Marilyn Monroe in New York is a weekend-long event at the Museum of the Moving Image on 35th Avenue in Queens, NYC, beginning with The Seven Year Itch in the Redstone Theatre at 1pm.
“On the occasion of Marilyn Monroe’s centenary, the Museum presents a selection of the eternal movie star’s films set in New York City. It was here that the iconic shot of Monroe standing over the subway grate was taken. This was the work of legendary photographer and lifelong New Yorker Sam Shaw, whose vibrant images of Monroe charted the actress throughout her career. Films in this series include The Seven Year Itch, How to Marry a Millionaire, and Don’t Bother to Knock.”
The Seven Year Itch (1955) is showing in the Redstone Theatre on Saturday, April 11, at 1pm.
“Envelope-pusher Billy Wilder turned a potential hot-button comedy about possible adultery (a Production Code no-no) into an enormous box-office success and gave Marilyn Monroe one of her most lasting, beloved roles. Adapted from George Axelrod’s play, the film follows nebbishy Tom Ewell as a husband alone for a hot summer weekend in NYC while his wife and child vacation in Maine, and finds himself, uh, distracted by his new, blonde bombshell upstairs neighbor. With its ultimate married-guy fantasy dilemma, The Seven-Year Itch remains one of Wilder’s most delightful comic confections, and Monroe brings her customary combination of sexiness, warmth, and vulnerability.
ACC Art Books has published the beautiful volume Dear Marilyn: The Unseen Letters and Photographs by Sam Shaw. Through Shaw’s words and photographs, Dear Marilyn offers newly discovered correspondence and never-before-seen, digitally remastered photographs from the original 1940s–1960s archival material, from behind the scenes of The Seven Year Itch to candid images of her on the streets of New York City and in love at the beach in Amagansett.
As part of this program, we are pleased to welcome Melissa Stevens, Shaw’s granddaughter, for a conversation with film scholar Imogen Sara Smith (The Criterion Collection) about the myth, the image, and the reality of Marilyn Monroe.”
How to Marry a Millionaire (1953) follows at 4pm on Saturday, with a repeat screening on Friday, April 17 at 7pm.
“Arguably Marilyn Monroe’s funniest movie, the Cinemascope rom-com classic How to Marry a Millionaire casts the then rising superstar alongside Lauren Bacall and Betty Grable in an ultimate trio of ambitious New York women who rent an eye-popping penthouse on Sutton Place in the hopes of attracting rich suitors. Bacall’s Schatze is the no-nonsense professional; Grable’s Loco is the ditz; Marilyn’s Pola, meanwhile, is terribly nearsighted but vainly refuses to wear glasses, leading to some myopic mishaps. The women’s various romantic pursuits intersect in Negulesco’s effervescent adaptation of plays by Zoe Akins and Katherine Albert.”
FYI: Although made in Hollywood, How to Marry a Millionaire includes a location shot of the apartment building where the characters reside. In 1956, Marilyn would live at Sutton Place for several months before marrying Arthur Miller.
And finally, Don’t Bother to Knock (1952) is showing in the Bartos Screening Room on Sunday, April 12, at 12:30 pm.
“Adapted from Charlotte Armstrong’s suspense novel Mischief, this utterly bizarre and captivating little corker casts a brunette Monroe against type as a mentally disturbed babysitter who unravels while watching a little girl in a New York City hotel while her parents are attending a gala event. Meanwhile, an airline pilot (Richard Widmark) nursing a broken heart pursues the unbalanced beauty. The masterful B filmmaker Roy Ward Baker keeps things simmering at a low boil, while Monroe nails her first true starring role, and a young Anne Bancroft provides able support as Widmark’s ex-girlfriend torch singer. This terrific fifties melodrama is a quintessential portrait of below-the-surface fears threatening domesticity.”
The Marilyn Report 