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Preserving the Memory of Marilyn Monroe with Dignity and Grace

Posts Tagged with How To Marry A Millionaire

“HOW TO MARRY A MILLIONAIRE” 70TH ANNIVERSARY SCREENING EVENT!
Published October 19, 2023

“HOW TO MARRY A MILLIONAIRE” 70TH ANNIVERSARY SCREENING EVENT!

An event 70 years in the making!

HOW TO MARRY A MILLIONAIRE is celebrating seven decades since its world premiere next month at the Saban Theatre in Beverly Hills, formerly the FOX Wilshire. The film premiered on November 04, 1953, with a who’s who of attendees including Marilyn Monroe, Lauren Bacall, Humphrey Bogart, and Cecil B. DeMille, not to mention Debbie Reynolds, Mitzi Gaynor, Rock Hudson, Shelley Winters and more! Not only was it a star-studded premiere for the film, it was the second movie to premiere in the new technology CinemaScope.

To honor the occasion, the Los Angeles Historic Theatre Foundation is throwing a party on Saturday, November 04, 70 years to the day since the film premiered! The red-carpet event will open doors at 5:30pm for all the pre-show festivities including hosting a book signing with author, historian, and All Things Marilyn Podcast Co-Host Elisa Jordan with advance copies of her new book, HELLO, NORMA JEANE: THE MARILYN MONROE YOU DIDN’T KNOW, an exhibit of Marilyn Monroe memorabilia from the movie, cocktails with light food, and more to be announced in the coming days. The show begins promptly at 7:00pm followed by a panel conversation with special guests.

Marilyn Remembered Fan Club members are invited to the party and are receiving a very special discount code for entry. Tickets are on sale NOW! Enter the code MMR53 for the next 48 hours to receive $10 off your purchase price. There is more than one ticket price package available, starting at just $35. Tickets are available here.

The Saban Theatre is located on Wilshire at La Cienega in Beverly Hills with several parking options in the area to accommodate us all. You can even prepay your parking in the Larry Flynt Publications Building across the street as well as purchase your book in advance all through the ticketing platform prior to arrival.

While there is no dress code and we want everyone to join us, we do strongly encourage dressing in ’50s fun attire, fashion for the time, or go all out.

If you have any questions at all, please email event organizers at [email protected]

We will see you on the 4th!

MARILYN ON HER CO-STARS
Published September 7, 2022

MARILYN ON HER CO-STARS

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.”
Book by Ralph Roberts
MONROE AND TRAVILLA
Published June 8, 2020

MONROE AND TRAVILLA

 

Marilyn and Travilla

Legendary costume designer William Travlla worked with Marilyn on 8 of her movies made at FOX Studios. Which designs are some of your favourite??

“Don’t Bother To Knock”
“Monkey Business”
“Gentlemen Prefer Blondes”
“How To Marry A Millionaire”
“River Of No Return”
“There’s No Business Like Show Business”
“The Seven Year Itch”
“Bus Stop”


“Givenchy gave Audrey Hepburn a little black dress, Jean Louis made Rita Hayworth sizzle in “Gilda,” Adrian helped make Greta Garbo a goddess, and Marilyn had Travilla to flatter her natural assets. Travilla was a FOX contract designer who workd under wardrobe director Charles Le Maire. He personally crafted the clothes worn by Marilyn for both industry functions and in the majority of her FOX films after she was elevated to star status. They had a friendly personal relationship, and unlike Garbo, who later told Adrian that she never liked the clothes he designed for her, Marilyn was delighted to be dressed by Travilla.”
~‘Marilyn Monroe: Platinum FOX’ by Cindy De La Hoz.

MOVIE MEMORIES: HOW TO MARRY A MILLIONAIRE
Published November 4, 2019

MOVIE MEMORIES: HOW TO MARRY A MILLIONAIRE

How to Marry a Millionaire is a 1953 American romantic comedy film directed by Jean Negulesco and written and produced by Nunnally Johnson. The screenplay was based on the plays The Greeks Had a Word for It by Zoë Akins and Loco by Dale Eunson and Katherine Albert

On November 4th 1953, “How To Marry A Millionaire” made its big screen debut at the Fox Wilshire Theatre (now the Saban Theatre), in Beverly Hills. Marilyn turned up on the arm of Nunally Johnson who wrote and directed the film, alongside Lauren Bacall and Humphrey Bogart. Betty Grable was not in attendance that night.

 

L-R Bogart, Bacall, Johnson, Monroe

Marilyn, looking every inch the Hollywood icon that night, had borrowed a white crepe de Chine dress covered in rhinestones and finished the look off with long white gloves and an item from her own personal wardrobe, a white fur stole. Between her hairdresser Gladys Rasmussen and make up man Whitey Snyder, it took them 6 hours to prepare her for the evening. Marilyn glowed that night, it was a triumph from start to finish and Monroe was quoted as saying that it was “the most beautiful night of her life.”

PLOT:

They’re three beautiful models, looking for the man… and the money of their dreams!  Almost broke, they pool their funds to rent a posh Manhattan penthouse in which they plan to lure their victims.  But the gold diggers’ plans suddenly go awry when two of them fall for men who appear to be poor!

Trying to stop each other from marrying the wrong guy, Monroe, Grable and Bacall deliver their finest comedic performances of their careers.  And they learn that a rich man is actually worthless — unless you’re in love with him!

FUN FACTS:

* “How To Marry A Millionaire” went on to be the 4th highest grossing movies of 1953 and earned itself these award nominations:

‘Academy Awards – Best Costume Design: Colour’

‘Writers Guild Of America Award – Best Written Comedy.’

‘British Academy Of Film Awards – Best Film Of Any Source.

* This was 20th Century-Fox’s first CinemaScope feature, but it was not released until after “The Robe” (1953).

* During the exterior shots at the beginning of the movie, the camera pans up to a street sign that reads “Sutton Place” outside the building where the girls rent their apartment. Marilyn Monroe actually lived at 2 Sutton Place on the Upper East Side. She shared a penthouse apartment there with her husband, playwright Arthur Miller.

* Lauren Bacall’s character, Schatze, says, “I’ve always liked older men . . . Look at that old fellow what’s-his-name in “The African Queen” (1951). Absolutely crazy about him.” She is referring to Bacall’s then real-life husband, Humphrey Bogart.

* When Pola (Monroe) is modeling the red swimsuit, the description given of the outfit is: “You know, of course, that diamonds are a girl’s best friend.” Marilyn Monroe sings the number “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend” in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953), which was released the same year as this film.

* At one point Betty Grable’s character, Loco Dempsey, hears a song by bandleader Harry James on the radio but doesn’t recognize it. James was Grable’s husband in real life.

* Hollywood legend has it that Marilyn Monroe, who had already rocketed to major stardom in Gentleman Prefer Blondes (1953), was befriended during filming by Betty Grable who offered her this encouragement: “Honey, I’ve had mine. Go get yours.”

* George Chakiris who won an Oscar for his role in “West Side Story” appears briefly in the dream sequence involving Marilyn and her beau Alex D’arcy.

* As of October 2019, “How To Marry A Millionaire” has an average rating of 6.9/10 on imdb.com

MARILYN’S WARDROBE:

Marilyn and her co-stars wear an array of stunning outfits designed by Oscar winning designer William Travilla, who was also responsible for creating Monroe’s white dress from “The Seven Year Itch” and the ‘Diamonds Are A Girls Best Friend‘ dress from “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.”

MEMORIES OF MARILYN:
Lauren Bacall:

“She wasn’t easy – often irritating. And yet I couldn’t dislike Marilyn. She had no meanness in her – no bitchery. She just had to concentrate on herself and the people who were there only for her.”

Betty Grable:

“It may sound peculiar to say so, because she is no longer with us, but we were very close. Once when we were doing that picture ‘How To Marry A Millionaire’ together, I got a call on the set: my younger daughter had had a fall. I ran home and the one person to call was Marilyn. She did an awful lot to boost things up for movies when everything was at a low state; there’ll never be anyone like her for looks, for attitude, for all of it. “

David Wayne:

“Negulesco (the Director) was very good with her and handled her beautifully. Of course she was always late, but I don’t think either Betty Grable or Lauren Bacall minded her. They were tough old pros and knew their business. There again, I also recall Marilyn being quite capable in her scenes with the other two girls. I wasn’t necessarily in the scene with them, but I’d sit next to Negulesco and watch the three of them work and by that time I thought that Marilyn had got a little technique under her belt.”

Nunnally Johnson:

“The two Bettys have gone out of their way to help, and make friends with Marilyn, but Miss Monroe is generally something of a zombie. Talking to her is like talking to somebody underwater. She’s very honest and ambitious and is either studying her lines or her face during all of her working hours, and there is nothing whatever to be said against her, but she’s not material for warm friendship.”

 

CRITICS’ RESPONSE:
“Betty Grable, Lauren Bacall and Marilyn Monroe give off the quips and cracks, generously supplied by Nunnally Johnson, with a naturalness that adds to their strikingly humorous effect, making the film the funniest comedy of the year”  (NEW YORK DAILY NEWS)

 “The big question, ‘How does Marilyn Monroe look stretched across a broad screen?’ is easily answered. If you insisted on sitting in the front row, you would probably feel as though you were being smothered in baked Alaska. Her stint as a deadpan comedienne is as nifty as her looks. Playing a near-sighted charmer who won’t wear her glasses when men are around, she bumps into furniture and reads books upside down with a limpid guile that nearly melts the screen….How To Marry A Millionaire is measured, not in squire feet, but in the size of the Johnson-Negulesco comic invention and the shape of Marilyn Monroe – and that is about as sizable and shapely as you can get.”  (NEW YORK HERALD TRIBUNE)

“It is particularly noteworthy that Miss Monroe has developed more than a small amount of comedy polish of the foot-in-mouth type.” (NEW YORK POST)

THE MARILYN MONROE SITE AND THE MARILYN MONROE COLLECTION:

“Marilyn Remebered”‘s very own Greg Schreiner and Scott Fortner are the proud owners of several items relating to “How To Marry A Millionaire” as documented here:

THE MARILYN MONROE SITE: THE COLLECTION OF GREG SCHREINER
http://www.themarilynmonroesite.com/

A flowing purple gown, designed by Oscar winning designer William “Billy” Travilla, worn for Marilyn’s dance scene with Lauren Bacall in the penthouse apartment.  Ultimately, this scene was cut from the final production.  However, there are several photos of Marilyn wearing this costume.

The original hat to a costume designed by William “Billy” Travilla for Marilyn to wear in the film’s fashion show. However, Marilyn’s obvious dislike of this outfit was shown in her test shot for the film, indicated by her hand being placed over her face. Ultimately, this costume was worn by an extra in the fashion show. All that remains of the original costume is this hat.

THE MARILYN MONROE COLLECTION: THE COLLECTION OF SCOTT FORTNER
http://themarilynmonroecollection.com/

Marilyn-Monroe-White-Fox-MuffA fantastic white fox fur muff with white satin lining.  When it came to the premiere, the grand party or the big event, Marilyn had a sure sense of her own image, and dressed as she believed a film star should.  This meant long white kid gloves, waterfall earrings of rhinestone and pearls, and the ultimate allure of white or black fur.  Furs were for evening and for being a star.

Marilyn wore this fur on the following occasions:

The world premiere of “How To Marry A Millionaire”  –  November 4th, 1953

Marilyn-Monroe-White-Fox-Muff-2

Marilyn Monroe’s Personal Script
How To Marry A Millionaire

Marilyn Monroe’s personal working script for How To Marry A Millionaire dated 5 November 1952, annotated in Marilyn Monroe’s hand. 119 pages of mimeographed typescript with blue paper covers printed with the film’s original title The Greeks Had a Word For It, including several pages of script revisions.

Marilyn-Monroe-Personal-Script-How-To-Marry-A-Millionaire

Many pages have the part for Marilyn’s character “Pola” circled in pencil, the reverse of the last page annotated in Monroe’s hand in pencil:

Marilyn-Monroe-Personal-Script-How-To-Marry-A-Millionaire-2

“Anna, know my yaps, How does she look, a loose-ness, shoulders hang, let the thought say it, drawing from partner.”

Marilyn-Monroe-Personal-Script-How-To-Marry-A-Millionaire-1

A Marilyn Monroe, Lauren Bacall, Betty Grable and How to Marry a Millionaire Cast Autographed Purse

An ivory colored vintage purse, designed by Theodore California, with autographs from the cast of “How to Marry a Millionaire,” including Marilyn Monroe, Lauren Bacall, Betty Grable, Cameron Mitchell, Rory Calhoun, Fred Clark,  Percy Helton, William Powell, Alexander D`Arcy, and David Wayne.  The autographs were collected by a member of the film’s production crew named Annette.  Both Marilyn Monroe and Betty Grable personalized their autographs by writing, “To Annette.”


 

Sources:

Main


http://themarilynmonroecollection.com/
imdb.com
“Blonde Heat: The Sizzling Screen Career Of Marilyn Monroe”
“Marilyn Monroe: Platinum FOX

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