When Colin Clark left college in the 1950s, he got a job as a gofer on the set of the movie The Prince and the Showgirl, starring Marilyn Monroe and Laurence Olivier. The film should have been a box office smash, but even before cameras rolled, things began going wrong--and Clark recorded it all in this beguiling, fly-on-the-wall diary.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Forty years ago, Colin Clark, the son of art historian Kenneth Clark, accepted a job as a "gofer" on the set of Laurence Olivier's film The Prince and the Showgirl, which was to star Olivier and Marilyn Monroe. By day, Clark satisfied the every whim of director Olivier and other crew members; by night, he chronicled the day's events in his diary, compiling a vivid and witty introduction to the craft and business of filmmaking. Now he is publishing the diary virtually intact. It's a wickedly entertaining little book, a delicious backstage comedy of the clash of two worlds, as well as a candid time capsule of a heedless young Englishman's sexual progress, circa 1956. At center stage are the classically trained Olivier, leading a crew of expert British film professionals, and a sad and volatile Monroe, surrounded by manipulative and sycophantic hangers-on. Clark's thumbnail judgments of the principals are shrewd, sometimes harsh; playwright Arthur Miller, who married the actress just before the film began production, comes across as particularly unpleasant. Full of the sort of stories and observations film insiders tell only each other (Monroe upon Clark's first scrutiny: "She looked absolutely frightful.... Nasty complexion, a lot of facial hair, shapeless figure and, when the glasses came off, a very vague look in her eye"), this diary is a breezy, gossipy, often hilarious read. Photos.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
Clark, son of historian Sir Kenneth Clark, spent his days just after college as third assistant director (read gofer) on the set of the 1957 British film The Prince and The Showgirl. What made this film unique, and the reason Clark decided to keep a daily journal, was the unlikely pairing of Marilyn Monroe and Sir Lawrence Olivier in the title roles. Monroe hoped this would give her a more serious image; Olivier hoped to boost his film career. But Monroe was insecure; treated badly by her new husband, Arthur Miller; and often late and on drugs. Olivier, the consummate professional, had no patience. Though the diary is amusing, it sheds little new light on the Monroe legend, and though it gives the reader a bird's-eye view of an interesting place and time, its narrow scope keeps it from being a necessary purchase. For comprehensive film collections.?Rosellen Brewer, Monterey Bay Area Coop. Lib. Sys., Pacific Grove, Cal.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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31 of 34 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
The cover photo shows Marilyn leaning against Laurence Olivier, she all softness, he all stiff reserve. She holds a finger between their lips. Is she stopping him or teaching him? Either way, it appears she is in control. Perhaps this isn't want Olivier envisaged when he agreed to casting Monroe in his film. The inside story of the making of this film is told by Colin Clark who was the 3rd assistant director, or "gofer". He thankfully shows a dislike for the Terrence Rattigan play which is to be directed by Olivier, who is a family friend, and married to Vivien Leigh, who had played the role in London. Olivier refers to him as "dear boy". Rattigan is "queer, of course" he tells us and Olivier and Leigh "love to have queer courtiers", though later Clark receives a blow job without resistance. His strategum for solidifying his position in the company is tiresome, but as preproduction begins he peppers his notes to cover himself in hindsight. Everyone's concern is MM. Her reputation for lateness and her reliance upon Paula Strasberg precedes her. While Clark thinks her demands make her spoiled and silly, he also is aware that Larry may not be the ideal choice of director. Clark wishes he could pass on confidances but doesn't. I guess that's the beauty of keeping a diary. Her makeup man gives a warning - Whitey Snyder says he loves Marilyn, but doesn't want to responsible for her behaviour, strange for a man who would later claim to have briefly married her. The makeup tests are a revelation. On film she is luminous, no matter how difficult in person. There is a clue that the British haven't been exposed to such a person before, in a comment about Vivien Leigh - that in spite of her fame being greater than Olivier's, that she always deferred to him. And an acknowledgement that at the time, Monroe is the biggest movie star in the world, just coming off Bus Stop. It is hoped that Marilyn will be more agreeable since she has brought her new husband, Arthur Miller with her, as also A View from the Bridge is due to open in London. As filming begins, Clark defines MM as a mimophant - as fragile as a mimosa about her own feelings, but as tough as an elephant about other people's. She is as self-centred and sensitive as a child and it appears that she needs Strasberg's sycophantic babblings to boost her confidence, which it is feared Olivier is draining. Olivier doesn't understand her fragility. He thinks actors should be to control their nerves. There is also a battle for control over MM going between Milton Greene, Strasberg and Arthur Miller, all whom Clark thinks wants to benefit from their "pot of gold". If Olivier gives MM a direction which contradicts something Strasberg thinks, there is a delay as Lee Strasberg must be consulted in New York. Understandably, Olivier is in a constant state of rage. Clark actually wonders if MM's dumb act is an act, perpetrated to make herself look better and others foolish. He has his epiphany with a shared laugh at the faulty opening of doors Marilyn is supposed to burst through. However soon she begins to crumble - Arthur Miller leaves, there are rumours that she is pregnant, and her behaviour is clearly influenced by drugs reportedly supplied by Greene. Olivier says she has an Ophelia complex, because she cannot be reached. Clark amusingly notes that her role of a woman defending herself from an insensitive seducer is one she is no doubt used to, as is the real life situation of her defending herself from an insensitive director. And that the enormous effort it takes for her to remember lines is hampered by the method motivation, since the search precludes being the character and the character doesn't need to remember the lines - she just says them. Soon Clark is mentioning MM with the same awe as Garbo and Chaplin. "Drugged, confused, frightened, late, vague, maddening as she can be, on screen she is "a force of nature". Lee Strasberg eventually visits, with daughter Susan, whom Clark has a crush on. Olivier is understandably furious, and has him banned from the set, though his short visit seems to help morale. Director of photography Jack Cardiff confides to Clark that MM had found Miller's open notebook with non too favourable comments about her, which is unusual for a newly wed, and also crushes MM. However filming is finally completed and the crew's reaction to MM's parting gifts represents the ill-feeling she has created - they all throw them in the garbage. The film was the one and only produced for MM productions. She would next have a success with Some Like It Hot, but director Billy Wilder would have just a bad time with her as Laurence Olivier did.
21 of 25 people found the following review helpful
By K. S. Pettry
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
This book is an absolutely riveting behind the scenes account of the highlights of six months of work on the making of the movie, the Prince and the Showgirl. It's full of unvarnished (if not suspiciously insightful perhaps in hindsight) observations of the personalities of the principle players in the making of the movie, the primary focus being on the behavior of Marilyn Monroe and its effect on Sir Laurence Olivier and the rest of the cast of the movie.
Some of the author's most fascinating observations involve the abominable behavior and temperament of Marilyn Monroe. Far from the vulnerable, sensitive, creature the mythologist consistently describe, Monroe comes off as a vague, confused, manipulative and thoughtless child whose antics turned the entire crew against her to the point that they lined up and threw her gifts in the trash after filming wrapped up. After six months with the supposedly tragically sensitive Monroe, she was roundly despised by everyone involved with filming.
It's these sorts of insights into Monroe's behavior that explain why she was friendless and died alone. She was simply horrid. The author also describes how unsightly she was until the magic of the make up and lighting brought her to life and revealed the otherworldly and beguiling beauty of the woman who was Marilyn Monroe. No wonder she was forgiven so much. There has never been before, nor ever will be again, anyone like her.
The most intriguing aspect to Marilyn Monroe is the mythologizing she has enjoyed at the hands of her worshipers and many biographers. According to this book, the honeymoon between Monroe and Arther Miller was over before it started, Laurence Oliver despised her to the point he had to resort to theater tricks to appear to kiss her rather than the real thing, the crew despised the ground she walked on, and she was condescending to and marginalized everyone she worked with. One of the keenest observations in this book was that Monroe was a "mimophant": an English word for a person who was as highly sensitive as a Mimosa to their own feelings but trounced like an elephant over the feelings of others.
It's very refreshing to read something besides the same old party line on Monroe. This book makes clear that not only was Monroe not controlled by everyone around her (just the opposite) but that she was just as able and willing to use others as they were to use her. She gave as good as she got and was notorious for jettisoning people from her life once they'd served their purpose as discussed in regards to the unraveling of her relationship with Milton Greene during the filming of this movie.
This book is a fascinating read that reports without comment, the foibles of foolish stars and their dreadful egos and temperamental vanities. It's the best I've read on the subject of Marilyn Monroe and is not afraid to call a spade a spade and make observations that don't jibe with the Monroe mythologists.
I highly recommend it as a person who enjoys the unvarnished truth and thinks none the less of the human failings in everyone - including our heroes.
Some of the author's most fascinating observations involve the abominable behavior and temperament of Marilyn Monroe. Far from the vulnerable, sensitive, creature the mythologist consistently describe, Monroe comes off as a vague, confused, manipulative and thoughtless child whose antics turned the entire crew against her to the point that they lined up and threw her gifts in the trash after filming wrapped up. After six months with the supposedly tragically sensitive Monroe, she was roundly despised by everyone involved with filming.
It's these sorts of insights into Monroe's behavior that explain why she was friendless and died alone. She was simply horrid. The author also describes how unsightly she was until the magic of the make up and lighting brought her to life and revealed the otherworldly and beguiling beauty of the woman who was Marilyn Monroe. No wonder she was forgiven so much. There has never been before, nor ever will be again, anyone like her.
The most intriguing aspect to Marilyn Monroe is the mythologizing she has enjoyed at the hands of her worshipers and many biographers. According to this book, the honeymoon between Monroe and Arther Miller was over before it started, Laurence Oliver despised her to the point he had to resort to theater tricks to appear to kiss her rather than the real thing, the crew despised the ground she walked on, and she was condescending to and marginalized everyone she worked with. One of the keenest observations in this book was that Monroe was a "mimophant": an English word for a person who was as highly sensitive as a Mimosa to their own feelings but trounced like an elephant over the feelings of others.
It's very refreshing to read something besides the same old party line on Monroe. This book makes clear that not only was Monroe not controlled by everyone around her (just the opposite) but that she was just as able and willing to use others as they were to use her. She gave as good as she got and was notorious for jettisoning people from her life once they'd served their purpose as discussed in regards to the unraveling of her relationship with Milton Greene during the filming of this movie.
This book is a fascinating read that reports without comment, the foibles of foolish stars and their dreadful egos and temperamental vanities. It's the best I've read on the subject of Marilyn Monroe and is not afraid to call a spade a spade and make observations that don't jibe with the Monroe mythologists.
I highly recommend it as a person who enjoys the unvarnished truth and thinks none the less of the human failings in everyone - including our heroes.
8 of 10 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
I have read millons of books on Marilyn, this one is very good.
November 17, 2010
By Kris Ryan
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
This is a very good read. Colin Clark worked with Marilyn and Sir Laurence Olivier. He is brutally honest about his observations as the movie was being filmed. This English shoot just wasn't Marilyns "Cup of Tea" since it seems no one really liked her. Marilyn gave the crew gifts after the end of the shoot and everyone dumped them in the trash.
Colin Clark is very witty and honest, even disclosing he had gay sex with someone who worked on this movie (and he was straight), you can't get more honest than that.
Colin Clark is very witty and honest, even disclosing he had gay sex with someone who worked on this movie (and he was straight), you can't get more honest than that.
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