« What's Adequate? | Main | William Neill, Photographer: A Retrospective »

Tuesday, 03 April 2018

Comments

Feed You can follow this conversation by subscribing to the comment feed for this post.

I agree - that's too much Marilyn. I've only seen her in Some Like It Hot, but then nobody's perfect. (cryptic reference alert)

Asphalt Jungle was good, but her best was also her last (along with Clark Gable)... The Misfits also starred Montgomery Clift and Eli Wallach, penned by Arthur Miller and directed by John Huston. One of my top ten all time.

If "Asphalt Jungle" is your only viewing of Marylin Monroe, I am going to offer up "Some Like it Hot," a delightfully subversive comedy, as a counter-weight. This Billy Wilder classic was years ahead of its time, holds up well, and shows off MM as a comedienne rather than just a pretty face. "Asphalt Jungle," is pure noir fun, of course . . .

My own noir fave has got to be "Gilda" with Glenn Ford and Rita Hayworth, but that's off topic for today. BTW, agree completely that the offered size is odd. I understand that "big" sells -- just not to me. ;)

You may remember Marilyn’s movie Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. I have just read the novel which inspired it. It is quite different than the movie (that never happens...), and quite a surprise. It’s inventive and inspired, satiric and wickedly funny. In fact I’ve never read anything quite like it.

"It's a beautiful picture." Yes, but perhaps too much so for the subject. Marilyn was so over-photographed her beauty became trite. She became an icon of herself. This "portrait" looks as if it was cropped from a larger movie scene. Naw, not my favorite.

Personally, the MM images I find most engaging are the tweeners. That is, the snaps grabbed between moments when she wasn't posing, when the light wasn't perfect, when the lens wasn't quite perfectly focused. So among Schiller's MM images offered for sale on that site this is the one I would most enjoy having. At first glance you don't realize who it is. But unlike Richard Avedon's famous 1957 MM tweener, Schiller hasn't captured her in a sullen, dark moment that saddens the viewer. Here on the set of the 1960 film "Let's Make Love" she appears on top of the world, as though someone's just made a clever quip. She's a person who's with you. You can almost hear her laugh.

Yes, Lawrence Schiller did some nice Hollywood work, often outside the same ol' mold.

Like you Mike, I have seen only one MM movie. It was "some like it hot" with Jack Lemon and Tony Curtis. It's a good one. Just a bit corny.

It is also worth mentioning Schiller working as a “special photographer “ on the set of what would be MM’s final movie,captured the famous nude swimming pool shots.

MM, for me, will forever mean Milo Minderbinder.

You should see Bus Stop. It's a fun movie

http://photographsandbooks.blogspot.com/2012/11/arnold-newman-marilyn-monroe.html

A couple of my favorites, not by Mr. Schiller so a little OT but worth a look.

You should check out the movie Niagara. It's not really a noir, but takes place at Niagara Falls during the day. She's not in her ditzy blonde character, but plays an unfaithful wife being stalked by her jealous husband. Great suspense.

Hi Mike,

Agree with Mr. Tanaka that the second shot is far more enjoyable compared to a formal headshot. Not that I'd own either, as they're a bit like dormroom posters from two generations ago, pre-Warhol.

On to important business: You absolutely need to watch "Some Like it Hot."

I feel like the person who'd put this on their wall would be going for the unsettling quality you're describing -- a bit David Lynch, a bit ironic, a bit off balance. Maybe I'm optimistic.

The comments to this entry are closed.

Portals




Stats


Blog powered by Typepad
Member since 06/2007