All language subtitles for Hollywood.Icons.S01E05.Marilyn.The.Movie.Star.Who.Changed.the.World.1080p.MY5.WEB-DL.AAC2.0.H.264-BTN_track3_[eng]

HAYDN GWYNNE:
Marilyn Monroe was the golden girl

of Hollywood's golden age.

# Men grow cold
As girls grow old... #

Star of over 30 films,
classics like The Seven Year Itch...

# Running wild, lost control... #

- ..and Some Like It Hot.
- # Mighty bold... #

She was cast as the dumb blonde
over and over.

She walks in,
and the men are going...

HE GASPS

In this programme, we reveal
that behind the stereotype...

..was a witty,
intelligent trailblazer...

There has been a shift towards
considering her more as a feminist.

..who stood up
for racial and gender equality...

Marilyn Monroe was
ahead of her time,

but she didn't even know it.

..single-handedly took on
the big guns...

Marilyn Monroe was
the first woman of real power

to stand against the studio system
in Hollywood.

..and won.

In the 1950s, women simply did not
do production companies.

But Marilyn destroyed the system.

With incredible access to Marilyn's
surviving co-stars and friends,

we learn how she behaved on set...

She cared deeply,

and what she delivered
was extraordinary.

..intimate revelations...

Marilyn was in
the earliest stage of pregnancy.

..and a different Marilyn
to the one we think we know.

All they see is this fragile
creature, and it just wasn't true.

In rarely broadcast interviews,
she voices her frustrations.

MARILYN:

With a first-hand account
of her darkest hours.

I saw her crawling on the floor
at three o'clock in the morning,

smelling from drugs and alcohol.

And for the first time
on British television,

an outtake from her last movie
reveals strains on the production.

- Can we start again?
- Yeah.

This is the true, untold story
of Marilyn Monroe.

May 19th, 1962...

..Madison Square Garden, New York.

JFK's inner circle decided that
they would throw a birthday gala.

And who better to headline
than Marilyn Monroe?

She tiptoes onto stage,

and she's announced,
rather poignantly

given that she didn't have that long
to live after this occasion.

Mr President...
the "late" Marilyn Monroe.

APPLAUSE

And she flicks the microphone...

..in a very cool and sexy action.

The performance that would go down
in history is remembered as much

for Marilyn slurring as for
her tongue-in-cheek rendition.

# Happy birthday to you

# Happy birthday to you

# Happy birthday, Mr President... #

At 35 years old,

Marilyn Monroe was the most famous
film star in the world.

Eleven weeks later... she was dead.

But how did this pioneering star
of 30 films

with the strength to fight
the Hollywood system come to this?

Marilyn was born
Norma Jeane Mortenson

on 1 June, 1926.

Her mother, Gladys Monroe Baker,
was diagnosed as schizophrenic,

and she was put in a state hospital
in an asylum.

She really wasn't the ideal person
to be a mother.

Nobody knows for sure
who her father was.

Marilyn Monroe herself never knew.

Without a father,
and a mother who couldn't cope,

Norma Jeane spent most
of her childhood in foster care.

It was a childhood where she never
really could hang on to a family

for very long
and feel that she really belonged,

because before she knew it,
she was going somewhere else again.

These were not necessarily warm
and caring foster homes.

Throughout Norma Jeane's
troubled childhood,

there was one constant...

..her mother's close friend
Grace McKee.

Grace took on this role
of unofficial guardian.

She would come along
and take her out for the day,

take her out to get her nails done,
take her to the movies.

And she was drawn
to one particular star.

Grace was obsessed with Jean Harlow.

She was a huge sex symbol.

The original platinum blonde.

Well, for the love of mud,

where am I sleeping,
on a racetrack?

Come on, let's have it. Who are you?
Where'd you come from?

Don't rush me, brother.

I'm Pollyanna The Glad Girl.

These cinema trips with Grace
had a huge impact on Marilyn,

as she revealed
to the broadcaster Dave Garroway.

MARILYN:

The movies were a million miles

from the reality of growing up
largely in foster care.

But when Norma Jeane was 15,
she was offered an escape

as she revealed
to the writer Georges Belmont.

MARILYN:

At just 16, she married
21-year-old Jim Dougherty.

- GREG SCHREINER:
- They set up a little household.

However, Jim was called in
to serve for the World War.

We will gain the inevitable triumph,

- so help us God.
- APPLAUSE

With Jim posted
to the Merchant Marines,

Norma Jeane joined the war effort
on the home front.

She joined a munitions factory
called Radioplane Munitions.

And it was at this factory
that she was discovered

by an Army photographer.

A photographer was looking around

for images
to promote the war effort.

At that point,
she looked very different.

Her hair was
a light brown type colour.

She looked very much like
a California girl-next-door.

And that started getting her
her first recognition.

Norma Jeane was an instant hit,

and her face was splashed
across Army magazines and pamphlets.

She was perfect
as a morale-boosting image.

When the war ended
and her husband returned,

the pressure was on
to stay at home and raise a family.

Marilyn decided that housewife
was not gonna be her career,

and she did not want
to be married any more.

So in 1945, aged just 19,

a determined Norma Jeane signed up
to the Blue Book modelling agency

and soon after left her husband,
and she was no ordinary model.

The head of her modelling agency,

she said,
"I never saw anybody work so hard."

She needed to understand lighting
and lenses and angles

and how to move her body.

She was tireless...

..and unbelievably ambitious.

By the summer of 1946,

she was gracing magazine covers
by the dozen,

and her growing profile attracted
the attention of a Hollywood studio.

It had come to the knowledge
of 20th Century Fox

that there was a woman out there
that's quite beautiful,

and so they decided
to set up a screen test.

She had terrible stage fright
from the beginning.

As it turned out,
they just did a silent screen test,

so she was in effect able to
just use the modelling skills

that she had been developing
over recent years.

They liked her, and they actually
signed her on a six-month contract.

Before long, she would be starring
in a string of hits

and, as witty as ever, making
clever additions to the scripts.

"I can be smart when it's important,
but men don't tend to like it."

She came up with it herself.

# No. #

And nearly 70 years after
they danced together on set,

her Oscar-winning dance partner
sheds light on Marilyn,

the working girl.

She cared deeply,

and what she delivered
was extraordinary.

CHEERING

HAYDN: On August the 24th, 1946,

already a successful model,

Norma Jeane signed her first
contract with 20th Century Fox,

but the studio
didn't approve of her name.

Norma Jeane was not considered to be
a particularly film-star-like name,

and there was an actress
around at the time, Marilyn Miller,

and one of the studio executives
said, "Oh, you remind me of her."

So she went with Marilyn.

And Marilyn, once again
showing her determined character,

wanted to choose
her own new surname,

as she revealed
to the writer George Belmont.

MARILYN:

So they combined the Marilyn
with the Monroe,

and Norma Jeane was said goodbye to.

Marilyn's next task

was to get herself
that all-important first role.

In one of the early surviving
screen tests that she did...

- You can't take such a chance.
- You dumb broad.

..the man opposite her refers to her
just as a dumb broad.

- I oughta...
- Go ahead.

It won't be the first time
I've been worked over today.

I'm getting used to it.

This idea that a pretty girl

was also always going to
have to be a dumb broad,

that was something that was going to
chase her throughout her career.

In her first six months,

all she landed was this bit part

in little-known comedy
Scudda Hoo! Scudda Hay!

Oh, hush up and go wait in the car.

- Hi, Rad.
- Hi, Betty.

She got an extension,
but then Fox cancelled her contract,

as Marilyn shared
with broadcaster Dave Garroway.

MARILYN:

But Marilyn never gave up easily...

..and enlisted
celebrated agent Johnny Hyde

to help put her career
back on track.

Johnny Hyde fell in love
with Marilyn,

and because of him having
such influence in Hollywood,

he was able to get her
some very big auditions.

KNOCKING

And thanks to him,
she landed a breakthrough role,

a walk-on part in the 1949
Marx Brothers film Love Happy.

Essentially,
she's used as a blonde bombshell.

At one point,
a monocle pops out of someone's eye.

Smoke comes out of a pipe.

Is there anything I can do for you?
What a ridiculous statement.

Mr Grunion, I want you to help me.

I have a little sand left.
What seems to be the trouble?

Some men are following me.

Really? I can't understand why.

This short scene was the spark
that would ignite her career...

..leading to a series
of similar roles.

Realising that her looks were
where her power lay,

Marilyn set to work
perfecting her image.

That gradually emerges
through a series of screen roles...

Haven't you bothered me enough,
you big banana head?

..over the course
of about a three-year period.

Happy any way you want me to be.

Her hair got shorter
and it also got blonder.

It went from sort of light brown,

and eventually through
to the platinum blonde

that we know her for.

Mr McKinley, control yourself.

- Go fry an egg.
- Well!

There were rumours that she also
had some work done on her chin.

She also had her nose taken care of.

She worked with
the make-up artist Whitey Snyder.

They created a look
that entailed emphasising her lips

using many different shades
of red lipstick.

But her transformation
was more than skin deep.

And she also created
a health and beauty regime...

..that created the Monroe look.

Marilyn had nailed
a distinctive image.

Her career started to take off.

All set.

- Is your motor running?
- Is yours?

Fox offered her
a new seven-year contract

with a starting salary of
$500 a week,

more than £3,500 in today's money.

And soon came
her first starring role

in the film noir thriller Niagara.

With Niagara, the look of Marilyn
had been established.

I'm awfully sorry about the cabin,

but my husband
hasn't been feeling too well.

Please, don't make me move him
right now.

He's finally fallen asleep.

Marilyn's sexuality is on show.
throughout the movie.

You see a scene
where she changes the record

out in a public dancing area.

- One of the men looks and says...
- "Hey, get out the fire hose."

She has the same kind of impact that
she had in the Marx Brothers film.

It's designed to, again,
make everybody look at her.

What about it, lady?

Better not.

Niagara grossed $6 million

and catapulted Marilyn into stardom,

but the raw sexuality she exuded on
screen led to precious off screen,

as Marilyn confided
to journalist Richard Meryman.

MARILYN:

The casting couch is well known.

It's certainly legendary
that people were expected

to perform sexual favours.

There were always rumours
that Marilyn did have sex

with a lot of studio executives
in order to advance her career.

I don't know if that's true or not.

She most certainly will have had
to deal with

the kind of things that now,
finally,

with the MeToo movement
is being held up

for the abuse that it actually is.

Despite working in an often toxic
and sexist culture,

Marilyn was now
fearlessly forging a path

to the top of the Hollywood system.

Production was underway
on her next film,

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes,

when a scandal broke
that had the potential

to destroy her burgeoning career.

Back in 1949, Marilyn had starred
in a nude photo shoot.

She told writer Georges Belmont
the story.

MARILYN:

MARILYN LAUGHS

But despite his promise,
she was recognised

and the scandalous shots
had resurfaced.

They made a nude calendar,

and they were seen a lot
in places around the country.

20th Century Fox were furious
and challenged Marilyn,

as she told writer Georges Belmont.

MARILYN:

This was a risky admission.

Admitting that she was the girl
in the nude calendars

could have ended
Marilyn Monroe's career.

Whenever she was confronted
with her past,

she would say,
"Yep, nothing to be ashamed of.

"Nudity is nothing
to be ashamed of."

And she was actually quite
progressive and bold in that way.

And she told the whole story about
being broke and needing the money,

and people embraced her for that

and said, "OK, we understand.
We feel sorry for you."

And I think she was very smart
that way.

She won the country over,

and she shifted attitudes
toward more acceptance

of open female sexuality.

Marilyn was relaxed about nudity,
but wary about being a sex symbol,

as she told
journalist Richard Meryman.

MARILYN:

MARILYN LAUGHS

Which sadly
is exactly what happened

because there was a further twist
to this tale.

Eventually,
those photos were utilised

for the very first Playboy magazine.

Hugh Hefner bought them,

and she was
the very first Centrefold ever.

Marilyn wasn't consulted and
wasn't paid a dime from the deal.

Seventy years on, the full frontal
still has the power to shock.

Hefner published it
reckless to its impact on her.

So I find that's kind of ironic

that she also gave a kick start
to Hugh Hefner.

But having turned the nude calendar
scandal to her advantage,

she was now free to continue
making Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.

Marilyn is a gold-digger
who is observed closely

by a private investigator hired by
the father of her intended.

I don't want this character
to get hurt on the way.

If you've nothing more to say,
pray, scat.

The dumb blonde isn't as dumb
as she seems.

Say, they told me you were stupid.

You don't sound stupid to me.

I can be smart when it's important,
but most men don't like it.

"I can be smart when it's important,
but men don't tend to like it."

She came up with it herself.

If you wanted to,
you could interpret that line

as a subtle dig to the studios.

And being portrayed as
a dumb blonde wasn't her only gripe

with the studio.

Marilyn also felt undervalued
and frustrated on set,

as she explained to
the journalist Richard Merryman.

MARILYN:

RICHARD LAUGHS

RICHARD AND MARILYN
LAUGH

The studio denied she was a star,
but they were wrong.

Her performance in the film
is legendary.

# 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... #

The dress,
the dance sequence, the song,

it is Marilyn par excellence.

# But diamonds are a girl's... #

And Oscar-winning dance star
George Chakiris

was by Marilyn's side.

If anybody mentions that movie,
what comes to mind?

That beautiful red background
and her pink dress against it.

No!

It's visually really striking.

And what was also striking
in this early stage of her career

was Marilyn's dedication.

We rehearsed for, I think,
two or three weeks,

and it took three days to film.

She's a perfectionist.

During the breaks, we get up and
play around and try to do the steps.

She just went right back
to her starting position

to start the take again.

She never looked at herself
in the mirror.

She never did any of that,
and I love that about her.

She cared deeply, and what
she delivered was extraordinary.

At 86 years old,
George's toes are still twinkling.

Still remember some of the moves,

the very last step that Marilyn does
cos she's singing, "Diamonds."

- # Diamonds
- Diamonds... #

Guys were all behind her,
walking on knees toward her.

# Diamonds

# Are a girl's best... #

And then we jump up in the air,
so it's, "Diamonds..."

- Jump up.
- # Best friend. #

It's fun to talk about
these things...

because it's movie history.

But the pink dress
now synonymous with Marilyn

wasn't the costume intended
for this scene.

Originally, they wanted to
dress up Marilyn as a diamond,

as a necklace.

After the nude scandal broke,
the studio decided

they simply could not have
Marilyn Monroe

in this incredibly scanty costume.

One day, I hope to see
the actual outfit itself,

because it must be
a sight to behold.

And a sight to behold it is.

The current owner,

leading Marilyn Monroe collector
Greg Schreiner,

has preserved the bottom half
of the costume.

Here we have the front,
quite elaborate,

and was made
entirely of rhinestones.

And in the back, we have a tail.

It makes me feel like
I'm a little bit closer to Marilyn.

Somehow, her spirit's in it
a little bit.

I dunno, just feels good.

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes was
one of the biggest movies of 1953.

After dancing and singing on screen,

it was time for an ambitious Marilyn
to prove her versatile talent

and make her mark
by tackling a comedy.

And she stole the show

in her next smash
How To Marry A Millionaire.

So Marilyn Monroe stars alongside
Betty Grable and Lauren Bacall.

They play three women who are
determined to marry millionaires,

and comedy ensues.

Essentially, this movie is known

for our Marilyn being able
to play a slightly different twist

on the dumb blonde role.

Because she's playing this woman
who's very short sighted,

whenever she takes her glasses off,

she actually sort of
just bumps into things.

It's a simple joke.
It's a dumb joke,

but her delivery of it
is absolutely priceless.

All right, put 'em on.
No men here yet.

You certainly got here in a hurry.
Did you take a taxi?

No, I didn't have enough money
for a taxi.

Had to get the Chrysler people

to demonstrate their new show boat
for me again.

She's actually playing with
her own image of Marilyn Monroe

- and making fun of it.
- Did you see this fella I'm with?

- I saw him.
- What's he look like?

- Very nice for a one-eyed man.
- Is that all he's got?

What do you think
he's got that patch on for?

I didn't know it was a patch.

I thought
somebody might have belted him.

She isn't just that person
on the calendar

or on the front of your magazine.

I love seeing her in this role.

How To Marry A Millionaire
was a huge commercial success,

earning eight million dollars
at the box office.

Marilyn Monroe was fast becoming
Hollywood's leading comic actress.

- PRESENTER:
- Here comes the young lady
who has created a real sensation

of the picture business,
Miss Marilyn Monroe.

Come on out here, darling.

And the following year,

she would shoot
one of the most iconic scenes

in movie history.

It is, for many,

that image you think of
when you think of Marilyn.

The lipstick just so,
the blonde hair, it's all perfect.

HAYDN GWYNNE: After appearing

in some of the most successful
movies of 1953,

Marilyn Monroe is now the biggest
female star in Hollywood.

- NEWS:
- You know them well, of course.
Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell.

Fan mail was pouring in,

and Marilyn's stardom was becoming
very real and powerful.

Between Beverly Hills and the ocean
is the 20th Century Fox studio.

But the studio failed to recognise
her extraordinary versatility,

pushing her into the same
empty-headed roles

time and time again.

Marilyn had had enough.

She suddenly saw what the deal was,

and she realised,
"They just wanted me for boobs

"and hair and lips and skin,
and I'm so much more than that."

There was actually
several movies she turned down,

including
The Girl In The Pink Tights,

which I think just going
by the name alone,

you can guess that was probably
not a great script.

She thought it was garbage.

She also found out that
her co-star, Frank Sinatra,

was on a fee that was three times
what she would have got,

so she dug her heels in and said no.

Marilyn simply failed
to turn up on set.

The studio's response was
to suspend her.

Marilyn's fallout with the
studio made newspaper headlines,

which she then replaced
with even bigger ones

when she married
a popular sporting legend.

- COMMENTATOR:
- Joe DiMaggio slams
what looks like a sure homer.

Joe DiMaggio was one of the most
famous sportsmen in the country.

He was a national hero.

They had met over dinner after he'd
asked a friend to introduce them,

as Marilyn explained
to writer Georges Belmont.

Bowing to her now
even greater star power,

Fox lifted Marilyn's suspension,

but she ignored their pleas

and jetted off to Tokyo
on her honeymoon.

DiMaggio was invited to Japan,

which was a huge nation
of baseball fans.

He was the big baseball star.

However, Marilyn is the one
that got all the attention.

- REPORTER:
- And Joe,
he's the forgotten man,

which is something in Japan,
where baseball is so popular.

And I'm sure that he probably was,
underneath, seething a little.

But enough's enough. His patience
is exhausted, and Joe says, "Go!"

And while they were there,
Marilyn got the invitation

to go entertain American troops
in Korea.

Seizing the opportunity
to keep her name in lights,

an ever-ambitious Marilyn
left Joe behind in Tokyo.

- REPORTER:
- Marilyn Monroe
invades frozen Korea,

and the GIs come a runnin' -

vowing unconditional surrender.

Everything was very put together
the last minute.

A tiny little portable stage.

13,000 marines whoop it up

as a now glamorous Marilyn
steps front and centre.

She insisted on wearing a beautiful
dress in freezing cold weather

because that was what they expected.

And her performance
was electrifying,

as you can see in this rare footage.

# But square-cut or pear shaped
These rocks don't lose their shape

# Diamonds are a girl's best friend

# Tiffany's

# Cartier

# Cartier... #

The men had not seen a woman
for quite a long time, really.

So they were, as I can say,
very excited to see her.

This overwhelming reception
had a profound impact on Marilyn.

That was the first time
when she got an inkling

of what a big star she was.

That was when she began
to understand it in real terms.

She had become a global sensation.

But husband Joe
was far from thrilled.

He just can't stand
that she's so famous.

He can't stand
all the other fans around her.

The way these sort of men follow
her around and leer at her.

And Joe's jealousy
would only intensify

when she took on the role
of the Girl,

a sex siren in The Seven Year Itch.

Tom Ewell plays a man living
in his New York family apartment.

I'm afraid I'm coming down with
what you and Doctor Steichel call

the seven-year itch.

What am I going to do?

He's starting to be distracted
by other women.

And in moves
a new neighbour upstairs

who just happens to be
Marilyn Monroe.

- Do you live in our building?
- Yes, in the Kaufman's apartment.

I took it for the summer
while they were away in Europe.

Well, isn't that nice?

She is a fantasy figure in this.

I mean, she is the girl next door,
the girl upstairs.

And on one baking September night,

she would shoot one of the most
iconic scenes in cinema history.

Tom Ewell's character
and the girl are walking out

of a movie they've watched together.

It's a very hot night.

And as she walks over
a subway grate...

Oh, do you feel the breeze from
the subway? Isn't it delicious?

..a train passes underneath,
and her white dress billows up.

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.

It's just extraordinary how
impactful that one scene has had.

Oh, here comes another one.

Not only on her career,
but actually on popular culture.

Marilyn's friend and photographer,
Sam Shaw, took the famous shot.

Well, my father came up
with the skirt-blowing scene

after reading the script.

In 1941, he had done a cover
for Friday Magazine,

where a model was going through,

like, a wind tunnel,
and her skirt was blowing.

He'd put it in the back of his mind

that if he ever had the opportunity
to use that concept again, he would.

The scene took place in New York
outside the Lux Theatre,

September 15th, 1954,
at 2am in the morning.

Underneath the grating,
there was a wind machine going

to make the skirt blow up.

Thousands of people
were clamouring around.

Let's be honest, it was mainly men
screaming her name.

The white dress was designed
by William Travilla,

and we see his trademark
sunburst pleating.

And it's also what creates
the fullness

that allow it to really billow
in the subway breeze.

Her hair was perfectly coiffed.

Her make-up was exactly right.

Marilyn was exuding
100% of her sexuality.

And it was between one of the takes

when Sam Shaw captured
the iconic moment.

Marilyn turns to him,

her skirt goes up,
and she goes, "Hi, Sam."

It was called
the shot seen round the world.

It is, for many, that image you
think of when you think of Marilyn.

The lipstick just so,
the blonde hair. It's all perfect.

This scene worked wonders
for Marilyn,

but not for husband Joe, who you can
see here hanging around the shoot.

- SARAH:
- Somebody told Joe DiMaggio
that it was happening.

And he became more and more incensed
the more times they did the takes.

Marilyn actually wore two pairs
of panties

to make sure that she protected
her own modesty.

To him, it was a kind of
shocking display of her sexuality.

To her, it was just part of the job.

- GREG:
- There are rumours that Joe
got very angry afterwards

in their hotel room.

People reported
that they heard screaming,

and most people believe
that Joe was physically violent

to Marilyn that night.

And certainly, not long after that,
Marilyn was filing for a divorce.

After only nine months,
the marriage was over.

And this wasn't the
only relationship under strain.

Exasperated with
the studio's treatment of her,

she decided to break
her Fox contract.

She wanted out.

She left DiMaggio.

She left Hollywood,
and she moved to New York.

She bought a plane ticket
under the name Zelda Zonk

so that nobody would know
it was actually her.

She would just disappear on them.
And what were they gonna do?

They couldn't force her to work
if she wasn't there.

For a determined Marilyn,

New York held the key
to the development of her career.

So she was devoted to her work
and to improving her craft.

She really wanted to be remembered
as an actress with integrity.

Savvy Marilyn enrolled
at The Actors Studio,

the most prestigious
acting school of its time,

run by Lee and Paula Strasberg.

My father was the artistic
director of the Actors Studio.

No matter how famous you were,
no matter how rich you were,

you came in there,
and it was your work

that was being looked at,
not who you were.

The Actors Studios
were the real serious people,

were Marlon Brando, Paul Newman

and people who really doing
real stuff in the movies.

What set the Actors Studio apart

was a technique known
as "the method".

It was based on your ability

to recall experiences
that you have had,

from simple sensations
to traumatic emotional experiences,

and to be able to reproduce them
on cue.

Marilyn shared the techniques
with Georges Belmont.

Strasberg also encouraged her to
undergo a period of psychoanalysis.

I think it was probably
one of the worst things

that could have happened to her
at the time,

because it kept her locked
with all that pain

that she'd experienced as a child,

rather than freeing her to move on
and cope better with life.

Some years earlier,
Marilyn had revealed to a journalist

details of childhood abuse.

She did say that
she had suffered molestation,

sexual abuse as a child.

She was vulnerable.

She was passed around
from home to home at a time

when society discounted
those kinds of allegations.

And she had been dismissed
as a fantasist.

Both as a child and as a woman,
kind of two counts against her.

It was a culture
that simply disbelieved

victims of sexual assault.

Now through psychoanalysis,

Marilyn revisited
all her past traumas,

including the neglect
and abandonment

she had experienced from birth.

To cope with the gruelling hours
on film sets,

she had been taking a cocktail
of pills since she started at Fox.

Pills were just handed out
like candy.

There were doctors
on every studio set,

and all the actors had them,
and the dancers had them,

and the choreographers had them,
and you could just get them.

In New York, while in therapy,

she began taking even more pills,
and as her drug use spiralled,

the towering strength Marilyn
had shown till now began to crumble.

The psychiatrists,
in prescribing these drugs,

were thinking they were
doing her good.

I don't think that they were
as aware as we are today

of how addictive they are
and how dangerous they are.

She would prick capsules
of barbiturates

and dissolve them in champagne
to make them work faster.

She didn't know how much she was
taking. She wasn't even tracking it.

I saw her crawling on the floor
at three o'clock in the morning,

smelling from drugs and alcohol,

saying, "Do you think
I can wake up your parents?"

I saw her as much more vulnerable.

It's just terrible.
That's terrible stuff.

Thankfully,
the Strasbergs gave Marilyn

the support she needed to survive.

I don't think anyone expected

that she would end up
as a member of the family.

Marilyn was more like
between a sister...

..and a wounded animal.

When I saw Marilyn happy,

it was when she was with the family
just having a good time.

And despite her growing troubles,
as the next chapter dawned,

Marilyn would once again
show her inner strength,

this time, to help others.

Battling prejudice and standing up
for equality to change the life

of a struggling musician
known as Ella Fitzgerald.

Ella is on record saying that
she owed a lot to Marilyn Monroe,

that Marilyn Monroe
was ahead of her time,

but she didn't even know it.

HAYDN GWYNNE: By the summer of 1955,

Marilyn Monroe was settled
into her new life in New York,

attending classes
at the prestigious Actors Studio.

She took her studies seriously.

Marilyn Monroe was acutely aware

that she had had
a very poor education.

And she was determined
to improve herself.

She was a voracious reader.

She read political history.
She read political biographies.

She wanted to fill up her mind
and give herself a bit of substance.

There are photographs
of her reading Ulysses.

People said, "Oh, it's just a prop

"cos she wants to look
intellectual."

Because she was a dumb blonde
in the eyes of everybody else,

once again, her efforts
at self-improvement

were just met with mockery.

But Marilyn's inner circle

were fully aware
of her true intelligence.

And whilst in New York,
she met an old friend.

In the 1950s, Arthur Miller was
America's most famous playwright.

Marilyn had met Arthur Miller
in Hollywood a few years before,

and they'd had a flirtation
at a party.

Nothing came of it. He was married.

But when Marilyn moved to New York,

it deepened
into something more serious.

They swapped book recommendations.
They wrote letters to each other.

They didn't just have
dirty weekends away.

It was quite a literary courtship.

And the feeling was mutual,

as Arthur Miller revealed in his
interview with presenter Alan Yentob

for the BBC's Omnibus.

The circles she was in
with Arthur Miller,

the Actors Studio, New York City,

all of that would have brought her
in contact

with a more liberal wing
of American society.

She was forward thinking.

She was outraged by many elements

of sexism and racism in society,

and of colour prejudice.

In America, the class that was most
oppressed was African Americans,

Black people.

To be a Black person in America
in the '50s,

you could only sit
at the back of the bus,

you could only use certain toilets,

you could only go into certain clubs
and restaurants.

It was very much
a segregated society.

Marilyn did not ever respect

those kinds of social barriers.

There are pictures of her
that were taken at the time

with Black friends,

and magazines
would often crop those pictures

to show Marilyn only with
the white people.

She was friends with the people
she wanted to be friends with,

and nobody was gonna tell her
otherwise.

# I have mixed emotions... #

And that included the legendary
jazz singer, Ella Fitzgerald.

# I know
I shouldn't cos you've got me. #

She met Ella and discovered that
they had something in common.

They both had abusive childhoods,
both kind of put into boxes.

And they really gelled,
and they really became friends.

Marilyn really considered her
an important artist,

and she wanted to get Ella
into Hollywood

to really do a big Hollywood gig.

At the time, Ella was struggling
to get a headline booking.

One of the places
that turned her down

was LA's glitziest venue.

- REPORTER:
- The Mocambo,
one of Hollywood's best-known places

to dine and dance,
is star-studded every night.

When Marilyn found out
that Ella Fitzgerald

wasn't allowed to sing
at the Mocambo club,

Marilyn was outraged.

She got on the phone
to the manager of the club

and said that if he agreed
to book Ella,

that she would be there,
front and centre

at the main table for a week.

If Marilyn was there,
other A-listers would come as well,

because you didn't get more A-list
than Marilyn Monroe.

And they said yes.

The gig attracted
some of Hollywood's biggest names,

with Frank Sinatra and Judy Garland
spotted on the front row.

On Ella's opening night,
she got rave reviews.

After playing at The Mocambo,

the white audience,
the mainstream audience,

knew who Ella Fitzgerald was.

Ella is on record saying that
she owed a lot to Marilyn Monroe,

that Marilyn Monroe
was ahead of her time,

but she didn't even know it.

Marilyn was also winning
her own battles.

Fox allowed her to renegotiate
her contract on new terms,

and once again,
ahead of her time,

she teamed up with old friend,
photographer Milton Greene.

They would combine their resources
and form a production company,

which they called
Marilyn Monroe Productions.

Marilyn shared the plans
in this rare interview

with broadcaster Edward R Murrow.

- MURROW:
- Tell me,
what's the basic reason

for this corporation?

Primarily to... contribute,

to help making good pictures.

Well, would it be fair to say
that you got rather tired

of playing the same kind of roles
all the time?

I would like to do
also dramatic parts, too.

She was going to take control
of her career...

..force Fox to let her
make some films on the side,

and that she would be able then
to have directorial control.

She was really determined to prove

that she could
take up space in Hollywood

as a thinker and as a film maker,

so not just in front of the camera
looking beautiful,

but behind the camera, having ideas.

But the studios
openly mocked Marilyn

for wanting to set up
her own company.

She was just laughed at. They said
that she was above herself.

And this sense that
she didn't know her own limits

and that she didn't understand
that she was just a dumb blonde,

and, "Who does she think she is?"

In the 1950s, women simply
did not do production companies.

That was the studio that did that.

But Marilyn destroyed the system.

By 1956, Marilyn's split with Fox
was complete.

And any future work with them
would now be on her terms.

She went back in
and renegotiated her contract.

- SCHREINER:
- She had the right to refuse

any films she did not wanna do.

She also had the right to make
her own movies.

And Marilyn's first role
created under this new contract,

came in the form of Cherie
in a 1956 cowboy caper.

Bus Stop was the beginning of
Marilyn Monroe stepping away from

those typical roles that she used
to do, of the naive blonde.

It's a serious piece about a girl
who works as a sort of hostess

in a terrible little bar,

who is courted by
a very overenthusiastic cowboy,

when she has aspirations of her own.

And look, you can see by this
just how straight my direction is.

River Gulch is where I started.
This is where I am now.

- And look where I'm going.
- Where?

Hollywood and Vine!

It's a role that let her act,
and that is so rare for her.

We got to see her
stretch her wings a bit.

Look, straight as an arrow.

River Gulch.
Psheow! Hollywood and Vine!

What happens when you get there?

What happens?
Honey, you get discovered,

you get tested,
with options and everything.

I like seeing that little moment
where she says...

And you get treated
with a little respect, too.

She's saying, "I have power,
I have control, I have agency,

"and maybe I'm aware
of what you've been doing.

"I know you've been taking me
for a ride.

"This is my movie.
This is my chance to shine.

"I am behind the camera as well
with this one."

By her side throughout filming
was Paula Strasberg,

her acting coach from New York.

My mother was there all the time,

and she was the one who did
a lot of the pragmatic work

when Marilyn was filming,

meaning the kind of choices
that Marilyn made,

the kind of focus that she made.

Some directors resented that.

They said she was hanging around
like a black spider

and they couldn't,
you know, move without her,

and that they would give
a direction,

and Paula would give her
a different direction.

The male directors
got incredibly angry about this.

Despite the tension on set,
in Bus Stop,

Marilyn delivered
an explosive performance.

- And goodbye forever.
- Cherie, wait a sec. Cherie, wait!

CLOTH RIPS,
SHE SCREAMS

MEN LAUGH

You ain't got the manners
they give a monkey!

I hate you and I despise you!

Now give me back my tail!

She somehow manages to create,

behind those eyes,
the feeling of real pain,

of past abuses,

a sort of haunting quality to it.

You can't deny it.

She is doing something different,
and she's doing it really well.

On set,
she was at the top of her game,

but sadly, away from it,
she was struggling.

It's around about this point
in Marilyn Monroe's career

where she started to become
more dependent on drugs.

She would take something
to help her sleep.

She would take something
to help wake in the morning.

All the stories are that
she would have plastic bags

filled with undifferentiated pills

and just kind of reach in
and grab them out.

In that era, it was whatever worked.

And if this is what the star needed,
this is what the star got.

Unaware that her drug use
was an issue,

Marilyn was optimistically embarking

on her first
fully independent production.

But there were rocks ahead.

The falling out between Monroe
and Olivier is legendary.

It was her movie.
She was producing it.

He worked for her.
And he told her just to be sexy.

Of course she was angry.
Of course she was outraged.

CROWD CHEER

HADYN GWYNNE: In 1956,
Marilyn Monroe was ready

to take on the big boys
of the Hollywood studio system.

Now installed as president
of Marilyn Monroe Productions,

she shot her first independent film,
The Prince And The Showgirl,

in London.

Marilyn's new lover, the recently
divorced playwright Arthur Miller,

wanted to go with her,
but politics stood in their way.

- REPORTER:
- The growing menace of communism

arouses the House of Representatives
Un-American Activities Committee.

Miller was one of the
many members of the New York,

and indeed the Hollywood scene,

who were hauled up before Congress

to name names, to identify people

that they had known
who were communists.

His play The Crucible had in effect
criticised the investigation,

which had already
made him a suspect.

So when he applied
for a passport for this trip,

he was summoned
before the committee.

When asked why he wanted to travel,

his answer was a proposal
of marriage.

Eight days later,
Marilyn and Arthur were married.

Their wedding breakfast was shot
in this rarely-seen home video,

filmed by her business partner,
Milton Green.

A few weeks later,
the newlyweds headed to England

for Marilyn's next movie.

- REPORTER:
- "She's here,"
said the headlines,

and everyone knew they meant
the American film star

with the famous shape
and the wiggly walk.

Her Majesty,
talking with Miss Monroe,

remarked that they were neighbours
at Windsor.

For The Prince And The Showgirl,
Marilyn had secured acting royalty.

She went into production
on The Prince And The Showgirl

with Laurence Olivier,
the great actor,

as the director
and a kind of co-star.

You know what's going to happen.

I'm gonna fall in love with you,

because I always, always do.

Always?

Mm-hm. Both times.

But far from falling in love,

relations between the two
were strained.

She walked on set, and Olivier began
just by patronising her.

And she asked him how they were
going to play a certain scene,

and instead of taking that question
seriously,

he said, "Oh, don't bother acting,
Marilyn, just be sexy."

It was her movie.
She was producing it.

He worked for her.
And he told her just to be sexy.

Of course she was angry,
of course she was outraged.

The falling out between Monroe
and Olivier is legendary.

- HE SIGHS.
- The tensions were incredible.

And he had no time for the methods

she had learned
at the Actors Studio,

as he made clear
in interviews afterwards.

She had got her little head filled
with all sorts of ideas

I don't think she could cope with
about realism.

She was marvellous

at just saying a very simple
little line of about seven words,

and she could do it
as nobody else could do that.

Olivier was guilty
of absolutely blatant sexism,

and I think that he was jealous
of her fame.

There are moments in the movie where
THE Sir Laurence Olivier

is outshone by Marilyn Monroe.

What are words
where deeds can say so much more?

That's just terrible!

Olivier seems almost sort of
to disappear

when he's on screen with her.

You made a pass,
and I turned it down.

Filming done,
Marilyn and Arthur Miller -

who was still under investigation -

headed back to the States

to stay with his lawyer
Joseph Ruah's family.

My father offered
to have them stay at our house

cos everyone was concerned
that Marilyn would be mobbed

if she had to stay in a hotel.

At this time,
she particularly craved privacy.

Marilyn was in
the earliest stage of pregnancy.

She wanted to have a family

and to get away from
the horror show that is Hollywood.

Marilyn was ready to settle
into family life

as soon as Miller's trial
came to an end.

Very last day,
she agreed to meet the press.

This was the scene
in the front of our house.

I would like to say
that I'm fully confident

that in the end,
my husband will win this case.

That's me.

It certainly was
a 16-year-old's dream

to be around Marilyn Monroe
for a couple of weeks,

no doubt about that.

The trial ended and Miller
was given a suspended sentence.

Expecting their first child
together,

they moved into
a charming old farmhouse.

You just know that
she would have been

an absolutely doting,
wonderful mother,

because she had a lot of love
to give.

But on 1 August 1957...

..Marilyn was rushed to hospital.

Unfortunately,
she had a miscarriage.

I think it's absolutely a shame

that she didn't get
the daughter or the son

that she would have wanted.

She lost at least two,

and on some accounts,
three pregnancies.

After her run of miscarriages
in the late '50s,

she wanted something
to numb the... the pain

and the depression
and the sense of failure.

She overcame a lot of those problems
with the help of drugs.

To what degree she would have
thought in terms of addiction

is harder to know.

She knew she was unhappy,

and she was in that cycle where
she felt like the pills helped.

Now totally dependent
on prescription drugs...

..Marilyn went reluctantly
back to work,

starring in the legendary comedy
Some Like It Hot.

She plays Sugar Cane,

who is a member
of an all-female band.

# Runnin' wild, mighty bold

# Feelin' gay, reckless too

# Carefree mind all the time
Never blue. #

Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon
have to dress up as women

to escape being shot by gangsters,

and so they join this
all female band.

And of course,
they both sort of fall

head over heels in love
with Marilyn.

Marilyn's big on entrances,
and she really enhanced this one

as she's sort of wiggling her way
down the train station.

STEAM BLASTS

Look at that!

The problem for Marilyn

was that although
it was a superlative script,

it was still
yet another dumb blonde.

Good night, sugar.

Good night, honey.

Arthur Miller hadn't worked
since they had married,

and was keen for her
to take on the role.

Arthur Miller
helped talk her into it,

and so she just resented it.

Relax.

She's doing it, but she's not well.

She really isn't well.

And Marilyn's off-screen problems
meant filming did not run smoothly,

as her co-star, Tony Curtis,
later revealed

to the interviewer
Michael Parkinson.

We'd get in our trusses,
get in our silk stockings,

get in all the undergarments.

By the time we got done,
it was two and a half hours.

We'd get on the set,
ready to shoot at nine,

and she wouldn't show up
till 11:30, 12:00.

You know, we had to stay like that
all day long.

And then finally,
Marilyn would show up.

During filming,
Marilyn's drug-taking intensified.

She took so many drugs to sleep
that they couldn't wake her up.

So they used to make her up in bed
while she was asleep...

..before then getting her up
and onto the set.

Her marriage to Miller
lasted barely two more years.

By then, the troubled
and addicted actor was in freefall.

She just couldn't wrestle
with her own demons.

It was just awful
to be Marilyn Monroe at this point.

Her final appearance
should have acted as a warning...

She'd had a fair amount
of champagne.

We don't know what other pills
and chemicals she had taken,

but she was pretty clearly
inebriated.

..of the tragedy that lay ahead.

I cannot believe this incredible,
fabulous woman is gone.

CHEERING

HADYN GWYNNE: In 1962, 18 months
after her marriage had broken down

and reliant on medication,

Marilyn screen tested,
as seen here,

for the romantic comedy
Something's Got To Give.

But as soon as production began,
there was trouble.

It was an absolute nightmare
to make.

Marilyn was repeatedly
phoning in sick

and missed so much work.

Other people said that it was her
ongoing problem with drug addiction.

When Marilyn did make it
onto the set,

strains began to show,
as seen in this rare outtake.

Would you like it any better
if I knew him?

And it slips her mind?

Er...

- Er... Can we start again?
- Yeah.

The one scene that they did shoot
was a swimming pool scene.

SHE CHUCKLES

She was asked to swim in a suit,
pretending to be nude,

but she opted to do it
completely naked.

It was around this time,
she's believed to have embarked

on an affair with
the American President,

John F Kennedy.

Ask not what
your country can do for you.

Ask what you can do
for your country.

APPLAUSE

The rumours are
that they had sex, yes.

How many times,
and whether it counted as an affair,

I don't know.

She was getting a kick
out of having an affair...

..with the most powerful man
in the world.

On 19 May 1962,
Marilyn travelled to New York

to sing Happy Birthday
very publicly to JFK.

She shared the experience
with Richard Meryman.

And she kind of tiptoes onto stage,

and she's announced,
rather poignantly,

given that she didn't have that long
to live after this occasion...

Mr President,
the late Marilyn Monroe.

..and she flicks the microphone.

She'd had a fair amount
of champagne.

We don't know what other pills
and chemicals she had taken,

but she was pretty clearly
inebriated.

# Happy birthday to you

# Happy birthday to you

# Happy birthday, Mr President

# Happy birthday to you. #

APPLAUSE

It's probably one of the most
sensual performances she ever gave.

She sang it very tongue-in-cheek,

and they loved it.

BAND PLAY
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY"

Afterwards,
Marilyn flew back to Hollywood,

but the studio, claiming they had
forbidden the trip, fired her.

JFK stopped taking her calls.

Marilyn was now vulnerable
and very alone.

Five weeks before her death,

she took part in a photo shoot
for Vogue,

now known as The Last Sitting.

And at the end of the shoot,
she grabbed a black wig

and she spoofed Jackie Kennedy.

It's a really wicked thing
to have done,

but I kind of love that she did it.

These images would prove to be

some of the very last taken
of the troubled star.

FILM HISSES.

The last day of Marilyn's life,
which was 4 August 1962,

was a fairly uneventful day
for Marilyn.

She spent the whole day at home.

She saw her psychotherapist,
Dr Greenson, at midday,

and then she was at home.

She retired to bed early that night.

She did what she often did, which is
phone round some of her friends.

They did not notice anything
in particular wrong with her.

Later that evening,
the alarm was raised.

The housekeeper saw
that her light was still on

and that the door was locked.

She called Dr Greenson,
her psychiatrist.

He came over, broke a window...

- GLASS SHATTERING
- ..into her bedroom.

And discovered her dead on the bed.

There's a bottle of
prescription pills next to her.

- REPORTER:
- One of the most famous
stars in Hollywood history

is dead at 36 -
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.

The coroner's verdict
was probable suicide.

The word's "probable",

and that's what opened up
the floodgates

to a million conspiracy theories.

There are all
of these complicated ideas

about how she died and why she died.

It's been seen as probably,
like, an accidental overdose

and therefore a tragic end.

There was a period of several hours
before the police were called.

What the hell were they covering up?

Well, I've heard everything from
the Mafia did her in,

to her doctor did her in,

to the Kennedys came by
and injected her.

What remains consistent is the idea
that a powerful man

had to be involved in the story.

Keep the men out of the story.

She died alone.

And let us at least speak of that

with the dignity
and respect that it deserves.

- REPORTER:
- The curtain falls.

Brief and simple rites marked
the funeral of Marilyn Monroe.

Her ex-husband, Joe DiMaggio,

arranged a small funeral service
for friends and family.

Only 25 persons were invited
to the services,

and no screen stars
were in attendance.

Marilyn had fought all her life,

against a troubled childhood
and exploitative studio system,

and men who loved her
but let her down.

And on 8 August 1962,

Marilyn Monroe, finally at peace,
was laid to rest.

I cannot believe this incredible,
fabulous woman is gone.

Marilyn was buried in
Westwood Village Memorial Park.

Jack Lemmon, her co-star from
Some Like It Hot, is also there.

So too is the man who nearly
ended her career before it began.

Hugh Hefner bought
the burial plot next to her.

To me, that just exemplifies
all of the misogyny of her life

and of her afterlife.

All of these men
who felt like they owned her.

Despite them all,
her legacy is triumphant.

Come in.

HIGH-PITCHED WHISTLE

- Is your motor running?
- Is yours?

- Takes a while to warm up.
- Yes, me too.

Marilyn Monroe is undoubtedly

the most recognisable
Hollywood movie star of all time.

She had so much talent
that when she was on screen,

you couldn't look at anything else.

She's immortal.

She works in every age.
She'll never go out of style.

You should not think of her
as being this dumb blonde.

I hate you and I despise you!

She was so much more than that.

Now give me back my tail!

We still have made
so little progress

in thinking about her
in different terms.

All they see
is this fragile creature,

and it just wasn't true.

She changed her life.
She got what she wanted.

Marilyn Monroe was
the first woman of real power

to stand against
the studio system in Hollywood.

She deserves to be remembered as
more of a force to be reckoned with,

more of a trailblazer.

I think if she was alive today,

they'd go, "Well, yeah, Marilyn,
that's the way it ought to be."

# And diamonds are a girl's

# Diamonds are

# A girl's best friend. #