Marilyn at the Movies in Belgium

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A summer retrospective for Marilyn opens on Thursday, June 4, at De Cinema in Antwerp, Belgium. The series will include an open-air screening of Some Like It Hot on August 4, marking 64 years since Marilyn died.

“Even when she was still called Norma Jeane, Marilyn Monroe already knew what cards she held to make it in show business. With the appearance of a ‘dumb blonde’ and the instinct of a shrewd businesswoman, Marilyn worked her way up to become the most famous bombshell in film history.

Regarding her status as a sex symbol—played out by the press and the film studios alike—the actress said: ‘If I’m going to be a symbol of something, I’d rather have it be sex than some other things we’ve got symbols of.’ Sexism was an accepted fact in Hollywood. Studio bosses, directors, and actors—need we even mention that they were all men?—saw her merely as an object with sex appeal. Why not capitalise on that, Monroe thought? She moulded the Marilyn myth herself.

Despite her success, Monroe was plagued by stage fright and low self-esteem, resulting in self-doubt, notorious tardiness, and later an addiction to tranquilisers. Hoping to overcome this insecurity, Monroe worked with acting coaches and took classes at the famous Actors Studio to refine her talent. After all, Monroe wanted to portray more dramatic characters in addition to stereotypical and comedic ones. Following a disagreement with 20th Century-Fox over her typecasting in sexually charged roles, Monroe was suspended by the studio. She was not allowed to make any more films until the dispute was settled. After an amicable settlement, the actress started her own production company in New York, Marilyn Monroe Productions (MMP). A move that would help symbolise the end of the studio system.

During her lifetime, Marilyn Monroe was judged by the public eye for her personal life and emotional struggles. But those who took the time to get to know the shy Monroe or worked with her remember her intelligence, sensitivity, and dedication to her craft. A talented actress with exceptional comedic timing and an extraordinary emotional range. ‘She was an absolute genius as a comedic actress, with an extraordinary sense for comedic dialogue,’ said director Billy Wilder, who directed SOME LIKE IT HOT and THE SEVEN YEAR ITCH with her. ‘It was a God-given gift. Nobody else is in her orbit. Everyone else is earthbound by comparison.'”

  • RIVER OF NO RETURN: June 4, August 30 – “‘I’m a performer. Didn’t you know? Songs and dances.’ – The shoot of RIVER OF NO RETURN was troubled, by heavy rainfall as well as accidents on set. Director Otto Preminger insisted his actors did their own stunts, which led to Monroe nearly drowning and Mitchum and Monroe ending up in the titular river when their raft was upturned. Preminger also clashed with Monroe and her acting coach Natasha Lytess, who was constantly present on set and gave Monroe instructions that differed from Preminger’s direction. In addition, the heavy drinking of other star Mitchum was also problematic for the shoot. However, despite these setbacks the movie became a box office hit and a classic within the western genre.”

  • GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES: June 9, August 27 – “In this wonderful classical musical sex symbols Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell showcase their acting talent and impeccable comedic timing … One of the movie’s most unlikely fans was probably German director Rainer Werner Fassbinder, who even ranked the musical in sixth place in his top 10 of best films.”
  • SOME LIKE IT HOT: June 14, August 4 – “Monroe shines as Sugar Kane, a role that perfectly blends her comedic talent and vulnerability, and irrevocably establishes her as more than just an icon. Her presence gives the film an emotional core, amidst the chaos of costume parties and misunderstandings.”

  • HOW TO MARRY A MILLIONAIRE: August 15, August 20 – “‘The three girls are a good story. Everybody went around with their fingers in their ears blabbering about what temperament there would be on the set, and needless to say, the gossip columnists, those lice, have done everything possible to ferment trouble for us,’ recalled the movie’s screenwriter Nunnally Johnson. ‘They’ve printed all kinds of mischievous rumours, quoting one against the other, and printing out fictitious privileges given to one above the other two, in the most desperate effort you ever saw to create feuds. But it hasn’t worked in the least.'”
  • THE MISFITS: June 20, August 21 – “Director John Huston proved to be way ahead of his time … Screenwriter Arthur Miller knew the woman behind Marilyn and her sadness and demons, and shows her to the world in the role of Roslyn … THE MISFITS has a fatalistic side to it, not just because of its subject matter, but also because of the knowledge that two of its stars would pass away not long after its release.”

  • INSIGNIFICANCE: June 27, July 3 – “As a bonus, we screen Nicolas Roeg’s 1985 movie, based on a play by Terry Johnson. The movie narrates an alternative history, in which four icons meet each other in a New York hotel room in 1954 … INSIGNIFICANCE takes what we think we know about a couple of legendary figures as premise for a story that emphasises that we never really know what happens behind closed doors … And the same is true for Marilyn Monroe. The myth, the icon, immortalised on the screen, but eternally a mystery.”

And finally, ‘Happy Birthday to You, Mrs. Monroe’ is coming to Cineflagey in Brussels from Friday, June 5.

“Marilyn Monroe, who would have celebrated her 100th birthday on June 1st, remains one of the most captivating icons in film history. To mark this centennial, Cineflagey is screening her two most significant collaborations with director Billy Wilder, which cemented her legendary status once and for all and are still considered leading examples of 1950s Hollywood comedy.”