‘Everyone Likes It Hot’: Marilyn in Berlin and Beyond

marina72,

Everyone Likes It Hot: Marilyn Monroe’s 100th Birthday, a summer movie retrospective, has opened at the German History Museum in Berlin.

“If she were still alive, Marilyn Monroe would be 100 years old today. Her beautiful face would likely have become a beautiful, wrinkled one; her strikingly proportioned, camera-friendly body would have shrunk a bit; and her hair would no longer be peroxide blonde, but would shine with a proud white glow.

Perhaps she would have gone through a few more marriages, or might still be in the middle of a relationship. She always wanted children; perhaps her wish would have come true—when Monroe died of a drug overdose in 1962, she was only 36 years old.

More intriguing than speculations about her personal life, however, is the question of what roles she might have played: Would she eventually have moved beyond the showgirls, the ‘bombshells,’ the gold diggers (on the hunt for rich men), the ‘ingenues,’ the naive, unconsciously attractive seductresses? Would she, perhaps in the context of the second wave of the women’s movement in the late 1960s, have continued to strive for self-empowerment, for artistic self-determination? Would she have encountered (female) allies who shared her views—female directors, screenwriters, cinematographers, and producers—who offered a different perspective on her, allowing her characters their own development, motivations, and storylines that went beyond simply finding ‘Mr. Right’? Would she have escaped the covetous male gaze, the male restriction of her scope of action?

Some of her films followed this trend: In Bus Stop and The Prince and the Showgirl, a (co-)production of her own short-lived company, there are relatively few traditional shots of her body; in the latter, she even saves a country from a political scandal. How to Marry a Millionaire, The Misfits, and River of No Return (barely) pass the Bechdel Test, which evaluates the representation of women in films. Supporting roles, such as in Clash by Night or All About Eve, feature self-assured—or at least fatalistic—female characters; the now-forgotten B-movie Ladies of the Chorus, Monroe’s early first leading role, presents a warm mother-daughter relationship and a Marilyn who, when singing, is not yet breathy but vibrates with a bluesy quality. Gentlemen Prefer Blondes invites a queer reading and offers a female gaze on muscular men in skimpy briefs; in Niagara and Don’t Bother to Knock, Monroe delivers performances with the utmost psychological insight. Of course, the successful, perfectly timed comedies Some Like It Hot and The Seven Year Itch are also worth watching—even if her character in the latter isn’t even given a name, and this film is arguably the most famous case of upskirting.

Incidentally, peeking up a woman’s skirt—and thus sexually objectifying an unsuspecting woman without her consent—is now a criminal offense almost everywhere. Things have certainly changed. It’s a shame Marilyn Monroe didn’t live to see it.”

– Jenni Zylka, Marilyn Monroe: 100 Pages

  • SOME LIKE IT HOT: July 14, August 8 – “Considered by many to be Monroe’s best film, Its source material originated in 1935 as the French comedy Fanfare d’Amour, in which two freelance musicians, disguised as women, find love in an all-female band. Kurt Hoffmann also adapted it for a film in 1951. Billy Wilder reportedly found this German version absolutely dreadful … As a stronger incentive for Joe (Tony Curtis) and Jerry (Jack Lemmon) to persevere ‘in drag,’ a mafia plot was added … To win over singer and ukulele player Sugar (Marilyn Monroe), Joe pretends to be an impotent oil tycoon. The idea of ​​having Joe claim he feels nothing when kissing, so that Sugar will put in even more effort during seduction, shows Monroe in a rare situation: we see her character actively desiring a man’s body.”
  • BUS STOP: July 17, August 2 – “Just like Monroe’s character Cherie, a singer in a seedy nightclub, Monroe learned the broad hillbilly dialect of the Ozarks … Her costumes, which Monroe herself was able to choose, also distinguish this role from her previous ones. And the conversations between Cherie and her colleague Vera (Eileen Heckart) are less about love and more about (Monroe’s) life dreams: Chérie wants to succeed as an artist.”
  • RIVER OF NO RETURN: July 18, August 3 – “In 1954, Monroe starred in a Western directed by Otto Preminger, whose lively songs couldn’t disguise a one-dimensional portrayal of gender relationships. The hardened cowboy Matt (Robert Mitchum) searches for his son Mark in a tent city. He finds him with Kay (Marilyn Monroe), a worldly-wise, empathetic showgirl … Indicative of the prevailing attitudes toward relationships at the time is a scene that appears out of nowhere, in which Matt attempts to rape Kay. His brutality is disturbing—especially because Kay begins to enjoy the forced kiss. Equally telling: this scene was chosen as the main image for the film’s poster … Monroe’s acting and passionately performed songs clearly demonstrate meticulous preparation. Mitchum’s characteristic non-acting makes the interplay even more captivating.”

  • LADIES OF THE CHORUS: July 19 – “For her first starring role, Monroe plays burlesque dancer Peggy, whose mother Mae (Adele Jenkins) also works as a chorus girl. To boost her career, Mae one day crafts a solo number for her daughter, and Peggy performs the prototypical song ‘Every Baby Needs a Da-Da-Daddy,’ complete with grotesque choreography and baby dolls … The female characters in this short musical, produced by Columbia Pictures’ B-movie division, are surprisingly diverse.”
  • ALL ABOUT EVE: July 20 – “Lead actress Anne Baxter later said that supporting actress Marilyn Monroe stole the show. It’s a very small but wonderful role … Despite the strapless dress and her glossy updo, the superbly written film neither sexualises Monroe nor her role, but realistically reflects the misogynistic conditions of show business.”
  • HOW TO MARRY A MILLIONAIRE: July 25, August 21 – “Finally, a female friendship takes centre stage, even if it isn’t the central theme … Although, as is often the case, feelings ultimately prevail over reason for the women, the film contains beautiful moments of female solidarity. And Monroe displays fantastic comedic timing and convincing physical control.”
  • THE MISFITS: July 26, August 8 – “The story of two disillusioned women (with backstories and a sense of female solidarity) who meet three equally damaged men …  In a powerful scene, played with immense emotion and strength by Monroe, she runs into the desert and yells at the cowboys from afar: ‘You’re three dead men!’ Such explicit criticism of toxic masculinity is found in no other film of hers.”
  • DON’T BOTHER TO KNOCK: July 27 – “During a hotel stay in New York, the Jones couple reluctantly entrust their daughter Bunny to an unknown babysitter, Nell (Marilyn Monroe), who greets them buttoned-up and in flat shoes. Nell proves to be a questionable choice … Monroe masterfully portrays the vulnerability and complexity of her character with empathy and courage … Although she embodies both the femme fatale and the femme fragile, the film marks the beginning of a reduction of her roles to one-dimensional characters. At the same time, it cements Monroe’s supposed strength: her body is so attractive that even the strong Jed (Richard Widmark) feels powerless against it – the classic paradox in gender relations.”

  • THE PRINCE AND THE SHOWGIRL: July 28, August 11 – “Besides the contrasting acting styles of the method-acting Monroe and the classically trained Laurence Olivier, the British-produced film also falters somewhat dramatically … Nevertheless, it marks the only independent production from Monroe’s own company, and the film was celebrated in Britain. Furthermore. the camerawork of Jack Cardiff largely avoids the lustful gaze upon Monroe’s body, instead maintaining a respectful distance and capturing only a few tête-à-tête close-ups.”
  • NIAGARA: July 31 – “A rainbow accompanies George Loomis (Joseph Cotten), who, in the opening scenes of this drama, wanders around Niagara Falls and recounts his fate. That fate lies—in full makeup—smoking and seemingly naked under the covers in a picturesque cabin, pretending to be asleep: Loomis’s wife, Rose (Marilyn Monroe) … The gaze directed at her is consistently one of desire, most notably in a scene where the camera lingers greedily on her and her gait as she walks down a long street.”
  • THE SEVEN YEAR ITCH: August 1 and 14 – “The act of looking, of ‘staring,’ is the central theme of this comedy … Richard Sherman (Tom Ewell), a man in his late thirties whose wife and son have escaped the sweltering New York summer on vacation, stays behind to work—and encounters Monroe … an impressive yet oppressive 100-minute male gaze, through which Monroe nevertheless delivers a devoted, unpretentious, and perfectly timed performance.”
  • THERE’S NO BUSINESS LIKE SHOW BUSINESS: August 4 – “Monroe’s character, Vicky, who doesn’t appear until 30 minutes into the film, knows exactly what she wants … Her dancing (especially compared to Donald O’Connor and Mitzi Gaynor) is more of a rhythmic shuffle, but the costumes, the orchestral arrangement, and her overall appearance are impressive.”

  • CLASH BY NIGHT: August 9 – “Monroe’s first serious role in a major studio production – and it’s a very unusual supporting role. As fish factory worker Peggy, she confidently confronts her lover Joe (Keith Andes), almost always in jeans, insisting on her independence as a woman … The romantic drama, whose screenplay is based on a play by playwright Clifford Odets, tells the story of the disillusioned Mae (Barbara Stanwyck), who returns to Monterey after ten years in the big city … Directed by the renowned Fritz Lang during his Hollywood years in the style of cinematic realism, the screenplay features bleak dialogue that perfectly captures the protagonists’ resignation … In contrast, Mae experiences a great deal of female solidarity from Peggy.”
  • GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES: August 15 – “For ‘gold-digger’ Lorelei (Marilyn Monroe), it’s a fact that the world offers women little choice but to use their bodies to achieve the life they desire. Her friend and stage partner Dorothy (Jane Russell), on the other hand, believes in true love—independent of money … But to whom do the two women actually pledge themselves when they walk down the aisle side by side in identical wedding dresses?”
  • THE ASPHALT JUNGLE: August 17 – “In fast-paced, grim, and meticulously choreographed sequences, John Huston’s heist film noir recounts a jewel robbery … Monroe delivers a nuanced and serious performance as Angela, the lover of an underworld lawyer (Louis Calhern) who poses as her ‘uncle’ and takes her in. Their scenes together, characterised by dramatic lighting and subtle psychology, reveal the barely suppressed lust of an older man for a younger woman under his care.”

UPDATE:

Some more upcoming screenings in Germany…

  • July 18 at 7:00 pm: Gentlemen Prefer Blondes at Potsdam Film Museum – part of ‘Damn Upskirting,’ an ongoing Monroe retrospective curated by Jenni Zylka
  • July 18 at 9:15 pm: Some Like It Hot at Freiluftkino Friedrichshain, Berlin (Open-air)
  • July 20: Open-air screenings of Some Like It Hot at Naturstrom, Köln (Cologne) and Apollo Aachen
  • August 5 at 9:00 pm – Some Like It Hot at St. Catherine’s Ruin, Nuremberg – an open-air screening for the Summer Night Film Festival
  • August 8 at 6:00 pm – Some Like It Hot at Olympic Lake, München with Campari Spritz on tap (‘100 years of Marilyn: nobody’s perfect, but this sundowner evening comes close …’)
  • August 19 at 7:30 pm – Gentlemen Prefer Blondes at Bad Füssing Cinema in Lower Bavaria (includes free glass of prosecco)