Posts Tagged with Niagara

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOSEPH COTTEN


Happy Birthday to Jospeh Cotten, one of Hollywood’s greatest character actors.  Cotton had a lengthy career in Hollywood spanning 5 decades, some of his biggest film credits include: “The Third Man,” “Citizen Kane,” “Airport ’77,” “Portrait Of Jennie” and of course the 1953 film noir thriller “Niagara,” in which he co starred opposite Marilyn Monroe in her first major starring film role.


Cotton spoke fondly of Marilyn, once remarking:
“Everything that girl does is sexy. A lot of people – the ones who haven’t met Marilyn – will tell you it’s all publicity. That’s malarkey. They’ve tried to give a hundred girls the same publicity build up. It didn’t take with them. This girl’s really got it!”

Happy birthday Mr Cotten!

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PROJECTIONS: MARILYN MONROE’S ON SCREEN PERSONA


16 April 2018 – 30 April 2018
Mondays 7-9pm

Freud Museum, London. United Kingdom, 20 Maresfield Gardens, Hampstead, London NW3 5SX

PROJECTIONS: Marilyn Monroe’s onscreen persona

Three Week Evening Course

Norma Jeane Baker transformed into Marilyn Monroe inside Hollywood’s ravenous glare. She began her entertainment career as a pinup model and soon secured her place as a bona fide international movie star. The ever-luminous Marilyn stole every scene she appeared in; many cinema scholars equate Monroe with the essence of the art form itself, due to the magic she invariably conjured up on the silver screen. She possessed an instinctive and sophisticated understanding of how to construct memorable images, and was not afraid of being vulnerable in her artistic process.

But beauty, talent and success did not diminish the pain of emotional difficulties Marilyn lived through. Abandoned in childhood by her parents, she experienced the vagaries of fame in her professional life, was bullied by powerful studio bosses, had three unsuccessful marriages and endured fertility problems, turning to alcohol and pills to cope with debilitating neuroses. Beneath the social mask of cheerful joie de vivre, Marilyn suffered enormously – and had the wherewithal to channel sorrow into her craft, evident in her interest in psychoanalysis and reliance on Method Acting to deliver authentic performances. Her untimely death at the age of 36 did not stop the ascension of her star in popular culture; quite the opposite, film experts and amateurs alike see her as a modern-day Aphrodite.

In this new PROJECTIONS series, we will examine the creation of Marilyn Monroe’s onscreen persona, and the psychological underpinnings that shaped not only how she projected herself, but also the ways in which film audiences continue to respond to her. We will consider the symbolism contained in Marilyn’s most famous film characters within three categories: the origins of her celebrity, the establishment of her icon, and a burning desire to disrupt widespread perceptions of who she was.

Advance viewing is optional, select scenes and montages will be shown during weekly sessions (see filmography below).

Week 1 – A STAR IS BORN

Ladies of the Chorus (1948), All About Eve (1950), Monkey Business (1952), Niagara (1953)

Week 2 – ICONIC PERFORMANCES

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953), How to Marry a Millionaire (1953), The Seven-Year Itch (1955), Some Like It Hot (1959)

Week 3 – ROCKING THE BOAT

Bus Stop (1956), The Prince and the Showgirl (1957), Let’s Make Love (1960), The Misfits (1961)

https://www.freud.org.uk/events/77120/projections-marilyn-monroes-onscreen-persona/

Published

‘NIAGARA’ TURNS 65


This week marks 65 years since the release of the 1953 film noir thriller ‘Niagara’ starring Marilyn Monroe, Joseph Cotton, Jean Peters and Directed by Henry Hathaway.

“Marilyn Monroe and Niagara, a raging torrent of emotion that even nature can’t control!” read the tag line on billboards and advertisements.  Twentieth Century FOX pulled out all the stops on what was to be Marilyn’s first starring role in a major motion picture.

The official synopsis of the movie reads as follows:
“The splendour of both Niagara falls and Marilyn Monroe enhance this taut tale about a faithless wife plotting against her husband.  Joseph Cotten stars as George Loomis, a disturbed Korean war veteran staying at Niagara Falls with his wife, Rose (Monroe).  Thoroughly sensuous and constantly scheming, Rose intends to kill her husband and run off with her lover.  But first she is going to drive George mad by flaunting herself before anyone who will notice.”

Marilyn Monroe enjoyed a good working relationship with her co-stars, in particular with her leading man, Joseph Cotton:
“I enjoyed her company. I enjoyed working with her,” Cotten said about working with Marilyn Monroe in her first starring role. He said she had an appetite for laughter and was aware of her sense of humor describing her as a “pretty clown.  Cotten recalls hearing about her death and receiving a phone call from the Associated Press for a comment.  “At first I was sure it had to be an accident. Such buoyancy of spirit, such sparkling anticipation, such a happy and comic attitude would deny support to any theory,” he wrote. “But she had such moments of fear and insecurity….As to all the other furtive theories-cover-up, murder, etc. – I have no knowledge or interest in such sordidness. I knew and acted with Marilyn Monroe. I am proud of having that privilege.”

Director Henry Hathaway also had kind words to say about working with Marilyn, on two seperate occassions, he was quoted as saying  “She’s the best natural actress I’ve directed.  And I go back.  I worked with Barbara LaMarr, Jean Harlow, Renee Adoree–right up to today.  And she’s the greatest natural talent.  Wait ’til you see her in this picture!”
“Marilyn was marvellous to work with, very easy to direct and terifically ambitious to do better.  And bright, really bright.  She may not have had an education, but she was naturally bright.”

‘Niagara’ was first released in theatres on January 21st 1953 and grossed a healthy $2.35 million return on an outlay of $1,670,000 during its initial run.  Today it is still among Marilyn’s most popular films.

Happy birthday ‘Niagara!’

To purchase a copy of the movie, simply head here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Niagara-DVD-Marilyn-Monroe/dp/B007JV73EY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1516716834&sr=8-1&keywords=niagara