Billy Wilder had a notoriously difficult time directing Marilyn Monroe, and yet he knew that if he wanted movie magic, he had to put up with her neuroses.
Here are his words, from Cameron Crowe’s Conversations with Wilder
“Whatever she threw away, we printed it, and it was very good. It was very, very good. She had a kind of elegant vulgarity about her. That, I think, was very important. And she automatically knew where the joke was. She did not discuss it. She came for the first rehearsal, and she was absolutely perfect. She had a feeling for and a fear of the camera. Fright. She also loved the camera. Whatever she did, wherever she stood, there was always that thing that comes through. She was not even aware of it.”
Below is a photo of Monroe. Out of the thousands of them in existence … this one is my favorite.
“a feeling for and a fear of the camera”
and that photo demonstrates those two elements perfectly.. there’s a tangible ‘why on earth are you looking at me?’ quality to her expression.
also a fear of how much the camera reveals. she knew that cameras don’t just record faces – they pick up your soul.
I love, too, his comment: “she always knew where the joke was”.
She doesn’t get enough props for how damn funny she was – and naturally. No one had to direct her to be funny – that sensibility was always there.
On how much the camera reveals.. I think that’s where I’d disagree with Billy Wilder.. I think she was very aware of that.. at least most of the time.
And she clearly had brilliant natural comic timing.. whether she always understood and appreciated that aspect of her ability fully is a different matter.
Aware of it – perhaps – but I think he’s saying she didn’t need to generate it. It wasn’t conscious, or manipulated. The camera started rolling and there was that thing. She HAD it.
If you see her in All About Eve, which she did before she was famous – she had a glorified cameo – she had it. The scene is full of GIANTS of the movies – and all you can look at is the blonde on the guy’s arm. This is not just because she’s Marilyn Monroe and retrospect makes you look at her … Bette Davis saw the rushes of that one scene, and the writing was on the wall. Alex – what was the story – she saw the rushes and said, “Okay – we need to re-shoot, and you need to move her out of the center of the frame … because no one will listen to a word I’m saying as long as that creature is sharing the screen with me.” Bette Davis knew!
You see pictures of her, candid photos in her acting classes – no spotlights, no makeup, she’s wearing a sweatshirt, she’s in a room full of people … and that thing is still there.
It’s like she carried around her own spotlight. THAT is something that cannot be taught, bought, manipulated, blah blah blah …
I do think she had a craft, though, peteb – and maybe that’s part of what you’re referring to – a film acting craft. Yes, she was very conscious of what she was doing there. She was not just a bombshell, a pretty girl – not at all.
Yeah, the craft element was what I had in mind, Sheila.. an essential addition to the natural ability. Although the Wilder comment seems to suggests that she wasn’t aware of the natural ability element.. although perhaps I’m taking it too ‘literally’..
There was a comment I made some time back on a post about a terrible comedian you had seen – about how some performers try to wing it without developing their craft, and sometimes without even the natural ability.
I guess my impression has always been that she didn’t have the necessary confidence in her own craft.
No, she didn’t which is why – at the height of her success – she left Hollywood and moved to New York to study acting full time.
Can you imagine a major movie star doing that??
Hard to picture.
also, peteb – one of my favorite stories of Marilyn is this:
She was walking with a friend on a crowded New York sidewalk. She had a scarf over her head, sunglasses on, a big coat – she was completely incognito. She was a massive star and NOBODY looked at her. She was the kind of star who was mobbed when she went out in public – but there she was, just another New Yorker. She had that ability to turn off “that thing” that happened when the camera was on her.
The friend was amazed at this. “It’s so weird … nobody is looking at you …”
Marilyn grinned slyly and said, “Do you want to see her?”
“Her” meaning “the girl who is famous”. She referred to “her” in the third person. Fascinating.
The friend said Yes – Marilyn took off the scarf, and glasses – and it seemed like all she did was make a slight adjustment in her face – or something magical – Some magical transformation came – but from INSIDE not from WITHOUT – and suddenly passersby started nudging and staring, and within 5 minutes she was surrounded by a crowd of autograph hounds.
It’s the fact that she was able to turn it on from INSIDE and didn’t rely on costumes or outer trappings that is the real genius of her.
Wilder said that about her, too – “She was not a clothes horse. She wasn’t one of those actresses who cared what you put them in, who obsessed over her costumes … Her only requirement was that it showed a little something.”
That’s an amazingly revealing story, Sheila.. on natural talent and on craft.. and, as you say, with the retreat to NY, how she didn’t trust her own ability.
She could shine.
i have such profound feelings whenever i see photos of her…i can’t describe them.
You know, I was talking with a friend the other day about Marilyn and we were trying to come up with the name of somebody – anybody – since her who has that magical presence she had. The kind where you just can’t take your eyes off of her. It wasn’t just her looks. It was her style, her poise, the way she carried herself. All of it together to make this one unforgettable MOVIE STAR. I couldn’t think of anyone comparable in modern times.
I know what you mean, Emily. She has no peers. There is no appropriate comparison.
I don’t have the words to talk about Marilyn… she is a part of my life, as if she were a member of my family.
When I was only a child I happened to look at one of her pictures before she was famous (it was a photo of her Jones Beach session with André de Dienes in 1949) and just like Beth said: I had all kinds of undescribable emotions. I was 11 years old; I’m 32 now and those emotions are still there.
I cannot judge her acting (I am no actor) but I LOVE it when you discuss that aspect of Marilyn, because it makes me see her in yet another light. Wonderful.
By the way: the pic you posted as your favorite just happens to be my personal favorite! That expression just says it all…
ceci –
Marilyn is one of my favorite topics. One of these days I need to do a huge Marilyn post. Get it out of my system. For the moment. :)
Not to put you under pressure, but I know that post will be one of my reading highlights of the year (whichever year you get to write it). :-)))