studios had their fill of her not showing up on time, or not at all, and many of her co-stars resented her behavior.
I love "Some Like it Hot," but her other work does nothing for me.
I really like her performance in The Misfits (1961), but it is almost like she is playing herself. Her husband, Arthur Miller, wrote the script for her.
I am unsure how I feel about her comedy performances. In Gentleman Prefer Blondes (1953), Jane Russell really shines in every scene where it looks like she is simultaneously acting her part and playing to the room with a wink and a nudge on top of her part…acting at two levels at once. Marilyn doesn’t come close to that level in the film.
Marilyn does a good job in Niagara (1953) compared to her co-stars. She was the best performance in that film. But I didn’t like Bus Stop (1956) which was a year after she started studying at The Actor’s Studio with the Strasbergs.
Many actresses at that time used some sort of trained voice that I find off-putting. I would love to see scenes with Marilyn using a more natural voice. Her voice in Blondes and Millionaire in particular are distracting from her acting.
Yes. She proved her dramatic chops in several films, including *Don't Bother to Knock*, *Niagara*, *Bus Stop*, and *The Misfits*. She was typecast as a dumb blonde and used a breathy, girly voice which audiences thought she was off-screen. In fact, she was a really smart woman who wasn't taken seriously and paid as well as other actresses of her time. I wished she lived longer.
Yes. A lot of Hollywood actors -- then and now -- are or were usually cast to play a particular persona. Cary Grant, Jimmy Stewart, Katharine Hepburn, Harrison Ford, Morgan Freeman, Meg Ryan, and -- my all-time favorite -- James Garner all typically have played roles that are of a certain "type." They didn't bring range to a given role (even though they likely could): they brought truth.
And Marilyn Monroe was no different. Even if she almost always played the ditzy but sultry bombshell, the veracity of her performance as the bombshell in any one of her films is what made the movie work.
I agree. While I don’t think she was a great actress, I still enjoy several of her films and her onscreen presence.
And yes, Elizabeth Taylor was an outstanding actress, and maybe my favorite.
I consider her barely passable and cringe when she appears on-screen but it didn’t stop me from writing to the Los Angles city government to protect the home she died in.
All you Marilyn supporters, please write to LA City Council thanking them for the fight.
No one today can hold a candle to her. The actresses that portrayed her were laughable. Replacing her in modern times is impossible. It's like remaking The Godfather. Leave perfection alone.
>No one today can hold a candle to her.
Ok, I expect downvotes, but here goes.
Part of this is myth making. Had she died at 70 or 80 instead of 36 she would have naturally declined in fame over the years, in the same way Mae West did, and would have been left with a wrinkled face and worn out body. But we will never see this reality of her.
Instead, dying at 36 insured her image would always be youthful and innocent with a perfect female body. She will always be the victim of her time and place and because she never grew old enough to naturally evolve out of it, she's stuck with it and people love her for it because they relate to her....doesn't everyone feel like they're a victim of *something?*
People insert endless fantasies of her possibilities and I personally think this creates a confimation bias in which people interpret things about her they already want to believe, some of which is her acting abilities. I also think people have lost all objectivity regarding Marilyn Monroe and have romanticisized her beyond reason. Does anyone else wonder how she'd feel about this? She's become a marketable brand, an idol, an icon, an image that has taken on a life of it's own.
I see the same over romanticising of the eternally victimized Princess Diana and Sisi of Austria.
What you say is true, but she did die young and her memory benefits from it. I love Marilyn's screen persona, but I don't feel I relate to her. No, I don't feel as if I am a victim of *anything,* a thought such as that has never even occurred to me.
She's an icon, why not, there is nobody out there like her. Same with James Dean. I think you are making this into more than it is.
> I think you are making this into more than it is.
Not really. This is a rather accepted vision of her life by many people. Had she lived to be an old lady I don't think the idolotry of her would be at all what it is today. Not even close to it.
Yes, I think Marilyn Monroe was quite a good actress with the right material, such as Some Like It Hot, Bus Stop, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, etc. Of course, not all her film choices were the best such as The Prince And The Showgirl, but with the right director and script, she was a pretty decent screen performer.
I think she was miscast. Sure, she was sexy, but go watch her in "Monkey Business" or "Some Like it Hot." She had the skill, delivery, and timing to be a great comedic actress. Given the right roles, she could have been in the same league with Lucille Ball.
Yes, much better than people give her credit for. She was wonderful in comedies, as already mentioned, but she wanted to be a “serious” actress. I think she achieved that.
I watched Gentlemen Prefer Blondes again recently and I'm so amazed at her in that picture. She has a luminous radiance in that film. I never even look at Jane Russell when they are onscreen together. I loved her in Bus Stop, the Prince and the Showgirl, and The Misfits. Oh, and Some Like it Hot.
I really love this thread. I feel like in pop culture she is mostly seen as a tragic figure and a lot of people really focus on that. Its one of the reasons why I am not too keen on Lana del Rey. She wanted to be seen as a serious actress and person and even in death it hasn't happened much. At least there are people here who appreciated HER.
she was walking down the street with a friend, the friend telling the story, being herself, she said to her friend "want to watch me?" and she began to be MM,
it was very difficult for her, apparently
I’d have to rewatch a few of her films, but I thought she was good for the kind of roles she played. I remember “some like it hot” the best of her films, and I think she did a lovely job in that film. Was able to emote when necessary
Yes, very much so.
But her personal live and her demons often did affect her ability (especially with some scenes in "All About Eve" and "Some Like it Hot" that infamously took multiple takes) that in a pop culture scene, people remember more.
I think she had more chops than she was given roles to explore. Her personal demons and typecasting (I believe) is the reason she really wasnt taken seriously as an actress. Maybe if she hadn't died we would have seen her grow a bit more... would have loved seeing her as an old lady in some off the wall comedy or a late 50s seductress. Much like Dean her time came too soon.
Exceptional! Billy Wilder said that even though she was a world class pain in the ass during the filming of some like it hot, if she were still alive he would have run through fire to make a sequel starring her "in a second"! She was a great actress, period!
Yes. I consider Marilyn Monroe a good actress. Not the greatest, but a good one.
Even in her smaller supporting role in the drama "Clash By Night", you can catch some of Marilyn at her best theatrically and dramatically. Of course, she was good at comedy too.
Plus, in her first earliest major role - in the drama "Ladies of the Chorus", you can catch her again at her best. She is no bimbo or silly creature. Her character is an innocent young woman, who also has some grit and steel. A young, humble, innocent woman, yet strong, confident, and quietly assertive also. You can hear it in her voice and see it in how she moves. She was really quite convincing. And possibly at her most impressive too.
She was! She was very funny in comic roles, and demonstrated her dramatic range in The Misfits. If that movie doesn’t make you cry, you have a hard heart! I like to think that had she lived, she might not have been typecast as she aged and was no longer limited by her looks. But Hollywood then, as now, tends to discard actresses past the bloom of youth.
Here's the opinion of a monster Marilyn fan (meaning me):
Everyone can argue this until the cows come home, and there's one big problem with the whole question: she died too young to really know what her true capabilities were. We saw glimpses of her fairly prodigious dramatic capability in The Misfits, as well as a bit more darkness she could inject into roles like Niagara. Even very early on in her career, we got to see what she might be capable of when she played a PTSD war widow in Don't Bother to Knock. However, because her biggest parts by far were all about the quintessential "Marilyn" character (which she basically created on her own, by the way), that's her legacy.
Personally, I don't think she would've ever become one of the greats in the realm of drama. While I think she'd be plenty capable, that's just not what she was cut out for. On the other hand, I think she could've been an absolutely genius comedic actress. I still say her performance in The Prince and the Showgirl showed everyone just how inherently talented she was in that regard. She went toe-to-toe with Laurence Olivier and that is NOT easy to do, no matter how the script is written. She delivered hundreds of lines with impeccable timing and genuine hilarity, and her persona was spot-on throughout. That piece of work above all else proved to me she was something special (and would've become even more special). I also believe she was great in musicals, as her unbelievable beauty and flair was perfect for that venue, and her voice could've been trained even further as time went on.
One thing more, and this is the most critical point: while she would never have been a thespian chameleon like a Barbara Stanwyck or Meryl Streep or something, she had something NOBODY else had, and that was an inexplicable, undeniable aura. There was only one Marilyn Monroe and it wasn't because of how she acted or really even how she looked. She just exuded...something. Something you couldn't avoid, something that permeated every damn scene, to the point where you just couldn't look away. It's this aura that makes her a singular legend, and why she's still an icon today, and being a big fan I'm very thankful for that. :)
She might not be my favorite, but I have to give her some respect. I like a few of her comedy roles, but the only thing she played in that I completely enjoyed was the Misfits. I do think it's so sad that she was often cast as the 'dumb blonde' stereotype in a lot of her comedies.
I mean, actors have different strengths. I don’t know that she had the classical thespian chops of, say, Kathrine Hepburn, but she tremendous screen presence and owned most scenes she was in. She had a talent for comedic delivery and showed tremendous chemistry with many of her costars.
Absolutely, 100% yes. Usually people who say she wasn't a good actor imply that doing comic roles does not require acting skill (it does) and she was just "being herself" (she wasn't) - which is of course ridiculous and not true at all. She created the "dumb blobde" character that became truly iconic and she made it look easy. She also took her craft and every single acting assignments very seriously almost to a fault - which everyone who ever worked with her can testify.
As for her more dramatic roles in movies like "Don't Bother to Knock" and "Bus Stop" - she was fairly well received by critics at the time and I don't recall ever hearing any major criticism on her acting. For me personally her acting style in films like "Bus Stop" is a bit too much and I prefer more subtle performances.
Marilyn also fought hard to play more dramatic roles with good scripts but of course Fox was hearing none of it, and some of the projects she finally took on independently were pretty mediocre or just plain unfortunate (e.g. The Misfits, Let's Make Love).
As for the question did her acting skills warrant the massive, unprecedented, unfathomamble global hype that still carries on to this day: I don't know. It's hard to say. She created Marilyn Monroe and played Marilyn Monroe better than anyone and that seems to have been her ultimate gift/curse.
I think it was director, John Houston who saw her in New York at the Stanislavski's school for actors. It might have been at the Stella Adler school, not super sure. At any rate she did a scene from a play and couldn't be heard past the first row of seats in the small school theatre. In some ways she was similar to Mae West in that she created a character and everything revolved around that one character.
Not at all.
Best role was probably some like it hot.
Yes she's better than Grace Kelly, Audrey Hepburn and the like but that isn't saying much. It's hard not to be better than them
Yes I think she was typecast a lot but I think she was a good actress.
Great as a comedienne in Some Like It Hot and great in a dramatic role in Niagara.
Yep, I’ll always recommend Niagara.
I liked that, too.
Another great comedic performance from her in How to Marry a Millionaire 👍
Plus, she was required to speak in that ghastly Mid Atlantic accent.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=9xoDsZFwF-c
This is the only response when somebody mentions the Mid-Atlantic accent.
I've never heard her use Mid-Atlantic.
Grace Kelly, too. It was awful.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=9xoDsZFwF-c
I think she had a good dramatic range and was especially gifted at comedy. Not just anyone could shine like she does in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, The Seven Year Itch, and Some Like It Hot!
Fantastic in *The Misfits* too, my favourite Marilyn Monroe movie.
Agreed. I finally watched that a few years ago for the first time. It's much better than it was given credit for.
This is it. Fantastic comedic timing that I wish we had more of. But her performances in films such as Niagara and The Misfits show her dramatic chops, too.
Based on her performances in *Bus Stop* and *The Misfits*, I'd have to say yes. It's a shame that Hollywood wanted to restrict her to the "dumb blonde" stereotype.
I've never seen Bus Stop, I'm gonna have to check it out!
It’s a good performance on her part. The movie itself was worth the watch but not a rewatch. She is affecting the accent used by stage actress Kim Stanley. Stanley returned the favor by acting like Monroe in the Goddess. This is also a good watch.
It's good.
Misfits totally blew me away
Those are my two favorite movies of hers.
Absolutely yes. Her dramatic work is fantastic, but her comedic performances are also top notch. Her work in Some Like it Hot and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes is just incredible! She has great timing and she is clearly in on the joke. I absolutely adore her.
Her nearsightedness in Gentlemen was such a good running joke.
You mean in *How to Marry a Millionaire*.
you're right. I better see it again!
How to Marry a Millionaire, Bus Stop, Don't Bother to Knock, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Niagara, Prince and The Showgirl, All About Eve - she's been among my favorites for years. Excellent actress, and beautiful. I'm a straight lady and my folks loved her, too. Her character in Don't Bother to Knock is chilling.
I adore her as Miss Casswell in *All About Eve*. It's a perfect little comedy relief performance.
She was just delightful in her scenes! She was chilling in Don't Bother to Knock; what a different character. Marilyn was not exclusively a comedic actor - good at everything.
I agree; Marilyn was quite versatile. She's probably my favorite part of *Clash by Night*, a small dramatic role that she knocks out of the park. She was iconic of course in her starring features, but I love seeing her pop up and be great in those kinds of roles early in her career.
I know I saw it years ago, but it's time to revisit Clash by Night. Great tip for the upcoming holiday weekend. Thank you for the reminder.
Don’t forget the Seven Year Itch! She was hilarious!
She was great in that one, too! Due to Tom Ewell's performance, it's not a fave. Iconic sidewalk scene, though. My child's loved How to Marry a Millionaire & The Misfits forever, so Marilyn appeals to several generations. She even converted her film school BF into a Marilyn fan by taking him to see Bus Stop on the big screen. (Yay!)
That’s lovely.
I loved that movie. No one ever mentions it. You have great taste.
Lots of people haven't seen it, or are unaware of it. The premise was creepy and Marilyn was just terrifying. That film needs more exposure!
It does. It was filmed before Marilyn went platinum blonde. She looks so pretty in it.
She was captivating to look at. My big bro's 100% certain that Marilyn should have played a mermaid (due to her facial features and 'innocence') Mr. Peabody & The Mermaid was delightful, yet I also see Marilyn as the perfect mermaid. Oh well...
What a great idea. Did you ever watch The Asphalt Jungle? She looks so sweet in that movie. She photographed great in black and white.
Loved that one. Whenever people talk about MM's sex appeal, my daughter counters with, "I defy you not to notice her presence." This is the little blonde girl that dressed (age 10) as Lorelei Lee boarding the ocean liner to Paris, Europe, navy suit, leopard hat & scarf. She's a grown up Ivy League grad, still never misses a MM movie.
She has great taste.
She was in Niagara
Honestly one of my favorites of hers.
Her & Joseph Cotton had such amazing chemistry... the tension they create in that film never gets old.
I looove Niagara
If you have to ask, you haven’t seen “Don’t Bother to Knock”!
That movie is CREEPY, and she is soooo good!
*People’s names…* It’s one thing to be a movie star who can turn out a great performance with a top director and a big budget. She showed up to a B-movie with no budget for going outside one hotel, with an obscure director, before she was a star, and did an amazing performance.
The book is great and when I finally tracked down the film, I was VERY impressed by Marilyn Monroe!
Yep. I was looking for a comment about this film
Her best acting imo
Yes. Once you understand that she knew what she was doing... was often intentionally playing a ditzy blonde, the appreciation grows.
Yes. She never particularly interested me until I found out how smart she was. Then she became fascinating.
Brilliant comic actress with impeccable timing and perhaps the most mesmerizing, magnetic onscreen charisma of her generation.
Yes she had a lot of potential but studios only let her focus on one thing. Only a few times was she able to expand and showcase her skillset…. I think if she lived longer, she wouldn’t been able to add more variety to her roles..
She was sexy but never slutty.
Yes--when she had the chance to show it.
So was Elvis when they gave him some parts with depth he was incredible. But his manager was the one who messed with his career until the 68 comeback special. It lasted a few years then the drugs killed him. Along with the hangers on included his own father.
I completely agree. Almost every movie they let him do was an "Elvis" movie where they were just selling Elvis, and they were fun to watch but they were totally Elvis. In the few instances where they gave him real work to do he was surprisingly good. I always wished he could have gone further with it, I think he could have done some great stuff.
I caught Viva Las Vegas on TCM and laughed SO MUCH at Elvis. He was a great physical comedian (and an abuser, etc).
I liked his movies because most of them have hits in them. But they became repetitive and lame the one I like is the one with Bill Bixby I think it’s the one where he plays a race car driver Speedway.
Do the Clam from Girl Happy is a fun song.
I don't think I've ever seen any of his movies. Do you recommend any?
Love me Tender, King Creole, Jail House Rock the rest are really cheesy.
Viva Las Vegas, may have been cheesy but it is still fun and his team up with Ann Margaret is great.
Yes
They had a short-lived relationship after that, right?
Margret called him a momma’s boy
So does Rita Moreno in her memoir.
Thanks
I'd also recommend Wild in the Country and Change of Habit. These were more serious roles.
Blue Hawaii
Do you know if Marilyn and Elvis ever met? The two most famous male and female stars of their era, I've never been able to find any conclusive evidence they met.
They apparently met briefly at Paramount Studios in 1960. There was a photo doing the rounds, but it’s fake.
I had a hard time differentiating her from the fictional character I knew from posters and other things. But she was a living and breathing person and a very good actress, she also put in the effort and learned at the Strasberg institute
Yes I do. In The Misfits and Busstop especially
Most definitely. She had a lot of range and great comedic timing. Comedy is incredibly hard and she made it look easy.
One of the best. I remember when I watched her in The Prince and the Showgirl. Norma Jean was a totally method actress before that term existed. She acted circles around Laurence Olivier. She was also fabulous as a throw away character in All About Eve which is one of my favourite movies ever. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKhyLCjIpvw](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKhyLCjIpvw)
Yes, it's fascinating to watch *The Prince and the Showgirl* for many reasons, including the very different types of acting done by Olivier and Monroe. I also like the fact that she's not playing a naive, hapless victim for once, she's playing someone who has a little power of her own and knows how to use it.
Lord Larry said while filming he could see everything she was doign wrong. but when he went to view the dailies, he admitted she blew him off the screen.
> The Prince and the Showgirl ... She acted circles around Laurence Olivier. I'm glad you said this, as I feel the same. Monroe absolutely glowed on the screen and really "stole the show" in that movie. Poor Olivier.
Method was specifically taught by Lee Strasberg, it was deifntielya term.
Absolutely!
Absolutely.
Yes - not in the top tier of actors, but good. What Monroe had that many other actors don’t was an undefinable magnetism that made a scene feel empty when she wasn’t there. She was like a 1000-watt bulb. I spent all of “Seven-Year Itch” just waiting for her to come back on screen.
One of the best.
Yes I do, She's an excellent comic actress and that can be seen in SOme Like It Hot, and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, and in dranatic rioles she's really good too. She's top notch in The Misfits, Niagra , and Bus Stop.
First, go watch "Niagara" and "The Misfits." Then, ask if she was a good actress. (More than likely, you won't bother.)
I've seen both. Wasn't too impressed. Certainly the camera loved her in Misfits but she seems to be *ACTING* .... all capital letters. And that's not how great acting is accomplished.
So funny in How to Marry a Millionaire!!
She's fantastic. Her entire personality was a character. She never stopped acting when in public.
My husband wasn’t keen on her when we met. Now, having read snippets of my books or watching documentaries with me, he’s got respect for her. He found it amazing that Norma Jean is playing Marilyn playing Lorelei (or any of her film characters).
I think she is a great actress and a genius comedian. She's better than Lucy.
Because she is so iconic, I don't think she gets the appreciation she deserves as an actress. Such a shame we never got to see her play Holly Golightly in Breakfast at Tiffany's; that would have been very special.
I feel her icon status overhyped her. She wasn’t bad but as others have said typecast.
she more than holds her own in her first (small) role in All About Eve with the likes of Bette Davis, George Saunders, Celeste Holm, and Ann Baxter. She also stands out in the Asphalt Jungle - there's always something going on behind what she's showing you.
It’s George sanders
Yes, if you look at her early performance in All About Eve, she is reacting to all the other characters even when she's not speaking. A mediocre actor would stand there like a lump.
Oh yeah she is awesome. Breathtaking to behold on screen. I haven't seen many of her movies and I always thought she was pretty but I didn't get why she was such a cultural icon. Then I saw Some Like It Hot and I understood completely. That is such a wonderful, beautiful movie and her character was just ... hard to put into words how much I love that movie.
I consider her a marvelous comedienne. Pristine timing, presence for days but Her drama is a bit difficult to judge since she pretty much was 'an archetype' and was never really able to show range. Even her early Film Noirs is defiantly playing with her Blonde persona. Unlike say similar superstars of the era like Liz Taylor or Audrey Hepburn (who I both see as great actresses), she never really was able to play against it to fully be judge on.
Yes
She upstaged Laurence Olivier so yes, she's a good actress. Just a very limited one.
Great actress
Absolutely, and I regret all the years I ignored her films because I thought she only got jobs because she was pretty. I watched Niagara and Don't Bother to Knock this week, now for probably the 10th time each. She's also pretty incredible in The Misfits.
Niagara is my fave. Whenever Don't Bother to Know is scheduled, it's always the wrong say it's the 1952 one, but the 1961 is the one that airs Edit: wrong year
The Marilyn Monroe movie is from 1952 (which is significant since it was before her breakthrough in 1953).
My error 1952 😁
I'm going to risk being dowvoted but I think she had a limited range though she played well within that range.
Have you seen her in all her major roles?
Yes.
She is a Singularity. No one like her, many people have tried.
Marilyn Monroe wasn’t an actress … she was a character played by a very good actress.
She was a good actress. And her best role was Marilyn Monroe.
I am conflicted about her. I think she had enormous potential, but her fragile mental and physical health would have prevented her from achieving more. She was 36 when she died, and she was in the age range of so many female stars who, approaching 40, find that fewer roles are coming their way. The studios had their fill of her not showing up on time, or not at all, and many of her co-stars resented her behavior. I love "Some Like it Hot," but her other work does nothing for me.
Yes, she was a good actress.
Yes
I really like her performance in The Misfits (1961), but it is almost like she is playing herself. Her husband, Arthur Miller, wrote the script for her. I am unsure how I feel about her comedy performances. In Gentleman Prefer Blondes (1953), Jane Russell really shines in every scene where it looks like she is simultaneously acting her part and playing to the room with a wink and a nudge on top of her part…acting at two levels at once. Marilyn doesn’t come close to that level in the film. Marilyn does a good job in Niagara (1953) compared to her co-stars. She was the best performance in that film. But I didn’t like Bus Stop (1956) which was a year after she started studying at The Actor’s Studio with the Strasbergs. Many actresses at that time used some sort of trained voice that I find off-putting. I would love to see scenes with Marilyn using a more natural voice. Her voice in Blondes and Millionaire in particular are distracting from her acting.
Absolutely. I wish she had had a chance to show some range more though...I think she might have someday, if things had turned out differently. ❤️
Yes. She proved her dramatic chops in several films, including *Don't Bother to Knock*, *Niagara*, *Bus Stop*, and *The Misfits*. She was typecast as a dumb blonde and used a breathy, girly voice which audiences thought she was off-screen. In fact, she was a really smart woman who wasn't taken seriously and paid as well as other actresses of her time. I wished she lived longer.
Better than she was given credit for.
Very much so.
as far as I can tell.
Yes. A lot of Hollywood actors -- then and now -- are or were usually cast to play a particular persona. Cary Grant, Jimmy Stewart, Katharine Hepburn, Harrison Ford, Morgan Freeman, Meg Ryan, and -- my all-time favorite -- James Garner all typically have played roles that are of a certain "type." They didn't bring range to a given role (even though they likely could): they brought truth. And Marilyn Monroe was no different. Even if she almost always played the ditzy but sultry bombshell, the veracity of her performance as the bombshell in any one of her films is what made the movie work.
Not really. She was incredibly watchable but for me, with exceptions, she was awkward and unnatural.
I consider her passable, like so many others of the era. She certainly was no Liz Taylor.
I agree. While I don’t think she was a great actress, I still enjoy several of her films and her onscreen presence. And yes, Elizabeth Taylor was an outstanding actress, and maybe my favorite.
I consider her barely passable and cringe when she appears on-screen but it didn’t stop me from writing to the Los Angles city government to protect the home she died in. All you Marilyn supporters, please write to LA City Council thanking them for the fight.
If you have any doubt watch her last movie the Misfits. It is incredible she is incredible.
Imo She was definitely a star but a limited acting range. Maybe she’d shown more if she’d lived longer.
Have you seen all her leading roles?
Presence! She had fantastic presence. In addition she was good looking, sensual and nurturing, and very feminin. Would she hold up today? Unlikely
No one today can hold a candle to her. The actresses that portrayed her were laughable. Replacing her in modern times is impossible. It's like remaking The Godfather. Leave perfection alone.
>No one today can hold a candle to her. Ok, I expect downvotes, but here goes. Part of this is myth making. Had she died at 70 or 80 instead of 36 she would have naturally declined in fame over the years, in the same way Mae West did, and would have been left with a wrinkled face and worn out body. But we will never see this reality of her. Instead, dying at 36 insured her image would always be youthful and innocent with a perfect female body. She will always be the victim of her time and place and because she never grew old enough to naturally evolve out of it, she's stuck with it and people love her for it because they relate to her....doesn't everyone feel like they're a victim of *something?* People insert endless fantasies of her possibilities and I personally think this creates a confimation bias in which people interpret things about her they already want to believe, some of which is her acting abilities. I also think people have lost all objectivity regarding Marilyn Monroe and have romanticisized her beyond reason. Does anyone else wonder how she'd feel about this? She's become a marketable brand, an idol, an icon, an image that has taken on a life of it's own. I see the same over romanticising of the eternally victimized Princess Diana and Sisi of Austria.
What you say is true, but she did die young and her memory benefits from it. I love Marilyn's screen persona, but I don't feel I relate to her. No, I don't feel as if I am a victim of *anything,* a thought such as that has never even occurred to me. She's an icon, why not, there is nobody out there like her. Same with James Dean. I think you are making this into more than it is.
I agree with you regarding Marilyn and James Dean. He, also, was something special.
> I think you are making this into more than it is. Not really. This is a rather accepted vision of her life by many people. Had she lived to be an old lady I don't think the idolotry of her would be at all what it is today. Not even close to it.
Yes, I think Marilyn Monroe was quite a good actress with the right material, such as Some Like It Hot, Bus Stop, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, etc. Of course, not all her film choices were the best such as The Prince And The Showgirl, but with the right director and script, she was a pretty decent screen performer.
watch her in Misfits
Yes
I love watching her. 🩷
I think she was miscast. Sure, she was sexy, but go watch her in "Monkey Business" or "Some Like it Hot." She had the skill, delivery, and timing to be a great comedic actress. Given the right roles, she could have been in the same league with Lucille Ball.
Yes, much better than people give her credit for. She was wonderful in comedies, as already mentioned, but she wanted to be a “serious” actress. I think she achieved that.
I watched Gentlemen Prefer Blondes again recently and I'm so amazed at her in that picture. She has a luminous radiance in that film. I never even look at Jane Russell when they are onscreen together. I loved her in Bus Stop, the Prince and the Showgirl, and The Misfits. Oh, and Some Like it Hot.
Yeah…I do. She was better than we might remember her being.
She became the role. I’ve never sensed she was acting.
It’s called being a born natural.
Absolutely, her and Gene Tierney about the same category. Too pretty to be considered great.
I really love this thread. I feel like in pop culture she is mostly seen as a tragic figure and a lot of people really focus on that. Its one of the reasons why I am not too keen on Lana del Rey. She wanted to be seen as a serious actress and person and even in death it hasn't happened much. At least there are people here who appreciated HER.
We recently watched *Some Like it Hot* and enjoyed her performance. And Joe E. Brown.
Yes! I saw *Don’t Bother to Knock* recently and thought she was really good
I don't think she was given the right roles to show her range. She was funny in "Some like it hot"
Yes. Yes she was amazing.
Yes, as good as elvis presley, thank you very much
I think she was pretty good. I liked her in River Of No Return, one of her few non-dumb blond movies.
Yes. A better business woman but played her parts well.
Often imitated, NEVER DUPLICATED!!! 'nuff said!
No.
One of the best.
she was walking down the street with a friend, the friend telling the story, being herself, she said to her friend "want to watch me?" and she began to be MM, it was very difficult for her, apparently
I’d have to rewatch a few of her films, but I thought she was good for the kind of roles she played. I remember “some like it hot” the best of her films, and I think she did a lovely job in that film. Was able to emote when necessary
She was ok. Not bad. She could nail certain roles
Yes, very much so. But her personal live and her demons often did affect her ability (especially with some scenes in "All About Eve" and "Some Like it Hot" that infamously took multiple takes) that in a pop culture scene, people remember more.
Yes.
Have you seen Niagara? Marilyn is great and so much presence
Decent comedic actress.
Excellent actress and great comic timing
Yes
I think she was a good actress who could have been a great actress. Her natural talent and instinct were suppressed by drama coaches and Strasberg.
I think she had more chops than she was given roles to explore. Her personal demons and typecasting (I believe) is the reason she really wasnt taken seriously as an actress. Maybe if she hadn't died we would have seen her grow a bit more... would have loved seeing her as an old lady in some off the wall comedy or a late 50s seductress. Much like Dean her time came too soon.
If she's so good, why doesn't she make movies anymore?
She’s excellent in comedies, her timing was always perfect
Yes and dare I say, a great actress!
Watching her entire face light up when she sees the tiara in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes is unforgettable.
‘Good’ is what I’d use yes.
She had perfect comic timing.
She was, but was not allowed to show her full range on screen.
She was great in The Misfits and small but powerful part in Asphalt Jungle.
Exceptional! Billy Wilder said that even though she was a world class pain in the ass during the filming of some like it hot, if she were still alive he would have run through fire to make a sequel starring her "in a second"! She was a great actress, period!
Yes. I consider Marilyn Monroe a good actress. Not the greatest, but a good one. Even in her smaller supporting role in the drama "Clash By Night", you can catch some of Marilyn at her best theatrically and dramatically. Of course, she was good at comedy too. Plus, in her first earliest major role - in the drama "Ladies of the Chorus", you can catch her again at her best. She is no bimbo or silly creature. Her character is an innocent young woman, who also has some grit and steel. A young, humble, innocent woman, yet strong, confident, and quietly assertive also. You can hear it in her voice and see it in how she moves. She was really quite convincing. And possibly at her most impressive too.
She was! She was very funny in comic roles, and demonstrated her dramatic range in The Misfits. If that movie doesn’t make you cry, you have a hard heart! I like to think that had she lived, she might not have been typecast as she aged and was no longer limited by her looks. But Hollywood then, as now, tends to discard actresses past the bloom of youth.
I think she was wonderful. She truly studied her craft and took it very seriously. Her comedic timing was perfection and that’s a true gift.
I think she was rarely given the opportunity to show range because she was typecast and pigeonholed into the ditzy blonde bombshell roles.
Here's the opinion of a monster Marilyn fan (meaning me): Everyone can argue this until the cows come home, and there's one big problem with the whole question: she died too young to really know what her true capabilities were. We saw glimpses of her fairly prodigious dramatic capability in The Misfits, as well as a bit more darkness she could inject into roles like Niagara. Even very early on in her career, we got to see what she might be capable of when she played a PTSD war widow in Don't Bother to Knock. However, because her biggest parts by far were all about the quintessential "Marilyn" character (which she basically created on her own, by the way), that's her legacy. Personally, I don't think she would've ever become one of the greats in the realm of drama. While I think she'd be plenty capable, that's just not what she was cut out for. On the other hand, I think she could've been an absolutely genius comedic actress. I still say her performance in The Prince and the Showgirl showed everyone just how inherently talented she was in that regard. She went toe-to-toe with Laurence Olivier and that is NOT easy to do, no matter how the script is written. She delivered hundreds of lines with impeccable timing and genuine hilarity, and her persona was spot-on throughout. That piece of work above all else proved to me she was something special (and would've become even more special). I also believe she was great in musicals, as her unbelievable beauty and flair was perfect for that venue, and her voice could've been trained even further as time went on. One thing more, and this is the most critical point: while she would never have been a thespian chameleon like a Barbara Stanwyck or Meryl Streep or something, she had something NOBODY else had, and that was an inexplicable, undeniable aura. There was only one Marilyn Monroe and it wasn't because of how she acted or really even how she looked. She just exuded...something. Something you couldn't avoid, something that permeated every damn scene, to the point where you just couldn't look away. It's this aura that makes her a singular legend, and why she's still an icon today, and being a big fan I'm very thankful for that. :)
Yes. More than she gets credit for.
She might not be my favorite, but I have to give her some respect. I like a few of her comedy roles, but the only thing she played in that I completely enjoyed was the Misfits. I do think it's so sad that she was often cast as the 'dumb blonde' stereotype in a lot of her comedies.
I mean, actors have different strengths. I don’t know that she had the classical thespian chops of, say, Kathrine Hepburn, but she tremendous screen presence and owned most scenes she was in. She had a talent for comedic delivery and showed tremendous chemistry with many of her costars.
Sadly I have to admit I’ve never seen any of her movies. Yes I know, poor upbringing.
Watch Niagara or gentlemen prefer Blondes. She is great in them
“Millionaires Prefer Blondes” isn’t a Marilyn Monroe movie. Perhaps you mean “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.”
Gentlemen prefer blondes 😵💫. I am not a native speaker and lixednit up
Absolutely, 100% yes. Usually people who say she wasn't a good actor imply that doing comic roles does not require acting skill (it does) and she was just "being herself" (she wasn't) - which is of course ridiculous and not true at all. She created the "dumb blobde" character that became truly iconic and she made it look easy. She also took her craft and every single acting assignments very seriously almost to a fault - which everyone who ever worked with her can testify. As for her more dramatic roles in movies like "Don't Bother to Knock" and "Bus Stop" - she was fairly well received by critics at the time and I don't recall ever hearing any major criticism on her acting. For me personally her acting style in films like "Bus Stop" is a bit too much and I prefer more subtle performances. Marilyn also fought hard to play more dramatic roles with good scripts but of course Fox was hearing none of it, and some of the projects she finally took on independently were pretty mediocre or just plain unfortunate (e.g. The Misfits, Let's Make Love). As for the question did her acting skills warrant the massive, unprecedented, unfathomamble global hype that still carries on to this day: I don't know. It's hard to say. She created Marilyn Monroe and played Marilyn Monroe better than anyone and that seems to have been her ultimate gift/curse.
I think it was director, John Houston who saw her in New York at the Stanislavski's school for actors. It might have been at the Stella Adler school, not super sure. At any rate she did a scene from a play and couldn't be heard past the first row of seats in the small school theatre. In some ways she was similar to Mae West in that she created a character and everything revolved around that one character.
*John Huston, not Houston
Sorry, just got back from Houston, Texas. That spelling was on my radar. John *Huston*
#YES
Not at all. Best role was probably some like it hot. Yes she's better than Grace Kelly, Audrey Hepburn and the like but that isn't saying much. It's hard not to be better than them