All language subtitles for 100.Years.of.Marilyn.Monroe.2026.1080p.ROKU.WEB-DL.AAC2.0.H.264-TRB

(tape noise)

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She became one of the most luminous
figures the world has ever known.

A century later, and
Marilyn Monroe is still here.

Her face is instantly recognizable.

Smiling from cinema screens,
magazine covers, murals, and memories.

Her image has traveled
further than she ever

could, crossing borders,
decades, and cultures.

She is quoted, imitated,
celebrated, and reimagined endlessly.

Few people in history have left such
an indelible mark on popular culture.

But Marilyn Monroe is not simply an image.

She was a life, lived intensely,
creatively, and against extraordinary odds.

(dramatic music)

Before the lights of Hollywood
enveloped her, Norma

Jean Mortensen, later
baptized as Norma Jean Baker,

arrived during a time of
rapid industrial change

and rigid social expectation,
particularly for women.

She was born on June
1st, 1926 in Los Angeles.

Her mother, Gladys
Pearl Baker, worked in the

film industry as a negative cutter at RKO.

Yet Hollywood offered Gladys no glamour.

Only instability, long hours,
and untreated mental illness.

One morning, I referred
to the woman as Mama.

And she said, I'm not your mother.

Don't call me mother anymore.

Call me Aunt so-and-so.

But the one I was concerned
with was her husband.

I said, but he's my daddy.

She said, no.

Norma Jean's father was absent.

His identity uncertain, leaving
her childhood defined not

by belonging, but by displacement.

We only had the home for about, oh,
I don't even think it was three months.

Because she was taken away, my mother.

Norma Jean spent her
earliest years moving between

foster homes, relatives, and institutions.

A pattern that would instill in her both

a deep fear of abandonment and an acute

sensitivity to the moods
and needs of others.

These were survival skills.

I could read as 10.

I saw an orphan, and I put my feet down
a sidewalk, and they had to drag me in.

I said, I'm not an orphan.

I used to sit up in the window
and cry because I'd look over at the

RKO, and I knew my
mother had worked there.

She'd been a cutter there.

She learned early how to read a room.

How to soften herself to be
accepted, and how to adapt.

When her mother was
institutionalized in 1934 following

a severe mental breakdown, diagnosed
at the time as paranoid schizophrenia.

A characterization of
schizophrenia is the absence of

social interest and apathy.

The physical symptoms of
catatonics, however, vary.

Norma became a ward of the state.

The security of a traditional family
life was no longer a possibility.

Instead, she learned endurance.

At the Los Angeles
Orphan's Home, Norma Jean

felt the weight of invisibility.

She later spoke of the
loneliness she experienced there.

A loneliness that would
echo throughout her adult life.

Even when placed under
the guardianship of Grace

McKee Goddard, stability
remained temporary.

Moves were frequent, homes were
conditional, and affection was fragile.

She was a youngster who looked
at those she wasn't well cared for.

Her clothes separated her a
little bit from the rest of the girls.

She was like a little girl, not well

developed as some of the youngsters were.

She just seemed like a nice child, but

not very outgoing and not very vibrant.

Childhood for Norma Jean
was not a protected space.

It was something to survive.

In 1942, at just 16 years old, Norma

faced the prospect of being returned to the

orphanage when her guardians relocated.

She had to make a decision
which would shape her future.

She married James Daughtry,
the son of her neighbors.

Well, Doc and Grace
were moving to Huntington,

West Virginia, where
Doc was being transferred.

And Norma Jean was going to
have to go back to an orphanage.

Grace told it to my mother.

She was a little big for an orphanage,

so my mother and Grace
decided it might be a

good idea for Norma
Jean and I got married.

And I guess the next day or the
same day, I don't know, Mom asked me

if I would like to marry Norma Jean.

And a thought runs through my
mind, this is a very young child.

At 21, you feel like you're
a pretty grown-up man.

So I agreed to it
anyhow, with the thought

that I would be going
into the service soon.

And she would have a home
with my mother while I was gone.

It was not a romantic
choice, but a pragmatic one.

Marriage offered shelter,
legality, and permanence in a

world that had given her
very little of those things.

She left school and became a housewife.

Playing a role expected of
a young woman at the time.

She went along with the
idea very well for a 16-year-old.

I guess she thought this
would be very enchanting.

I thought I would be
pretty enchanting myself.

She was a good cook.

I recall she always liked to mix
carrots with peas because of the color.

Not because she liked to eat them,
but she just liked the color of them.

They looked good on a plate.

You know, I never knew Marilyn Monroe.

I knew Norma Jean, Norma
Jean Doherty, Norma Jean Baker.

But Marilyn Monroe and Norma
Jean were two different people.

Norma Jean was my wife.

Marilyn Monroe was a glamorous movie star.

I don't know anything about her life.

I never talked to her.

When Daltrey was deployed
to the Merchant Marines

during World War II, Norma Jean entered the

workforce, taking a
job at the radio playing

company manufacturing
drones for the war effort.

It was there, amid factory
floors and machinery,

that she was photographed for a series of

morale-boosting images of female workers.

Those photographs revealed
something extraordinary.

A woman with presence, warmth, and
an unmistakable connection to the camera.

(camera flashes)

For the first time, Norma Jean was seen,

not as a burden, not as a ward,

not as someone passing through,
but as someone worth looking at.

And she noticed.

This moment did not rescue
her, but it awakened her.

She began to imagine a future shaped not

by survival alone, but by self-definition.

(film reel whirs)

(upbeat music)

Norma Jean signed with the
Blue Book Modeling Agency in 1945,

entering an industry that prized

youth, beauty, and
compliance above all else.

Norma Jean looked like the girl next door,

and I thought I could make her into

something quite marketable
in a short length of time.

She was very beautiful in a
clean-cut, American, wholesome way.

We taught her photographic
modeling, how to pose,

how to handle your body, smile.

She was always trying to lower her smile,

because she smiled too high,
and that made her nose a little long.

She had a different kind
of knees than other girls.

She couldn't just relax her
knees and walk smoothly.

Every time she'd take
a step, her knees would

go all the way back
and make her bounce.

She learned quickly.

She straightened her hair, studied posture,
practiced expressions in the mirror.

When the agency suggested she dye her hair

blonde to increase her appeal, she agreed.

Not a submission, but a strategy.

Reinvention was something
she understood instinctively.

By 1946, she had caught the attention of

20th Century Fox, and
signed a short-term contract.

It was here that Norma
Jean became Marilyn Monroe.

I didn't have an
opportunity to do anything,

actually, during the year that I was there

at 20th Century Fox the first time, except

one part in Scotty Who's Got
a Hay, and I was cut out of it.

And then they dropped me.

She was thought of as
a joke by many people.

And I think this hurt her very
deeply, because she was very serious.

I told Marilyn that Fox had dropped her

option, and her immediate
reaction was the world

had crashed around her ears,
and unhappiness and tears.

And then typical of Marilyn, she shook her

head, set her jaw, and said,
well, it really doesn't matter.

After all, it's the case
of supply and demand.

The name was carefully
chosen, Marilyn, after Broadway

star Marilyn Miller, and Monroe,
from her mother's family name.

It was a performance,
but it was also an armor.

(film reel flickers and whirs)

Hollywood in the 1940s
was rigidly male-dominated.

Studio executives controlled contracts,
appearances, salaries, and public personas.

Women were commodities, marketed and
discarded with little regard for autonomy.

You men own the
world and all that's in it.

Woman is at best a prize, a property
valued much the same as a horse or

a dog, on length of hair and sheen of
skin and soundness of teeth and limb.

Well, if I must be chattel, then the

term shall be mine, and the price,
according to my own values, dear.

Marilyn was acutely
aware of this system, and

she was determined
not to disappear inside it.

Her early years at Fox were marked by

small roles, long hours of observation,
and relentless self-improvement.

(film reel whirs)

(gentle music)

♪ Anyone can see I love you ♪

♪ Anyone can see I care ♪

♪ The way I hold your hand
and smile in your direction ♪

♪ Tells the world my heart is
filled with nothing but affection ♪

♪ Lock me in your arms forever ♪

♪ That's the place I want to be ♪

♪ So anyone can see ♪

♪ That I belong to you
and you belong to me ♪

She took acting classes, dance
lessons, and voice coaching.

When her contract was not renewed in 1947,

she did not collapse.

She returned to modeling,
sustaining herself financially while

continuing to build visibility.

In 1949, facing mounting
financial pressure, Marilyn posed

nude for a calendar shoot.

At the time, it was a practical
decision, not a scandalous one.

She needed the money.

When I first asked her to
do it, she turned me down.

But after thinking it over for a
few days, when she came back and

said, I would like to do it.

I think it was partially a favor.

I had done her a favor once before.

And she really did need the money.

This is a negative of a calendar
of Marilyn that sold 8 million copies.

It just happened to be a darn good shot.

But I give all the credit to her.

When those images
resurfaced later, most famously in

the first issue of Playboy, they would be

used to both elevate and shame her.

Marilyn met the controversy
with rare honesty, refusing

to apologize for surviving.

Her perseverance paid off.

With the support of
talent agent Johnny Hyde,

Marilyn returned to Fox
on a seven-year contract.

By this time, she was
no longer merely hopeful.

She was prepared.

I used to take jobs on the
edges of show business.

This is the first car I ever owned.

I call her Cynthia.

She's going to have the
best care a car ever had.

Put Royal Triton in Cynthia's little tummy.

Right, lady.

Cynthia will just love that Royal Triton.

(film reel whirs) (beeps)

Hi, Evie.

Hi, small change.

Wait, I got money tonight.

Am I going to see you later?

If I'm not too tired.

But, Evie, I thought we had a date.

Look, this tray weighs a ton.

Come on, Jean, let's
not keep Danny waiting.

Let's go.

Marilyn's breakout role
came in the asphalt jungle.

It was the springboard of her career.

I thought you might like to take a trip.

Where to?

Oh, I don't know, the coast,
Florida, anywhere you like.

Could I, Uncle Lon?

Anywhere?

No fooling?

Yes, I think a change of
scenery might be good for you.

Wait. You wait right here.

I've got the most terrific idea.

Sounds sweet, kid.

The same year, All
About Eve provided Marilyn

with massive industry recognition.

Between 1951 and 1953,
Marilyn Monroe became one

of the most recognizable faces in America.

Films like As Young As
You Feel, Monkey Business,

and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
cemented her image as the dumb blonde.

♪ Diamonds are a girl’s best... ♪

♪ Best friend ♪

And it's with honor and pride and
pleasure I present this citation to you.

Thank you.

I'd like to present to you
the Look Achievement Award

as the most outstanding
film in newcomer of 1952.

Thank you, Lon.

And as best young box office
personality, Miss Marilyn Monroe.

Thank you, Mr. Nichols.

Marilyn Monroe, the
moviegoers of America, voted you

the most popular actress of the year.

My congratulations.

Thank you, Mr. Simmons.

Yet behind the breathy
voice and comic timing

was a woman studying scripts
obsessively, challenging directors,

and questioning the
limitations placed upon her.

Marilyn understood the
contradiction of her image.

She knew that her sexuality was both her

greatest currency and
her greatest constraint.

Rather than reject it outright, she used it

deliberately, exaggerating
it, parodying it, controlling it.

The performance of
foolishness became a mask that

allowed her to speak
truths others could not.

The greatest irony of Marilyn Monroe may be

that she was surrounded
by attention, yet starved

for intellectual recognition.

Away from Hollywood, Marilyn
immersed herself not only

in acting, but in stories and ideas.

She read constantly.

Novels, poetry, philosophy, psychology,
Freud, Dostoevsky, Joyce, Steinbeck.

Her books were underlined,
annotated, worn from use.

(gentle music)

(dramatic music)

In Niagara, she subverted
expectations by playing a

calculating femme fatale.

(gentle music)

(upbeat music)

Plain Coke, or did you spike them?

No, just plain.

Would you like one?

That's all right.

You've been very kind, but thanks.

I'd rather walk.

(bell tolls)

Marilyn, see, it’s so
nice of you to come here.

You know they say
that beauty is a thing of...

That a thing of beauty is a joy forever.

I want to tell you, someday you’re
gonna make a man a wonderful (indistinct).

Come on over here, a little closer.

Demonstrating depth and
danger beneath the glamour.

Critics took notice.

So did audiences.

Marilyn was no longer simply a starlet.

She was a phenomenon.

(dramatic boom) (gentle music)

This is your telvision
premiere, isn’t it Marilyn?

They tried. It feels almost
like an ancient picture.

Ah, yeah, listen, I want
to tell you something.

After this time, television has been a
medium, but now I’d say it’s well done.

(laughter)

I want to ask you one
thing. I wonder if after...

You know, I know, Marilyn,
when’s the first time we met?

Tell us, tell the folks.

Well, once you almost gave me a job.

That’s right, do you remember?

(gentle music) (film reel whirs)

State champion, Mrs. Valentoria.

(applause)

Marilyn's marriage to
baseball legend Joe DiMaggio in

1954 symbolized a collision
of American ideals, Hollywood

glamour, and sporting masculinity.

But the marriage was
strained by jealousy, media

scrutiny, and incompatible expectations.

The marriage of Marilyn
Monroe and Joe DiMaggio

attracts a record crowd
to the San Francisco

court where the ceremony is performed.

Two top-like performers living up
to long-established reputations

as outstanding drawing cards.

Congratulations in which all
movie lovers and baseball fans join.

And now the pair are off
for their happy honeymoon.

The girl who starred in How to Marry

a Millionaire giving another
starring performance in How

to Marry a Baseball Hero.

Nice work, Marilyn.

And the same to you, Joe.

(gentle music)

(film reel whirs)

(upbeat music)

Marilyn Monroe arrives in Korea
to tour the front lines for four days.

Hubby Joe DiMaggio is in Japan
coaching Japanese baseball teams.

Marilyn wears drab GI
clothing as she meets the boys.

No GI ever got such attention.

In 1954, Marilyn traveled
to Korea to perform

for American troops
stationed far from home.

In freezing temperatures,
she sang and joked before

tens of thousands of soldiers,
often outdoors, often ill.

She caught pneumonia, but
never cut the performances short.

Years later, many of those men said it was
one of the most human moments of the war.

In Korea, Marilyn was not an icon.

She was a symbol of comfort.

The hills are alive with troops
as Marilyn puts on her act.

Officers estimate that she plays to about
60,000 men in her first two days in Korea.

There's agreement among
soldiers and Marines, privates and

commanding officers.

Marilyn is tops, says she.

Gosh, I've never seen
so many men in my life.

(crowd cheers)

The highlight of my life
was singing for the soldiers.

I stood out on an open stage
and it was cold, but I swear I didn't

feel a thing except good.

(crowd noise)

♪ Quite continental ♪

♪ But diamonds are a girl’s best friend ♪

♪ A kiss may be grand ♪

♪ And it won’t pay the rental ♪

♪ On your humble flat ♪

♪ Or help you at the automat ♪

♪ Men grow cold ♪

♪ As girls grow old ♪

♪ And we all lose our charms in the end ♪

♪ But square-cut or pear-shaped ♪

♪ These rocks don't lose their shape ♪

♪ Diamonds are a girl's best friend ♪

(crowd cheers)

(gentle music)

Publicity stunts and press
attention followed relentlessly.

She wore daring gowns,
defied conservative norms, and

became a lighting rod for cultural
anxiety about female sexuality.

Yet she remained
painfully aware of the cost.

Her salary lagged behind her male co-stars.

Her roles were constrained.

Her intelligence was
routinely underestimated.

During the filming of The Seven-Year Itch

in 1954, Marilyn was asked to perform
the now iconic subway grade scene.

The shoot was staged
publicly, late at night,

deliberately drawing crowds and press.

Oh, do you feel the
breeze from the subway?

Isn't it delicious?

Sort of cools the ankles, doesn't it?

Well, what do you think
would be fun to do now?

I don't know, it's getting pretty late.

It's not that late.

The thing is, I have
this big day tomorrow.

I really have to get to sleep.

What's the big day tomorrow?

Tomorrow I'm on television.

You remember I told you about it?

That dad's been down?

Oh, here comes another one.

Joe watched as thousands
of men shouted and laughed.

Cameras flashed up her dress.

Her body became public spectacle.

To Marilyn, this was work.

To Jo, it felt like humiliation.

Accounts from those
close to Marilyn describe a

marriage marked by jealousy,
anger, and episodes of intimidation.

While the full extent of the
violence was never formally documented,

Marilyn herself cited mental cruelty

when she ended the marriage, a
decision that spoke clearly enough.

He had a very difficult time building.

He was a wonderful athlete.

And he could hit a baseball.

Anything wrong with
his direction, he could hit.

So he understood some things about me,

and I understood some things about
Jim, and we based our marriage on it.

We understood some things about each other.

He had a very sensitive nature.

You know, one thinks of an
athlete as being, I don't know,

not having that, butthey do.

A marriage wasn't a happy one.

It ended in nine months, unfortunately.

Ms. Monroe will have
nothing to say this morning.

All I can say as her attorney is
that this is what we would say was

a conflict of careers.

And as incredible as it may be,

it will have to be presented in
the proper place at the proper time.

Marilyn Monroe, aided by
director George Cooker on

right, throws a Hollywood
studio press party to

introduce the male stars of her
new film comedy, Let's Make Love.

And second from left is Frankie
Vaughn, England's most popular singer.

Now for press records,
marvelous Marilyn poses with

another of her male
luminaries, Yves Montand, that

most sensational of international stars.

Let's Make Love producer
Jerry Wald congratulates his

beautiful leading lady
who now sees the press

headed by the famed
Dorothy Kilgallen meet another

of her supports, Wilfred Hyde-White,
London's greatest dramatic actor.

As Marilyn with 20th
Century Fox production chief

Buddy Adler hears that
film executive declare Let's

Make Love will be her finest film to date.

The collapse of her
marriage coincided with a

turning point in Marilyn's career.

Tired of being infantilized
by the studio system,

she took a radical step.

Alongside photographer Milton Green, she
founded Marilyn Monroe Productions in 1954.

It was an unprecedented
move for a female star.

She relocated to New
York and immersed herself

in serious study at the actor's
studio under Lee Strasberg.

She was determined
to be taken seriously, not

as a novelty, but as an artist.

Her return to Hollywood
under a renegotiated contract

marked a significant victory.

She gained greater creative
control, higher pay, and

the right to choose her roles.

What audiences never saw
was the work behind the illusion.

With Marilyn.

I hate a careless man.

Marilyn always dreamt of being an actress.

She didn't, by the way,
dream of being a star.

She dreamt of being an actress.

And she had always lived
somehow with that dream.

And that is why, despite the fact that

she became one of the
unusual and outstanding

stars of all time, she
herself was never satisfied.

When she came to New York, she began

to perceive the possibilities
of really accomplishing her

dream of being an actress.

When Marilyn was here at the studio, she

always sat in the same place, which
was way at the end there in the last row.

Marilyn prepared obsessively.

She rewrote dialogue in the margins of her

scripts, rehearsed comic
timing late into the night,

and watched other actors with
the focus of a student, not a star.

Happy time for you all.

It's a very happy time.

I'm happy to be back.

I'm very proud of my hometown.

You're wearing a high-heeled dress, Tom.

The last time I saw you, is
this the real Marilyn of exile?

No, I'm the same person,
but it's a different suit.

Comedy, she believed,
was not instinct alone.

It was precision.

(film reel whirs)

In 1956, Marilyn delivered
a performance that silenced

many critics in Bus Stop.

She was vulnerable, raw,
and emotionally complex.

It revealed a depth long denied to her.

For Marilyn, it was proof that she could

expand beyond the image imposed upon her.

That same year, she married
playwright Arthur Miller.

Their relationship was rooted
in intellectual connection and

mutual admiration, though
it was not without strain.

Actress Marilyn Monroe and
playwright Arthur Miller are

married, climaxing days
of worldwide speculation.

The happy couple poses for a battery of

feverish photographers at their
honeymoon retreat, the Miller

Farm in Roxbury, Connecticut.

Married suddenly and
secretly, it's the second time

for the 40-year-old playwright and the

third for the glamorous
30-year-old actress.

Next comes a film in England for Mrs.

Marilyn Miller.

That's Monroe.

Could you tell us what kind of
a wedding you're going to have?

Very quiet, I hope.

Good. Do you feel certain at this
time that you won't be able to get away?

I feel certain I'm going to try, of course.

In the event that you are not
able to go, will Miss Monroe still go?

Oh, sure. She's got to go.

She's got a contract to fill.

That means you may not have
a honeymoon together then.

I think we will.

I hope so.

(upbeat music)

Europe pandemonium rains
in Tokyo as Joe DiMaggio, the

once great Yankee
clipper, extends the field of

the Monroe doctrine by
bringing his beautiful star

bride to the land of the cherry blossoms.

Having demonstrated
how to marry a millionaire in

a comedy masterpiece
of film, Marilyn shows she

knows how to manage millions by taking her

multitudinous reception in stride.

There hasn't been
anything like Marilyn and Joe

in all of Japan's history, and the photogs

make the most of it, proving curves that

can get a great batter have also diplomatic

twists in the field on
international goodwill.

A triumph worthy of
how to marry a millionaire.

Marilyn hoped marriage would
provide stability, perhaps even

motherhood, something she longed
for deeply, far deeper than any stardom.

Marilyn longed to be taken seriously
not only by men, but by women.

She valued the opinions
of female friends, assistants,

teachers, and collaborators.

Relationships built on
trust rather than desire.

She had average grades, with a
stout back, she couldn't even ship.

She wanted to be a wife,
she wanted to have children.

She wanted to be wanted.

That was the main thing.

And I guess she thought if she
were a movie star, she'd be loved.

Most people want
something from you, and she

was always suspicious that
people wanted something from her.

With younger actresses, she
was often gentle, encouraging,

acutely aware of how easily
the industry could break them.

She knew competition was
expected of women in Hollywood.

Solidarity, she learned, had
to be chosen deliberately.

Author Miller offered
Marilyn intellectual

companionship and moments
of genuine tenderness.

If she could have settled to just
be sort of a blonde movie star, if she

was dumber, she would have been happier.

Marilyn Monroe's career
reveals the heavy cost of

conformity for women, and
a moment when traditional

femininity was both being rigidly
enforced and quietly questioned.

In the 1950s, idealized
femininity, soft, compliant, domestic,

and sexually appealing to
men, was heavily promoted

in post-war culture, even as early feminist

ideas were beginning to
surface beneath the mainstream.

Monroe was pressured to
embody this narrow version

of femininity at all times.

Studio contracts controlled her
appearance, behavior, and relationships,

while the media reduced her intelligence
and emotional struggles to spectacle.

Men in positions of
power often infantilized her,

treating her vulnerability
as weakness rather than as

a response to relentless
objectification and control.

As women increasingly
felt the strain of these

expectations, Monroe's suffering
exposed the emotional and psychological

damage caused by enforced femininity.

Her life came to embody many of the

pressures that would soon be
challenged by second-wave feminism.

(film reel whirs)

Fame, however, exacts a price.

Marilyn's struggles with anxiety,
insomnia, and dependency on

prescription medication intensified.

Sleeping pills, uppers, and downers.

Her body became both her
instrument and her battleground.

Health complications, miscarriages,
and public scrutiny eroded her

sense of control.

Despite these challenges,
she delivered one of the

most celebrated performances
of her career in Some

Like It Hot in 1959, earning a Golden
Globe and reaffirming her brilliance.

(upbeat music)

Look, if you're interested in
whether I am married or not...

Oh, I'm not interested at all.

Well, I'm not.

That's very interesting.

Yet, behind the scenes, productions
were increasingly disrupted

by illness and exhaustion.

Marilyn was not only fragile or afraid.

She loved to laugh.

On set, when she felt safe, she could

be mischievous, playful,
delighted by the smallest moments.

Comedy was where she felt most alive, where

her intelligence, timing,
and warmth met effortlessly.

Those who worked closely
with her remembered not

just the struggle, but the joy.

Why are you killing him?

Just stand aside, honey.

Okay, you won!

All right, you’ve won!

- You won! Let go!
- Let go of that rope!

Get out of here!

- Let go!
- Come here!

The Misfits, in 1961, written by
Miller, would be her final completed film.

The production was grueling,
emotionally and physically.

Murderers!

You liars!

All of you liars!

You're only happy when
you can see something die!

Why don't you kill yourselves and be happy?

You and your god country!

Marilyn had discovered
notes written by Arthur, which

planted doubts in her
mind of their longevity.

It seemed the trust had slowly decayed.

Arthur's withdrawal was quiet,
and for Marilyn, devastating.

She and Miller separated
in January, just following

the inauguration of
President John F. Kennedy.

Their marriage was unable to withstand
the pressures of fame and fragility.

(film reel whirs)

The press, once adoring, grew cruel.

Headlines focused on delays,
hospitalizations, and rumors.

Marilyn, once praised for her
vulnerability, was now punished for it.

The publicity was relentless.

(crowd noise)

(shouting)

As her fame grew, so did speculation about

her private life, linking her to
presidents, politicians, and actors.

There were persistent reports that
her conversations were monitored,

and her sense of privacy was non-existent.

It was as though every action she'd take,

every affiliation she
had, even in the privacy

of her own home, could be weaponized
and used as political leverage.

The risk was made even worse
due to the ever-present Cold War.

These stories endured, not
because they were common,

but because the world
struggled to accept Marilyn

Monroe as powerful on her own.

She deserved privacy, respect, a way out of

the web she'd unintentionally
become caught in.

Marilyn Monroe was standing
at a crossroads, professionally,

emotionally, and physically.

After years of conflict
with studios, illness, and

public scrutiny, she
was attempting to rebuild.

She had signed on to
Something's Gotta Give,

a film intended to mark her return
to Hollywood on her own terms.

Production was trunced, and
Marilyn's health remained fragile,

leading her to be fired from the
film and the project being shut out.

Despite her health, she was not retreating.

She was still planning,
still imagining a future.

Friends recalled that she
spoke about new projects,

travel, and the possibility of
independence beyond the studio system.

There were moments of
optimism alongside exhaustion, a

familiar rhythm of life.

Marilyn lived in cycles
of hope and collapse.

Aspiration and disappointment
helped she continue to move forward.

In the weeks leading up to her death,

Marilyn was under immense pressure.

She was managing chronic
insomnia, anxiety, and dependence

on prescribed medications,
substances widely dispensed

in mid-century Hollywood, with little
understanding of the cumulative danger.

Her emotional state was
complicated by isolation, professional

uncertainty, and the resurfacing
of lifelong fears of abandonment.

Marilyn attempted a return.

She sang Happy Birthday to
her close friend, President John F.

Kennedy, before a global audience.

She was radiant.

It was one of her favorite
Hollywood appearances.

(gentle music)

♪ Happy birthday to you ♪

♪ Happy birthday to you ♪

♪ Happy birthday, Mr. President ♪

♪ Happy birthday to you ♪

(applause)

♪ Thanks, Mr. President for
all the things you've done ♪

♪ The battles that you’ve won ♪

♪ The way you deal with U.S. Steel
and our problems by the ton ♪

♪ We thank you so much ♪

Everybody, happy birthday.

(gentle music)

I can now retire from politics after
having had Happy Birthday sung to

me in such a sweet, open way.

On August 5, 1962, Marilyn Monroe was found

dead in her Los Angeles
home by her housekeeper.

She was 36 years old.

(gentle music)

Marilyn Monroe was found dead in bed under

circumstances that were
in tragic contrast to her

glamorous career as a comic talent.

On the surface, she seemed
to have such a zest for life.

Her international appeal took
her from command appearances

to the other side of the world
and entertainment for Korean GIs.

The star led a far from normal childhood

and had 12 sets of foster parents, leading

her to say in her last interview that
she was never used to being happy, so

it wasn't something she
ever took for granted.

She never let her personal
feelings interfere with

her job, and she was the idol of the
G.I.s, the animation of foxhole dreams.

Her death was officially
ruled a probable suicide

by an overdose of barbiturates,
though debate continues.

Theories spread like wildfire
regarding political intervention.

What remained undisputed
was the magnitude of her loss.

There was a telephone
call from Marilyn's attorney.

He asked if Marilyn was all right,
and I said, as far as I know she is.

The light was on in her room, and the
telephone cord was under the door, and

these were indications
that she was still awake.

About two in the morning, when I
saw that the light was still on in her

room, this was my first concern,
that there might be something wrong.

So I tried the door, and it was locked.

I knocked at the door and called Marilyn's

name several times,
and there was no answer.

Marilyn Monroe was more than an image.

She was a woman who fought for autonomy

in an industry designed to strip it away.

She was an intellect who
challenged wage inequity,

defied sexual double
standards, and insisted on her

right to be taken seriously.

(gentle music)

Monroe has suffered from psychiatric
disturbance for a long time.

She had often expressed wishes to
give up, to withdraw, and even to die.

On more than one occasion in the past,

when disappointed and
depressed, she had made a

suicide attempt using sedative drugs.

On these occasions, she had
called for help and had been rescued.

From the information
collected about the events of

the evening of August 4th, it is our

opinion that the same pattern
was repeated except for the rescue.

On the basis of all the
information obtained,

it is our opinion that the
case is a problem of suicide.

A century after her birth,
Marilyn's legacy endures

not as a cautionary tale, but
as a testament to resilience.

We, in our fan club, we have people
that are my age, we have people older

than me, and lots of people that are

teenagers that were
born far after her death

and yet they are captured by
her beauty and her talent also.

I really think Marilyn's
going to survive onward.

She seems to be getting actually
bigger every year, rather than less.

I think she's so incredible as a
woman and as an actress that she will be

remembered probably forever.

I think it's really important
because so many

people know who she is, but they don't
get a chance to see who she actually was.

She's done so many historical things.

I mean, obviously I love her roles that

she's played, but also I love when she

sang Happy Birthday to
the President because it's

become so historical for so many reasons.

She knew how to create moments, from the

skirt blowing up, to the Happy Birthday, to

being Sugar Cane in Summer Like It Hot.

There's so many.

She's just so inspiring.

She achieved so much, going from a broken

home to being the most
famous woman in the world.

She transformed vulnerability
into power, visibility into influence.

In a male-dominated world,
she became a force of nature.

Miss Monroe's dramatic coach
delivered the eulogy, saying

he had no words to describe the myth
and the legends that grew up about her.

The film star's coffin is then moved to

a crypt as Mr. DiMaggio and his Marine

Corps son walk with other
mourners in the cortege.

A century after her birth,
Marilyn's legacy endures

not as a cautionary tale, but
as a testament to resilience.

By chance, I directed
Marilyn Monroe's first major

film, as well as her last.

Marilyn had a strange,
startling impact on the world.

Even today, across the
headlines of far greater

events, her gentle, haunted
image continues to appear.

At her death, the world
had looked for villains.

It found only the
troubling truths that life

can be unfair and cruel, that we see

human despair too late, that
courage is not always enough.

If bravery is measured by the fear it

must overcome, then Marilyn's
courage was great indeed.

(gentle music)

She transformed vulnerability
into power, visibility into influence.

In a male-dominated world,
she became a force of nature.

Marilyn Monroe did not
simply belong to Hollywood.

She changed the landscape of the world.

(gentle music)