Customer Reviews

Marilyn Monroe - The Mortal Goddess

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
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Rather than ramble on about Marilyn Monroe's tragic rise and fall, a story that many know very well, I'll keep my comments to the documentary presentation itself. This "official studio biography" of Marilyn, distributed by 20th Century Fox, deserves credit for presenting a much more forthright biography of this carefully crafted show business creation than one might expect from a studio that held her contract for so many years. Fox was fairly balanced in presenting Marilyn in many different lights: glamorous, vulnerable, ambitious, beloved, exploited and sadly insecure. There are many interviews with Marilyn's friends, fellow actors, columnists, and other celebrities of the time. Narrator Peter Graves does an excellent job. Given the numerous television tributes available, this documentary still had a number of things that I either wasn't aware of, or had never seen before.

Here's are the elements of the biography which I found most noteworthy:

- Interviews with Marilyn's first husband James Dougherty
- A video snippet of Marilyn's first movie appearance
- The story behind the 1949 nude photo that made it into the first issue of Playboy
- Much of the song "Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend" from "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes"
- Newsreel-type video from her performances before American soldiers in Korea
- Film footage from Marilyn's divorce press conference
- Interviews with Evelyn Moriarty, Marilyn's stand-in
- Film footage of the "Happy Birthday" song for JFK, an event to which Marilyn was so late that it took numerous introductions by actor Peter Lawford (JFK's brother-in-law) before she finally shuffled onto the stage
- A sequence of outtakes that showed Marilyn repeatedly flubbing her lines in scenes with Dean Martin in "Something's Got to Give"

Total run time is 91 minutes (I was hoping for more). Also, there's a bonus feature of 20 theatrical trailers; watching them all takes 55 minutes, but they're great. I'd recommend this DVD to anyone.

I really enjoyed this video on marilyn. I am a huge fan (obviously). It definitly gives you an inside scoop. If you're a HUGE fan you should've already bought this!

Best and well made of many documentries. I bought 4 others recently, they just look like garage edited 3rd rate copies of most stuff already available in many other works. This REAL FOX release is just great. It only lacks "slant" on the possible homocide of Marilyn.

Marilyn Monroe rules as the ultimate sex symbol godess actress.It's a must see!!!!!!!!!