To be fair, it hasn't gone unnoticed that Marilyn Monroe's appeal went way beyond being a mere fanciable blonde, and then some. Even her detractors would acknowledge her "ferocious" charisma as you call it.(I prefer to call it effortlessly luminous and ethereal)
Billy Wilder said "There's never been anyone as utterly fabulous on screen, and that includes Garbo" and George Axelrod, the writer of "The Seven Year Itch" said that "her charisma was so great that it unbalanced the picture" He said that the movie was supposed to be about the guy and his marriage but became about her.
Her acting chops haven't gone unnoticed either. The director of "Bus Stop" Josh Logan said that she was "as near to genius as any actress I ever met" and Lee Strasberg, the director of The Actors Studio said that "The two greatest talents I ever worked with were Marlon Brando and Marilyn Monroe"
I think the reason the jury is still out on her acting was that it was inconsistent, she needed the utmost care and attention (and patience) to allow that great talent to shine through. She could be stiff and mannered in roles where the director treated her as cattle and barked orders at her as Otto Preminger did in "The River of No Return" (although it may have also had something to do with her pre-Actors Studio coach, Natasha Lytess). Even in the case of "River" her charisma shines as bright as ever and the camera loves her. Preminger said "She can't act but she's a born star"
"Can't act" and "genius" and everything in between are words that have been used to describe her which makes her so fascinating but having read a lot about MM, there's one constant that appears again and again which is: "When she's on screen there's no one else you want to look at"
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