Continuing a series of posts on the upcoming sale at Julien’s Auctions, Icons: Playboy, Hugh Hefner, and Marilyn Monroe, with a closer look at Marilyn’s dazzling film career. Shown above is an original negative promo shot for River of No Return (1954) – SOLD for $5,200
You can read all my posts on this event here.
Original negatives: at left, 1946 modelling shot by Joseph Jasgur, showing Marilyn with actor Tom Burton (includes copyright)
SOLD for $1,625
At right, still photo from We’re Not Married! (1952)
SOLD for $3,525
At left: “Original script for Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, dated October 22, 1952 … There are some handwritten notes in pencil on the backs of pages. The name of Monroe’s character Lorelei is circled a few times throughout the script. The back page of the script is pink and typewritten with a note to secretaries and the name ‘Marilyn Monroe’ is written in ink in the upper left.” (Gene London Estate)
SOLD for $7,620
At right: Studio still of Marilyn and co-star Tommy Noonan, with stamp for photographer Gene Andrewski on verso.
SOLD for $1,625
“Original wire photo shot during filming of How to Marry a Millionaire. Verso features original clipping from the newspaper that printed the photograph and is stamped with the date March 13, 1953 and September 16, 1953. The headline of the article, written by Harry Harris, reads ‘Actresses Share Interest in “Millionaire”‘, and the caption reads in part, ‘Back on a Hollywood film set after 18 months of “doing nothing,” Betty Grable (left) makes the rounds of the studio with Marilyn Monroe.'”
SOLD for $1,625
At left: “Rare original script for There’s No Business Like Show Business, dated May 12, 1954, and stamped as Revised Shooting Final … The script is believed to have been the personal property of either director Walter Lang or producer Sol C. Siegel.”
SOLD for $2,925
At right: “A vintage glossy publicity still featuring Marilyn in a scene from There’s No Business Like Show Business, believed to have been printed in the 1950s. Monroe is seen performing her sensual rendition of ‘Heat Wave,’ which was a highlight of the film and created a scandal at the time. Television personality and newspaper columnist Ed Sullivan described it as ‘one of the most flagrant violations of good taste’ he had seen.”
SOLD for $585
At left: Original script for The Seven Year Itch, dated August 10, 1954 (Gene London Estate)
SOLD for $2,925
At right: Image captured by an unknown photographer on September 14, 1954, during shooting of the famous ‘skirt-blowing/subway scene‘ from The Seven Year Itch in New York … “It is believed that this photo has never before been published.”
SOLD for $2,858
Original negatives captured by Milton Greene during filming of Bus Stop (1956), sold with copyright.
Clockwise from left: Marilyn sitting on a windowsill for her opening scene – SOLD for $3,575
Marilyn with the children of her co-star Eileen Heckart – SOLD for $1,170
Marilyn in a bedroom scene from the movie – SOLD for $3,900
“A group of 12 vintage glossy contact sheet prints from The Prince and the Showgirl (1957) that were taken by Milton Greene. Five of the images are samples for the key design visuals of the film, while others were taken behind the scenes and several feature Monroe being fitted for her costume.”
SOLD for $1,950
At left: Original press photo for Let’s Make Love featuring Marilyn and Yves Montand. Verso stamped with the date Jan. 24, 1960.
SOLD for $910
At right: First-draft screenplay for Let’s Make Love belonging to Marilyn’s acting coach, Paula Strasberg, under its original title, The Billionaire, dated February 3, 1959.
SOLD for $1,950
At left: A 1960 print featuring Marilyn on the set of Let’s Make Love verso with a black ink stamp reading in part ‘John Bryson Beverly Hills,’ glue marks further evidence of when photograph was used in a Playboy layout likely in 1960. (From Playboy Archives)
SOLD for $1,950
At right: A script for Let’s Make Love that belonged to and was annotated by Paula Strasberg. The script is in a three-ring black leather binder.
The script is 139 typewritten pages and features many pink and blue revision pages. The title page reads in part: ‘Directed by George Cukor/Second Revised Shooting Final/January 15, 1960.’
Strasberg handwrote notes throughout the script. One reads ‘deep breathing.’ Another reads ‘Make the hairbrush act for you [in scene shown above, illustrative only]. (I told her) and Geo said it exactly so.’ There are also notes handwritten on the backs of pages, including one that reads ‘Jerry Wald (the film’s producer) refused to take any responsibility whatsoever. In no way helped MMM – wouldn’t even ask the studio to pay my salary – knowing his star found me a necessity. I am the cheapest thing in any budget. To add a week or not – that is the question.'”
SOLD for $3,575
At left: “A Kodachrome colour transparency slide (with copyright) featuring a previously unseen and unpublished image of Marilyn seated next to costar Clark Gable with several crew members in the background on the set of The Misfits. The photograph was taken on the Reno, Nevada location set of the drama in October 1960 by visiting Charlotte News columnist Emory Wister.”
SOLD for $2,925
At right: “A bound collection of more than 30 mimeographed half pages containing Marilyn’s dialogue for The Misfits. Many of the pages feature annotations in pencil in Monroe’s handwriting. The green paper cover is affixed with a label that reads ‘Marilyn Monroe Miller.’ Monroe has drawn lines through some of the dialogue and among her annotations are the following: ‘Stretch like a cat /see painted /follow him like kitten’ and ‘we’ve had a wonderful night and things have been easy for us – shield eyes looking up bright to see / is the plane coming in / listening – for it.’ On the back inside cover are the words ‘Nothing is coming but at least I can make the (an) effort’ and ‘My thought are any place / I Marilyn (possibly Rosilyn [sic]) wants to put them.’ Also written in are the words ‘Copied: July 30, 1960.'”
SOLD for $22,750
At left: An oversized contact sheet featuring seven images from the set of The Misfits.
SOLD for $1,143
At right: “A single-page handwritten letter in pencil by Marilyn that expresses her thoughts regarding how The Misfits should be shot to convey the presence of Clark Gable’s character, Gay Langland. The note reads in part, ‘I feel the camera has got to look through Gay’s eyes whenever he is in a scene, and even when he is not there still has to be a sense of him. He is the centre and the rest move around him.'”
SOLD for $5,850
At left: “A Kodachrome colour transparency slide (with copyright) featuring a previously unseen and unpublished image of Marilyn and Paula Strasberg seated on the set of The Misfits … The photo was taken in October 1960 by Emory Wister.”
SOLD for $5,200
At right: “A script for The Misfits that belonged to and was heavily annotated by Monroe’s acting coach Paula Strasberg … whose annotations have been written throughout in both ink and pencil. One one page she has written the word ‘whisper.’ On the back of another page, she has written ‘All strong things should be whispered.’ On another she has written ‘Something wrong with her – Paula – Lee [Strasberg].'”
SOLD for $5,200
At left: “A Kodachrome colour transparency slide (with copyright) featuring a previously unseen and unpublished image of Marilyn and Paula Strasberg seated near several crew members standing on the set of The Misfits. The photo was taken in October 1960 by Emory Wister.”
SOLD for $1,625
At right: “A group of revision pages from the script for The Misfits … A light blue paper binder contains approximately 100 white, pink, and yellow pages from various drafts of the script for the drama were personally owned by Paula Strasberg and many feature her handwritten annotations. At least one page features notes on how to portray the scene both physically and emotionally that were handwritten in ink and pencil by Monroe herself.”
SOLD for $6,500
“A group of three Kodachrome color transparency slides (with copyright) taken on the set of The Misfits by Emory Wister. Together with the original Kodak calvacade slide tray box with the words The Misfits written on the top in black marker and a hardback copy of Wister’s memoir The Charlotte News, Hollywood, and Me (self-published, 1991), in which he writes about his visit to the set.”
SOLD for $1,040
At left: Vintage photo showing Marilyn in a wardrobe test shoot during the filming of the unfinished Something’s Got To Give (1962.)
SOLD for $1,950
At right: “A 1970s later print featuring a revealing image of Marilyn holding a hand towel in a pool on the set of Something’s Got to Give, photographed by William Read Woodfield; verso with a pencilled annotation reading ‘c Woodfield / Schiller.'”
SOLD for $5,200
At left: A 1970s later print featuring an image shot by William Read Woodfield during filming of the ‘pool scene‘ for Something’s Got to Give.
SOLD for $3,900
At right: “A script for Something’s Got To Give, dated March 29, 1962, with annotations throughout in Monroe’s handwriting. The frontispiece inscribed in Marilyn’s hand reads ‘Edith Evanson, 4303 Agnes Ave…’ [Evanson coached Marilyn for a comic scene in which her character, posing as a masseuse, adopts a Swedish accent.]
The majority of the parts for the character of Ellen circled or checked in red pencil, with approximately 10 pages annotated in pencil in Monroe’s hand with amendments and additions to the script, notes include: – p. 66, Monroe has written ‘Sentimental Schmaltz’ next to Ellen’s line about men in the South Sea Islands; – p. 68, Monroe has added ‘deep breath then…that’s what he thinks…’ next to Lita’s line ‘Daddy says we’re going to get a new Mommy’; – p. 75, Monroe has added a question ‘Ellen – skin tones?’ next to Bianca’s line ‘These colours…they threaten me…'”
SOLD for $57,150
At left: A 1970s later print featuring a revealing image of Marilyn holding a terrycloth robe next to a pool – shot by William Read Woodfield on the set of Something’s Got to Give.
SOLD for $1,588
At right: “A Millers Falls EZERASE pad of typewriter paper on which Marilyn has handwritten notes in pencil regarding the script for Something’s Got To Give. The cover is detached but present, and the three hole-punched pad contains four pages of notes in Monroe’s hand in pencil outlining her issues with the script for the film. The notes and criticisms include ‘logical drama but doesn’t move on the screen/ leads him on than [sic] said not until’; ‘instead using the talents he’s stuck/ imagine being married to MM and she comes back and he is stuck/ he’d dying [sic] to go Bed with her but can’t because’; ‘more entertaining/ keep it on an edge/ if it isn’t that kind of picture it won’t go – only if script is acceptable.’ Then come Monroe’s suggestions for a scene with checkmarks next to the ideas: ‘When Dean [Martin] first see’s Ellen -me- in nurses uniform [sic] – (as nurse) he could say – upon arrival – slouching “I don’t feel so good nurse” (weakening in the knees how could she do this to me/ I am telling her/ Beanka [Bianca, played by Cyd Charisse] kind of stiffening up to hold him & the situation) the nite [sic] before) together he then pulls up but Dean will do this superbly/ He sings little song when drunk & frustrated.’ She also lists specific passages: ‘Page 73 (yes? – No? you understand Dean!)/ Page 76 children scene (in comparison to rewrite).’ A small note on the last page of notes reads ‘Funny line writers Herb Gardner / Mel Brook [sic].'”
SOLD for $25,400
The Marilyn Report 