Marilyn on her co-stars Jane Russell (from ‘Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.’) Betty Grable and Lauren Bacall (from ‘How To Marry A Millionaire.’)
” I had worked with a lot of women those first movies– Jane Russell, Betty Grable, Lauren Bacall. They were all wonderful, and I was in such awe of them. They were giants. Everybody expected such fireworks.
Jane and I had an immediate rapport.. I sure learned a lot from her. I also learned through her the importance of having friendly people around, the best artisans in the business.. Howard Hughes saw to that.
Betty was adorable. So funny and so witty, she kept all of us in stitches. Bacall showed a professionalism I found remarkable. She was always prepared, knew her lines and her character, but she wasn’t so rigid that she couldn’t improvise when something unexpected came up.”
Excerpt from “Mimosa: Memories of Marilyn & the Making of The Misfits.”
“Frank Sinatra! Marilyn Monroe! Never before teamed in a book, yet theirs was a seven-year friendship and on-and-off intimate relationship shrouded in secrecy and fraught with danger.
Frank Sinatra and Marilyn Monroe–here is the first book to bring these two all-American icons together. Their friendship and on-and-off intimate relationship, kept secret because of powerful others in their lives, spanned seven tumultuous years. At one point, he even proposed marriage.
In Frank & Marilyn, we follow Sinatra and Monroe from one explosive relationship to another, their marriages and love affairs eventually leading to a tangled relationship with each other, sparking a nasty rivalry between Frank and Marilyn’s ex-husband (and one-time friend of Frank), Joe DiMaggio.
Frank and Marilyn’s ultimately disastrous relationship with John F. Kennedy, his brother Robert, and their often ruthless family was a fatal move for Marilyn. Her death remains a controversial topic to the present day.
Dedicated biographer and entertainment world insider Edward Z. Epstein has spoken with many people who were familiar with the pair, all of whom talked about the Frank and Marilyn they knew–and the dangers they faced. It’s a fascinating, largely untold story that’s usually glossed over…until now.”
MICHELLE MORGAN, a name that in recent years has become a staple in every Marilyn fan’s vocabulary. Over on our “Marilyn Remembered” Facebook group, one of the most commonly asked questions is “what is your favourite Marilyn biography?” and an overwhelming amount of people will always answer with the same response: “Marilyn Monroe: Private And Undisclosed” by Michelle Morgan (2007). Not since Donald Spoto’s 1993 mammoth book titled “Marilyn Monroe: The Biography” have fans universally come together and heaped praise on such a well researched, loving tribute to Monroe’s life and career.
Michelle Morgan is no stranger to researching and writing about Miss Monroe, “When Marilyn Met The Queen” will be the author’s 6th title release in regards to Monroe’s life and legacy: “Marilyn’s Addresses” (1995) “Marilyn Monroe: Private And Undisclosed” (2007) “Before Marilyn” (2015) “The Girl: Marilyn Monroe, The Seven Year Itch And The Birth Of An Unlikely Feminist” (2016) and “The Little Book Of Marilyn” (2019) have all received rave reviews and the Marilyn community have come to trust Morgan as one of the most reputable Monroe authors out there.
“When Marilyn Met The Queen” has easily been the most highly anticipated book release on Marilyn’s life and career for a very long time. It’s hard to believe that such an iconic time period in Marilyn’s life has never been given the treatment it deserves (until now!) Marilyn Monroe had recently married Arthur Miller and whilst the two were honeymooning in London, Marilyn at the same time was filming “The Prince And The Showgirl,” the now legendary film because of the turbulent time Monroe and her co-star and director Laurence Olivier were going through. This entire time period of Marilyn’s life is fascinating, so it’s thrilling to finally say we have an entire book dedicated to it!
Of course, this book couldn’t have been written by just anyone… Michelle Morgan brings this time period to life in such a way that you can literally feel her passion for it coming through in each and every page. She says herself that this book was 30 years in the making… just knowing that makes you love this book all the more!
As with her previous books, Michelle Morgan does her research! and takes the time to interview people who have never been interiewed before! it’s a real indepth look at Marilyn’s life and career during the 4 month period of her time in England. You’ll learn so many new tidbits, anecdotes and stories from from people who actually around in 1956 and witnessed first hand what it was like to have a superstar like Monroe amongst them. And another reason why Michelle Morgan is so good at what she does? Her sources! You will literally gasp at the huge amount of sources accumulated for this book, spanning nearly 50 pages!
From a personal point of view, I myself am from the United Kingdom and I LOVE the fact that Marilyn spent as long as she did here. Michelle does a fantastic job of transporting you to the UK in 1956, making you feel like you were really there with her! I hope that other fellow UK fans take this book to their hearts as much as I have.
This book is an absolute must have for your collection.
In conclusion, a HUGE 5/5 Stars!
‘Marilyn Remembered’s very own Lorraine with her copy of When Marilyn Met The Queen
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Michelle Morgan is the author of many Hollywood related books, including “The Girl: Marilyn Monroe, The Seven Year Itch, and The Birth Of The Unlikely Feminist.” She has spoken at the National Portrait Gallery and the Victoria and Albert Museum; and appeared in several documentaries, including “Artists in Love: Marilyn and Arthur.” Michelle lives in Northamptonshire.
Barbara Diamond, the wife of I.A.L Diamond (Billy Wilder’s writing partner for ‘Some Like It Hot’ and other Hollywood classics) said this about THAT famous last line in the iconic 1950’s comedy:
“One of the results of the way they worked is that it was impossible for them to seperate one person’s work from the other. They honestly didn’t know who had written particular scenes or individual lines, and truthfully, they didn’t much care.
The one line that they did know about turned out to be the one that everyone asks about, “Nobody’s perfect.” When asked, Billy always said that it was a throwaway line of Mr Diamond’s and they had hoped overnight they would think of something better, and Iz never contradicted him. However, I have a different version of it. I wrote the scene the day before it was shot and left a copy here with me while he took it over to Billy. When he came back and asked me what I thought, I told him it was a great scene but the last line was weak. He said, “That’s what Billy thinks and you’re both wrong,’ and proceeded to tell me why.
First of all, audiences love being able to anticipate a joke. The dimmest members of the audience know that Jack’s last line is going to be “I’m a man,” and they are bracing themselves for the explosive reaction. Therefore the only way to surprise them is to have no explosion, and the flatter the line the better.
The laugh comes from the structure of the scene, not the particular line. Would ‘never mind’ have gotten as big a laugh as ‘nobody’s perfect?’ quite possibly.
One reason why Billy called it a throwaway line was because it had briefly been in the scene where Tony is explaining to Jack why he can’t marry Osgood and was taken out because it stepped on another joke. I don’t imagine it gets as big a laugh now as it used to, the element of surprise is gone.
Iz loved that scene. When we were all on a European publicity tour for the picture he used to sneak into the theatre to watch the last few minutes, just so that he could hear that roar of sheer delight as Daphne and Osgood sail into the sunset.
I don’t think he ever really thought of it as a throwaway.”
I.A.L (Iz) Diamond and Billy Wilder
Marilyn on her co-stars Jane Russell (from ‘Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.’) Betty Grable and Lauren Bacall (from ‘How To Marry A Millionaire.’)
