When Marilyn Met Doctor Who

Posted on January 4, 2011 by marina72




The cult BBC TV show, Doctor Who, briefly featured Marilyn in this year’s Christmas special. In a comic subplot, the time-travelling doctor (played by Matt Smith) almost marries Monroe:

“Guys we’ve really got to go quite quickly – I just accidentally got engaged to Marilyn Monroe.

Hello? Guys, she’s phoned a chapel, there’s a car outside, this is happening now!

Right. Fine. Thank you. I’ll just go and get married then shall I? Lets see how you like that.

Marilyn, get your coat!”

This surreal interlude inspired one Doctor Who fan to alter Marilyn’s biographical entry on Wikipedia (although sadly, this witty addition was later erased.)

Artwork by Seduff-Stuff




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The Art of Liz Grammaticas

Posted on January 4, 2011 by marina72




Another great portrait of Marilyn, inspired by Arnold Newman’s 1962 photo of Monroe at a friend’s house party.

Elizabeth Grammaticas

With poet Carl Sandburg




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Michelle Williams on Reading ‘Fragments’

Posted on January 3, 2011 by marina72




Michelle Williams, while filming 'My Week With Marilyn'

You just finished playing Marilyn. Was it amazing?
Many things — amazing being one of them. The movie (‘My Week With Marilyn’) takes place when she was making ‘The Prince and the Showgirl’ and married to Arthur Miller. I didn’t stop shooting that long ago, so I’ve still got one foot in it.

Did you read ‘Fragments,’ the book of Marilyn’s writings?
Oh, isn’t that a beautiful book? You know that was an auspicious day on set. We were filming at Park Side House, which is where she stayed when she was in London, and it was our first day there and it was the day the book came out and there are notes in the book written on Park Side House stationary.

Ever come home from work depressed?
Um, look, there is residue, always, always for me. No matter what the role, there’s some residue and rightly so, necessarily so. But my primary commitment in this world is my daughter and I cannot commit myself, not to say I haven’t, but I can’t stay there.

PopEater

Parkside House, photographed by MM fan




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Immortal Marilyn in January

Posted on January 3, 2011 by marina72




Updates this month include Fraser’s review of MM: The Personal Archive and another vintage article from Tony, ‘From Morn to Midnight With Marilyn’.




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New Year Movies in San Francisco

Posted on January 3, 2011 by marina72




With Louis Calhern in 'The Asphalt Jungle' (1950)

Two of Marilyn’s finest early movies are screening in San Francisco this month. You can catch The Asphalt Jungle (1950) at 6.30 tonight at the Excelsior Public Library, and Don’t Bother to Knock (1952) will be shown on January 22 at 9.30 pm as part of the Film Noir Festival at the Castro Theatre.




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Marilyn Souvenir ‘Bookazine’

Posted on January 2, 2011 by marina72




This 64-pp magazine special, published by Compendium, is exclusive to WH Smith stores in the UK, and is currently on sale for £3.99. The text, by Richard Havers, is abridged from his 2010 book, Marilyn in Words, Pictures and Music, and is presented in a red folder with six A5 postcards inside. (The CD included with Havers’ previous book is not available here.) The narrative is a potted biography, but the main attraction here is an eye-catching selection of photos. (Non-UK magazine collectors are advised to watch out for this on Ebay.)




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‘The Good Bad Girl’

Posted on January 2, 2011 by marina72




“Monroe was not born but became a blonde; blondeness is a state of ambivalent grace, to which anyone who wants it badly enough may aspire…The blonde’s physical fragility is, of course, only apparent. She must have a robust constitution to survive the arrows life deals her… The mythic role of the Good Bad Girl is, however, directly at variance with the real facts of her life, as all mythic roles are apt to be… The reality of her could never live up to her publicity.”

From an essay by the late British author, Angela Carter, in her 1979 collection, The Sadeian Woman: Exercises in Cultural History.

Read more




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Welcome to 2011!

Posted on January 1, 2011 by marina72




Photo by Bert Reisfield

“The full impact of this setting becomes apparent as Marilyn the screen star stands triumphant amid flashing sparklers. Even that spangle on the hem of her swim suit seems to add to the effect.”




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Misfits in Santa Monica

Posted on December 30, 2010 by marina72




Photo by Cornell Capa

The Misfits screens at the Aero Theatre, American Cinematheque, Santa Monica, on January 5th at 7.30pm, followed by Clark Gable’s 1936 blockbuster, San Francisco.

Part of ‘That Certain Something’ season, paying tribute to Hollywood’s greatest icons. An MM double-bill, featuring Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and The Seven Year Itch, will be shown later in January.




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Clare Maguire Influenced by Marilyn

Posted on December 29, 2010 by marina72




Marilyn with Marlon Brando at the Rose Tattoo premiere, 1955

UK singer Clare Maguire (Ain’t Nobody) talks about her cinematic inspirations:

Are there books or movies or anything other than music that inspire what you write?

The writing can be inspired by a conversation I hear in a pub or on a bus from everyday people. When I’m writing I have images – I think of it like a film. It’s a very visual process and fashion very much inspires me. Film too, like Marilyn Monroe, Marlon Brando, The Godfather, and Scarface. I am a huge fan of movies and I have always been obsessed with Marilyn. I think that my most ideal men in the world would be Marlon Brando and Jack Nicholson.

Black Book Magazine

Clare’s debut album, Light After Dark, will be released in February 2011.




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