Product Details

• Actors: Ethel Merman, Marilyn Monroe, Donald O'Connor, Don Murray, Betty Grable
• Directors: Billy Wilder, George Cukor, Howard Hawks, Jean Negulesco, Joshua Logan
• Writers: Anita Loos
• Format: Anamorphic, Box set, Color, DVD, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 5.1)
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rating: Unrated
• Studio: 20th Century Fox
• DVD Release Date: May 29, 2001
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (41 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000059GEK
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #37,682 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #28 in	Movies & TV > Classics > Classic Directors > Wilder, Billy
  #29 in	Movies & TV > Classics > Classic Stars > Monroe, Marilyn
  #31 in	Movies & TV > Comedy > Comedy Directors > Billy Wilder

• For more information about "Marilyn Monroe - The Diamond Collection (Bus Stop / How to Marry a Millionaire / There's No Business Like Show Business / Gentlemen Prefer Blondes / The Seven Year Itch / The Final Days)" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

• This is item 1 in The Diamond Collection Series.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
The Diamond Collection consists of five Marilyn Monroe films plus the documentary The Final Days. Bus Stop (1956) stars Monroe as a singer who finds herself trapped at a bus stop in the middle of nowhere during a blizzard. How to Marry a Millionaire (1953) was built around a trio of female stars, Monroe, Lauren Bacall, and Betty Grable, who play friends who come up with a plan to find and marry rich men. Monroe plays an ambitious showgirl in 1954's There's No Business Like Show Business, which brings together two giants of Broadway, Ethel Merman and Irving Berlin, to celebrate the glories that were vaudeville. Howard Hawks's 1953 musical Gentlemen Prefer Blondes stars Monroe and Jane Russell as friends who go to Paris looking for mates. The film is charged by Hawks's stylish snap, a famous set piece or two (including Monroe descending that staircase while singing "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend"), Russell's wit, and songs by Leo Robin and Jule Styne. The Seven Year Itch (1955) is a memorable laugh machine. As a married man left alone during a hot summer, Tom Ewell shows off crack timing matched by Monroe's zesty comic flair, and the scene in which her white dress is blown skyward by a passing subway train has entered the encyclopedia of great movie images.

In The Final Days, producer-director Patty Ivins chronicles Monroe's final, aborted feature film, Something's Got to Give, which was ultimately shut down after the star was dismissed from the production. Beyond Monroe's fragile emotional and physical health, this well-crafted profile examines the financial crisis facing her studio as well as the mounting frustration of meticulous director George Cukor and his cast, including costar Dean Martin, as Monroe's absences drove the shoot over budget. The documentary concludes with a 40-minute reconstruction of footage completed for the feature, which would subsequently be reshot as a vehicle for Doris Day and James Garner, Move Over, Darling.

Product Description
Marilyn in her billowy white skirt and the scene that made her a legend. Co-starring Tom Ewell. "There's No Business Like Show Business" (1954, 117 min.) - A glamorous tale about the trials and tribulations of a veteran vaudeville family. Co-starring Ethel Merman and Donald O'Connor. "How to Marry a Millionaire" (1953, 95 min.) - Discover Marilyn's phenomenal comic talent as she leads an outrageous man-hunting scheme in this classic comedy. Co-starring Betty Grable and Lauren Bacall. "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" (1953, 91 min.) - Marilyn is sensational, performing the timeless hit "Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend." Co-starring Jane Russell. Also includes the acclaimed documentary "Marilyn Monroe: The Final Days," available only in this box set, plus forty minutes of exclusive, never-before-seen footage from Marilyn's never-completed final film, "Something's Got to Give."

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

45 of 49 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The DVD Diamond Collection captures the total appeal of MM., July 2, 2001

By	forrie (Nashua, NH United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

MM (Marilyn Monroe) was and now again (due to these magnificent widescreen digitally restored picture & sound DVDs) the most celebrated film star of Hollywood.

The Technicolor quality & clarity of all the movies are worth the price of admission. This 6 DVD set allows us into the hey day of Hollywood with Marilyn becoming the most celebrated star of her era. These movies are all upbeat musicals (Theres No Business Like Show Business & Gentlemen Prefer Blondes - Monroe & Jane Russell were honored & immortalized at Graumans Chinese Theatre (foot & handprints) for there success in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.) or comedies (How to Marry a Millionaire, Seven Year Itch (the famous subway grate dress scene), Bus Stop, & Something's Got to Give (her final incomplete film restored and edited for our enjoyment (40mins)).

Marilyn was captured on film forever but now her true beauty & talent explode off the screen with these restored beauties.

This collection has the beauty, the vulneribilty and talent of Marilyn Monroe. These DVD's are the best sampling of Marilyn's eternal stardom, total audience appeal & obsession with her.

MM is totally delightful in all these upbeat color filled movies. She always steals the scenes, lights up the screen & audiences always want more of Marilyn.

She can act (comedy & drama), dance, sing & win our hearts.

If you have ever wondered about this Hollywood phenomenon you can now see for yourself the true talent & beauty of Marilyn Monroe. There are many extras but the movies are the candy. So sit back and enjoy this Diamond Collection of this legendary star immortalized forever on these DVD's.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Warning!...Intoxicating Six Pack!....You May Smile Forever!, April 28, 2003

By	L. Shirley "Laurie's Boomer Views" (fountain valley, ca United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)

This review refers to the "Marilyn Monroe-Diamond Collection" DVD Collectors Edition(20th Cent Fox)...

Okay you've been warned. If you watch these films back to back your mouth muscles will tire from smiling so much! They are, like Marilyn herself, simply irresistable. They are also jammed packed with lots of other wonderful stars, fabulous music, snappy dialouge, and they are restored beautifully in the original widescreen and glorious technicolor.The set includes five fun films from the 50's, a captivating documentary, and an edited, reconstructed version of her final but unfinished project.

You'll find Marilyn and pals Lauren Bacall and Betty Grable foraging for rich husbands in "How To Marry A Millionaire"(1953). The men they set their caps for include David Wayne, Rory Calhoun, Cameron Mitchell and even William Powell.
Marilyn and Jane Russell sail for France and declare "Diamonds Are A Girls Best Friend" in the delightful romp "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes"(1953). This one co-stars the wonderful Charles Coburn.
Next up from 1954 Marilyn shares the spolight in "There's No Business Like Show Business" with Ethel Merman, Donald O'Connor and Mitzi Gaynor. This one will delight musical lovers with it's lavish song and dance numbers, and wait till you see some of Marilyn's outfits!
Even happily married Tom Ewell is not safe from Marilyn's charms in "The Seven Year Itch". The wife's away for the summer and poor Tom must find a way to cool off poor Marilyn from the hot weather! Hmmm....Delightful....and of course, this one has the famous skirt scene.
Can a girl with a past and a naive rancher find love? It's a pleasure finding out in this poignant tale of "Bus Stop"(1956). it also stars Don Murray, Arthur O'connell, Betty Field, Eileen Heckart and a very young Hope Lange. Marilyn shows us her tremendous dramtic skills in this one.
And then there's the very touching "Marilyn Monroe: The Final Days". Narrated by James Cobourn, it's an open and honest look at what took place in the last few months of Marilyn's life, and the problems she was having while filming her final film. Immeditaley following the documentary there is an edited, reconstruction of the scenes shot for the film. This film, also starring Dean Martin, "Something's Got To Give", which was to be a remake of the Grant/Dunne film "My Favorite Wife", finally saw an audience as "Move Over Darling" with James Garner and Doris Day.

If you are a Big Fan of MM or are considering this as a gift for some who is, this set is definatly the way to go. If you are like me, you know that eventually you will put out the money for all of them anyway!. Also I did not see "The Final Days" for sale separatly. This boxed set is an absolute bargain!. All the films look fabulous. All wonderfully restored. Each Disc has it's own bonus features, including comparisons of the restoration, and some theatrical trailers. There is a "Movietone Newsreel" relating to the cinemascope process on the documentary disc. The technical info here says that these discs are in 5.1, and although the sound on all the discs is excellent, they are not 5.1. Bus Stop, Millionaire and Show Business are all in 4.0, Seven Yr Itch is in 3.0, and Gentlemen in Stereo and full frame.That is what they say on the box and that is exactly how my DVD player decoded them. As I said they sound wonderful, but I thought I would mention that for those that it may make a difference to.

20th Century has put together a wonderful must have package, that you'll enjoy time and time again....enjoy ...Laurie

P.S. - check around for best deal. here is another place to look:Marilyn Monroe: Diamond Collection

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Class Act, July 19, 2001

By	Allen Smalling "Constant Reader," (Chicago, IL United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

There's an awful lot to gain and little to lose for the Marilyn Monroe fan who invests in this groundbreaking DVD series of movies she made in the Fifties for 20th Century-Fox. Even people who have one or two of these movies "in the can" in previous DVD or VHS might still consider this a worthwhile collection.

Picture quality is astonishing. The people who carried out the restoration and video remastering aren't afraid to talk about it, too, because each disc has a few technical notes after the movie ends. This technology didn't even exist just a few years back. The technical notes compare the new DVD with a prior restoration (noticeable difference) and with the originally-released VHS (puts VHS to shame). By and large the color is magnificent, stable and true. If there is any tendency, it is to go with flesh tones, to understate the color with a champagne tone. The exception to this is "Bus Stop," which used three-strip Technicolor. The magenta strip had shrunk and so that element of the three-strip process had to be restored FRAME BY FRAME! Extraordinary.

As owner of an old-fasioned "mono" TV, I do sometimes have trouble with the sound. You may remember that when musical CD's were brand new, they drove people crazy with overexaggerated dynamics. Something of the same thing is at work here: get the volume up high enough to hear people speak and the music--particularly incidental music--can blast you though the sofa. Solution: fiddle with the options given you. I usually do best to turn off the Surround 5.1 and go with ordinary stereo or whatever the film originally used. The "bear trap" scene in "How to Marry a Millionaire" was not looped, it was zone-miked (and not terribly well) and I had so much trouble with that I had to turn on the closed-captioning. And no, I'm not a deaf person in denial.

In my opinion, all these films are terrific, with one exception: "There's No Business Like Show Business." I can't analyze why, because it isn't a matter of salaciousness, dirty words or bad taste, but to me that movie epitomizes vulgarity. Everything else is terrific.

Not to be missed is a documentary, "The Final Days." The first half details Marilyn's contribution to her last motion picture, "Something's Got to Give," with Dean Martin and Cyd Charisse. As the whole world knows, the film ceased production when Marilyn died from overdosing on alcohol and pills. On a lighter note, the preservationists followed this sad account with a "tag" version of the first two acts of "Something's Got to Give," and it was shaping up to be quite a good movie. (Movie buffs can also tell which director was at work in which scene: Jean Negulesco, who loved to fill the Cinemascope canvas; or George Cukor, who preferred classic mise en scene.)

But--don't overlook the central fact that "Marilyn Monroe--The Diamond Collection" is the ultimate in new technology and most of the best of her work assembled. It belongs in any fan's home.