Some Like It Hot will be screened at 7 pm next Tuesday, February 12, at the Wildey Theater in Edwardsville, Illinois. Tickets cost $2 and will go on sale an hour before the movie.
It’s a testament to the enduring popularity of Some Like It Hot that this is my third consecutive post about a public screening. This time its on the outskirts of Chicago – where the movie is partly set – at the North Riverside Public Library next Wednesday, September 5, at 2 pm. No need to book in advance, and refreshments are provided.
A dress owned by Marilyn will be auctioned at the annual Hollywood Legends sale hosted by Julien’s in Las Vegas on June 23 to save a valuable collection of items belonging to her idol, Abraham Lincoln, as Ray Long reports for the Chicago Tribune. The dress is authenticated as it was previously listed in the famous Christie’s auction of Marilyn’s estate back in 1999, where it was purchased as an addition to the Lincoln collection. (I think it may be Lot 215, shown between two other black dresses on P160 of The Personal Property of Marilyn Monroe.)
“Struggling to pay back a loan used to buy Abraham Lincoln artifacts, the foundation that supports the 16th president’s library in Springfield [Illinois, Lincoln’s birthplace] is selling a black wool dress once owned and worn by movie star Marilyn Monroe.
The three-quarter-length, long-sleeved dress with a scooped neck is the centerpiece of nine items the Lincoln foundation is putting on the block … The auctioneer estimates the dress is worth $40,000 to $60,000, but could sell for much more.
It’s a windfall the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library Foundation could use. The group acquired the Monroe dress as part of a private collection of more than 1,000 items from Louise Taper 11 years ago. The foundation financed the purchase with the help of a $23 million loan … The foundation raised private money and whittled the debt down to $9.7 million, but officials said they’ve run into trouble on the loan, which comes up for renewal in October 2019 …
Proceeds from the auction of the non-Lincoln items, including the Monroe dress, seven photographs of the 1950s bombshell shot by noted photographer Arnold Newman, and a bust of Chicago poet Carl Sandburg that she owned, could help make the loan payments.”
Marilyn with Lincoln’s biographer Carl Sandburg, 1962
Marilyn takes a break during her trip to Bement with hairdresser Peter Leonardi at her side. Photo by Eve Arnold, 1955
Almost sixty-one years after Marilyn’s trip to Bement, Illinois – in honour of Abraham Lincoln’s visit a century before – the town’s mayor is repaying the tribute, WCIA3 reports. Pat Tiernan also owns a hair salon, and lives in the house where Marilyn stopped for a rest. Photographer Eve Arnold, who accompanied Marilyn that day, captured the moment – with MM’s own hairdresser, Peter Leonardi, also in the frame.
“Pat Tieman started cutting hair more than 20 years ago. The iconic face that’s all over Salon 101 has been around a lot longer than that.
He’s got a collection of things connected to Marilyn Monroe. Ever since he moved into the Marilyn Monroe house in town, people started giving him stuff, like articles about when she visited, pictures and collectibles.
‘She came to the home, she took a nap there, she rested up and soaked her feet because she was sick the day she came,’ said Tieman. ‘She had a kidney infection so her ankles had swelled.’
Now he knows that piece of history forward and backward. People started giving him plates, statues and other pieces with her picture. His shop reflects his passion.
Marilyn got paid $500 to make that appearance. We’re told she was very interested in seeing the Bryant Cottage, where Abraham Lincoln had been, while she was there.”
86 year-old George Purifoy of Franklin Park, Illinois, has shared his memory of meeting Marilyn during her 1954 USO tour of Korea with TribLive News.
“It’s 10 a.m., and the breakfast club of old friends meets at a Panera Bread restaurant in the North Hills. They come daily, to share news, discuss current events, drink coffee and listen to stories.
Purifoy, 86, of Franklin Park has many. They’re all there, his wife, Jane Purifoy, explains. But sometimes they need coaxing.
‘Tell the one about Marilyn Monroe,’ she says to her husband.
‘Where’s it start?’ he asks.
‘With Bob Hope,’ Jane Purifoy says.
‘Oh, yes,’ he nods. ‘OK.’
This story is set in Korea, where Purifoy was serving with the Air Force during the war.
Bob Hope visited the troops. He brought Marilyn Monroe. She toured a plane — specifically, Purifoy’s F-84 Thunderjet, a single-seat fighter he named ‘The Marilyn.’
He opened the canopy for her, explained the cockpit controls. She asked for a ride.
Problem was, Purifoy told her, it’s only got one seat. But there was a two-seater on the base, and he could fly her around in that one. So she got fitted for flying gear while George readied himself to take the legendary model, actress and American icon into the Korean skies.
Before they could take off, though, an old, grizzled major stopped him.
‘George, you know, I don’t usually do this,’ the major said. ‘But I’m going to pull rank on you today. I’ll fly her. But all is not lost. You can strap her in.’
marilyn visits Bryant Cottage, 1955 (Photo by Eve Arnold)
On August 6, 1955 – almost 61 years ago – Marilyn visited Bryant Cottage in Bement, Illinois, where her idol, Abraham Lincoln, had stayed while debating slavery with Senator Stephen Douglas in 1858. The anniversary of her visit will soon be commemorated, according to Illinois.gov:
“Bement will celebrate the 60th anniversary of Monroe’s visit with a photo exhibit and a display of Marilyn memorabilia.
The free photo exhibit at Bryant Cottage State Historic Site runs Aug. 6-9.
On Aug. 8, the owners of the home where Monroe stayed during her visit will open the house for tours and display their extensive memorabilia from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The home is at 101 E. Wing Street, and the memorabilia display will be at Salon 101, located at 101 N. Macon Street.
Monroe, a Lincoln fan, visited Bement on Aug. 7, 1955, for the town’s centennial. Thousands of people turned out to watch as she shook hands, visited a nursing home and judged a beard contest. She also visited Bryant Cottage and gave a short speech about Lincoln.”
From LIFE Magazine, 1955
Meanwhile, the Peoria Journal-Star shares some details of how Marilyn’s visit was received in Bement:
“It’s the movie that hasn’t been made yet and Peorian Jack Mertes has the story for the screenplay.
It was 60 years ago when Marilyn Monroe visited Bement, a small town located between Champaign and Decatur.
It was a media moment — Marilyn, fresh from The Seven Year Itch, was at the height of her powers and the classic set-up: when big-time celebrity visits small-town America.
Mertes wrote about the visit in 1985 at the time of the 30th anniversary. He visited the town and interviewed some of the people who helped organize the star’s visit. He spoke with townspeople who remembered that day.
‘There were people everywhere…I don’t think Bement has ever had so many people in it,’ said Jessie Morgan of Monticello. ‘The Lord sure gave her looks,’ said Selby Clark.
Mertes also captures some of the press coverage of the visit. The Monroe appearance in Bement which made the cover of Life magazine, drew plenty of comments. [Actually, it didn’t make the cover of Life, though an article was published with photos by Eve Arnold, who accompanied Marilyn on the trip. She devoted a whole chapter to Bement in her 1987 book, Marilyn Monroe: An Appreciation.]
The Decatur paper referred to her as an ‘atomic blonde’ while William Groninger of the Champaign-Urbana Courier noted, ‘It’s pretty difficult to assess the exact welcome the luscious blonde was given, but even without a decibel meter we will agree to hysterical.’
Let’s not forget the Bement Register that described Monroe as ‘the movie actress who made walking more than a means of locomotion.'”
A rare photo of Marilyn en route to Bement in 1955 has been posted at the East Illinois News-Gazettetoday:
“Marilyn Monroe made headlines — literally — when she arrived on Ozark Airlines at the University of Illinois Airport on Aug. 7, 1955. The movie star’s destination: Bement to judge a beard contest as part of the village’s centennial celebration. ‘Blonde Bombshell Bursts Over Bement’ blared the headline in The News-Gazette.”
Native Londoner Brian Seed photographed Marilyn in 1956, in full movie star regalia at a theatre premiere with her new husband, Arthur Miller, on a night off from filming The Prince and the Showgirl in England, reports the Chicago Sun-Times.
These rare pictures – unattributed until now – will be displayed at this year’s Ray Bradbury Dandelion Wine Festival, today at Bowen Park in Waukegan, Illinois, where Brian now lives.
“‘That Marilyn Monroe was a really smart cookie,’ said Seed, a retired freelance photographer for Life magazine.
Sifting through photos he took of the Hollywood icon in October 1956, he says: ‘Look at this picture — she’s looking directly at me, because she knows I’m likely the only photographer in there who’s working for a magazine, and that the photo that would result would not be used in one day’s paper and then gone forever.’
As it turned out, Seed’s photos from that night outside London’s Comedy Theatre would sit unseen for more than a half-century.
Though Seed was pleased with his results, Life editors didn’t use any of the images they commissioned of Monroe. The magazine would eventually release a career’s worth of negatives to Seed in the late 1970s and he filed everything away until recently stumbling across the images.”
The Misfits will be screened at noon in the Chatham Public Library in Springfield, Illinois, next Wednesday, September 12, reports the State Journal-Register.
Some Like it Hot will be screened at the Paramount Theatre in Kankankee, Illinois, on Thursday, July 26th at 7pm, reports TribLocal.
“‘We’re going all-out for a fun Hollywood-style red carpet event and Marilyn Monroe is scheduled to appear prior to the film,’ said Jackie Haas, president and chief executive officer for the center. ‘Bringing a classic film like this one to life on the big screen in the beautiful art-deco style Paramount Theatre is a unique event that everyone can enjoy.’
Prior to the movie, a VIP reception will be held at 5:30 p.m. at ‘164 North,’ 164 N. Schuyler Ave. in Kakakee. The reception features light refreshments and cash bar. A Marilyn Monroe look-a-like is scheduled to attend. VIP tickets are $25 and includes the reception and a movie pass.
All proceeds benefit the Helen Wheeler Center, which provides outpatient counseling and mental health services to children, adolescents and adults in our community.”
