16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Classic but no longer controversial, October 17, 2001
By A Customer
This review is from: Say Goodbye to the President (DVD)
At the time this was produced in Great Britain, this material was considered very controversial. Some American TV stations refused to run this special because it confirmed that MM had affairs with both President Kennedy and Bobby Kennedy. Now this news is old hat so it doesn't have the same power it once did. After this special, 20/20 did another report that added to the story. The 20/20 report was canned and Geraldo Rivera was fired for protesting the censorship of the 20/20 report. Today viewing this DVD reveals many flaws, such as the dark lighting of the interviews and the confusing way the material is presented. Still, if you want to purchase this DVD before it goes out of print and becomes a collector's item, this would be the time.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Haunting, informative, April 24, 2000
Though I believe Marilyn Monroe committed suicide, I found this video (which captures Marilyn's last days) very informative: it stands as a testament to how powerful men can take advantage of women (as JFK and RFK seem to have done with Marilyn). Sometimes angering, sometimes depressing, this video is essential to understanding the downfall of an American icon. Those critical to the premise that Marilyn had affairs with both Robert and John Kennedy will find it hard to deny the affairs in the face of the plentiful interviews and evidence in this movie.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
4.0 out of 5 stars
Goodbye, Norma Jean, April 21, 2009
This review is from: Say Goodbye to the President (DVD)
SAY GOODBYE TO THE PRESIDENT is a 1988 British documentary that was, at the time of its release, quite controversial. Although potentially dismissible as mere "conspiracy theory," the cumulative effect of its many modern interviews with dozens of people directly and peripherially involved in events leading up to Marilyn Monroe's death create an air of believeability.
The most serious claim is that on the night in question, Monroe's housekeeper found the star ALIVE some time around midnight. The 82-year-old lady herself here changes long-held testimony that she found MM quite dead, and is backed up by owner of the responding ambulance. The revised story: a comatose Marilyn is removed to Santa Monica Hospital, and either dies there or during the ambulance ride.
Next, Bobby Kennedy is given time to leave town, Peter Lawford (the last person to speak to MM on the phone) goes to her home and destroys a suicide note, then Monroe's body is returned to her bed. LAPD receives a call some four hours after all this began to unfold.
The documentary is fleshed out with details of mob connections, MM's affairs with both Kennedy brothers, and lots of archive footage. Each puzzle piece is substantiated by modern interviews conducted with:
Eunice Murray - MM's housekeeper
Walter Schaefer - ambulance owner
Sgt. Jack Clemons - first LAPD respondent
Arthur James / Bob Slatzer - MM's friends
Jeanne Carmen - MM's neighbor
Joan Greenson - daughter of MM's psychiatrist
Tom Richter - LA Police Chief
Sam Yorty - LA mayor
Bill Romer - FBI agent
Chuck O'Brien - aide to Jimmy Hoffa
Fred Otash / John Danoff - PI wiretappers hired by Hoffa
Peter Summers - JFK aide
George Smathers - Senator
Frank Saunders - Joe Kennedy's chauffeur
Other interviewees include house guests of Peter Lawford, also his ex-wife Deborah Gould, and an LA DJ who met with a despondent MM shortly before she died. Only Sgt. Clemons flatly declares that Monroe was murdered, but his "irrefutable proof" is shown to be erroneous-- a strong case for non-bias on the part of the show's creators.
What's undeniable here is that in the final summer of her life, Marilyn Monroe was unemployed, hooked on barbiturates and talking to several people about an imminent death. Her fears (or predictions) became reality in the early hours of August 5th, 1962.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
