Actress Christina Hendricks, whose breakthrough role in TV’s Mad Men drew comparisons to Marilyn, is praised by Film Journal‘s David Noh for her latest performance as Brenda, a woman suspected of killing her husband in Crooked House, a new movie adaptation of an Agatha Christie murder mystery.
“Hendricks seems to be seriously channeling Marilyn Monroe at her most on-the-verge, and it’s a highly apt—given the film’s era—if easy choice. Again, [Julian] Fellowes’ conception of her character is on the sketchy side, but Hendricks, with her soulful pools for eyes, possesses a deeply human quality that lends depth where there was none on the scripted page.”
The stunning red-haired actress, best known as sexy, ambitious Joan Holloway on TV’s Mad Men, speaks to Paradeabout those Monroe comparisons:
“I don’t think any woman in the world could get tired of being compared to Marilyn Monroe. It is embarrassing, though, because I think that I could never hold a candle, but it is also incredibly flattering, and she’s someone I admire greatly. So it’s always a really nice thing to hear.”
Set in the New York advertising world at the dawn of the sixties, Season 2 of Mad Men references MM’s life and impact in depth. In Episode 6, ‘Maidenform’, the creatives devise a campaign slogan for Playtex bras, ‘Are you a Jackie or a Marilyn?’
And episode 9, ‘Six Months Leave’, explores the differing reactions of the characters to Monroe’s death. In a pivotal scene, Joan’s sadness reveals a hitherto unseen vulnerability behind her glamorous persona.
The movie plans were first reported in the Scottish Heraldin May:
“At the time of writing, O’Hagan reports that director Stephen Soderbergh (Traffic, Ocean’s Eleven) is in the frame. They are even negotiating sequel rights for reasons we shall come to later. Meanwhile, rumour has it that George Clooney wants to play Frank Sinatra – Ol’ Blue Eyes gave Marilyn Maf, short for Mafia Honey, in November 1960 – opposite Scarlett Johansson as the angel of sex herself, although O’Hagan confides that his own heart is set on the ‘delicious’ Christina Hendricks (Joan in Mad Men). We agree, however, that Maf, who was Marilyn’s constant companion for the last two years of her life, who ‘breathed the secrets of her pillow’, should be voiced by only one actor, O’Hagan’s friend Ewan McGregor.”
This sounds promising, though I do wonder if the book’s subtle whimsy will translate on film. Judging by some of the reader reviews on Amazon, not everyone was as charmed by Maf the Dog as me.
But I suspect this all depends on your preconceptions about Marilyn (O’Hagan is positively rapturous about her), and your willingness to suspend disbelief and accept a canine narrator.
Two other MM-related movies are currently in the works: an adaptation of Joyce Carol Oates’ Blonde, starring Naomi Watts; and My Week With Marilyn, based on Colin Clark’s memoir, with Michelle Williams.
Who knows how these projects will turn out, but I’ve read all the books that they’re based on, and Maf’s story is easily my favourite of the three!
