There are three- yes three- biographical movies in talks about the legendary blonde bombshell and ultimate sex symbol of the big screen, Marilyn Monroe, born Norma Jeane Baker in 1926. Of course, there’s so much to consider for a single film given her troubled personal life of a dysfunctional childhood, growing up in and out of foster care, intense drug abuse, her love-hate relationship with Hollywood (and vice versa), multiple, controversial marriages (James Dougherty, a small-town war hero, when she was just sixteen in 1942; baseball Hall-of-Famer Joe DiMaggio in a physically and mentally abusive relationship in 1954; and American playwright genius Arthur Miller in 1956), as well as those supposedly notorious love affairs with political giants like John F. Kennedy and Robert Kennedy.
At 36 years old, Monroe succumbed to a drug overdose in 1962, as films like Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Bus Stop, All About Eve, and Some Like It Hot (the last earned her a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy) continue to propel her to pop icon status today. Not to mention, there’s that infamous scene from Seven Year Itch that is continuously parodied and paid homage, where Monroe’s character coos and moans while enjoying the cool, upwind over a subway grate, flaunting her curvaceous figure in an unforgettable pleated white halter dress, revealing her white panties underneath. Only Monroe could make the stale, foul breeze of the New York City subway system seem something sensual and erotic. Beyond the silver screen, Monroe’s style has influenced bombshell-esque celebrities throughout history like Madonna, Christina Aguilera, Scarlett Johansson, Christina Hendricks, Lindsay Lohan, Katy Perry, and countless others in music videos and red carpets all over the world. Needless to say, these are mighty big high heels to fill, especially when you consider that said three films are very different, challenging pieces.
Blonde is a movie based on the provocative novel by Joyce Carol Oates. However, this book (which I’ve been spending my entire summer reading- all 700+ pages of the hardcover) is a fictional and very thorough account of Monroe’s life starting from the early hardships of her tumultuous childhood until her tragic death. Academy-Award nominated actress, Naomi Watts, of King Kong and The Ring, has landed the lead role. Right off the bat, this seems like a good fit. As Watts is known for her serious roles, the respected actress is a qualified candidate to take on this part, especially under the direction of Andrew Dominik, who wrote and directed The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. Additional information on details of the cast, including who may play the roles of any of Monroe’s husbands, have not been released. Back in 2001, Blonde was adapted into a forgettable made-for-television mini-series starring Poppy Montogomery, of TV’s recent Without A Trace. I’m hoping that Watts and Dominik can make for a more successful combination of storytelling because there is a lot to live up to given Oates’ intriguing and alluring account.
However, film number two, which is currently in production, is My Week with Marilyn, starring another Academy-Award nominated actress, the lovely Michelle Williams, possibly the only Dawson’s Creek graduate worth paying attention to anymore. With Simon Curtis at the directorial helm, the film chronicles the very publicized difficulties that occurred while Monroe was making the comedy The Prince and The Showgirl with Sir Laurence Olivier as her co-star and director in England in 1957. IMDB.com reports that Kenneth Branagh is currently taking on the part of Olivier, whereas other research has found that Ralph Fiennes was previously in contention for the part. Current members of the cast also include the always-outstanding Dame Judi Dench and this year’s Tony-Award winner, newcomer, Eddie Redmayne. Also, rumors were that Scarlett Johansson was the first pick to play Monroe, but did not accept the project. As you could see by recent press shots of Williams attending the Venice Film Festival, her blonde hair is bleached á la Marilyn, and I think, she most closely resembles the fated starlet.
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Before we get to the third film, I need to mention the irony here in the few degrees that separate Williams and Watts as leading ladies of Hollywood. Both were once involved with the posthumous Academy-Award winning actor, the late Heath Ledger who died in January of 2008 of an accidental drug overdose. Of course, we know that Monroe died of an accidental drug overdose too. Ledger and Watts were involved for over a year, and he accompanied Watts to the 2004 Oscars, in which she was nominated for her performance in 21 Grams. Two years later, with all the hype behind Brokeback Mountain, Ledger and Williams were both nominated for the prestigious award, also celebrating the birth of their daughter, Matilda, just months before. You just can’t have an article about the two actresses and not mention the connection. Where’s Kevin Bacon when you need him?!
Anyway, one might wonder, how does Angelina Jolie fit into this duo of Marilyn portrayals? Well, she doesn’t anymore. Thank goodness! The Andrew O’Hagan novel The Life And Opinions Of Maf The Dog, And Of His Friend Marilyn Monroe is in talks to become a motion picture. Rumors swirled out of control that Jolie was the actress in mind to personify Monroe, but last month, all was completely denied. Although Jolie has shown her range with Changeling, A Mighty Heart, and her Academy-Award winning role in Girl, Interrupted, she’s a rather unsettling and disagreeable choice for the part, despite the blonde ‘do she sported in Life or Something Like It. O’Hagan’s book won’t hit shelves in the United States until December of this year, but is currently all the rage across the pond. It is told through the eyes of Monroe’s beloved dog, Mafia Honey (“Maf” for short), a gift that she received from Frank Sinatra in 1960. Although no other details could be found at this time regarding the film, E! reported that George Clooney was in mind to play Sinatra. I certainly won’t rule him out for the part, but as long as Jolie is out for Monroe, along with the present day Monroe look-alike Johansson, maybe we should just let the novel thrive on bookshelves, Kindles, and Nooks everywhere, while the other two films run amuck.
This isn’t the first time opposing studios in Hollywood have simultaneously presented the same story twice. Take 2006’s Capote and Infamous, which take viewers into the life of American author Truman Capote, as the latter had the all-star cast of Sigourney Weaver, Sandra Bullock, Daniel Craig, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Isabella Rossellini. The lead was played by little-known English actor, Toby Jones. Infamous went by virtually under the radar for mainstream movie-goers, as Philip Seymour Hoffman’s brilliant and Oscar-winning performance in Capote swept all the awards that season. Also, we can’t forget all those massive end-of-the-world films like 1998’s Deep Impact and Armageddon, along with the so-so Dante’s Peak and Volcano in 1997. Of course, there are a million ways to tell a story, but at the same time, how many ways can a good story be told? I’ll surely be catching all three of these flicks at some point, but I hope that each can stand as their own separate entities that embrace the complicated and evocative story behind Hollywood’s most iconic invention: Marilyn Monroe.
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