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Dear Dorian--

I saw it, and will probably buy it---I can't help myself--but there was nothing new, photo-wise. (Well, for me. I always forget, I'm ancient!) I'm stunned that any credence would be given to Curtis, in the matter of Monroe. His ugly story that they had an affair during "SLIH" and that the baby she was carried--and miscarried--was his, has now attached itself to the seamier side of Monroe's legend. Many will want to believe it.

People don't remember all the years he trashed her brutally, NEVER mentioning any kind of romance at any time. Then he realized he'd get more publicity by going in the opposite direction.

Ah, well...I have to admit I was thrilled to see the issue, her face. Although I'm awfully tired of that particular Bert Stern. The funny thing is, so many of his photos needed some slight, normal retouching--he put her under such a harsh light. But this barely looks human, it's so cleansed of any flaw or character, not even a freckle!


Our girl is eternal, that's for sure!

XXDenis

Denis,
___Very sympathetic to your comments. Yea, I loved seeing that face, I admit I even scan the magazine rack even today, and as in this, there she is. And, I usually redistribute at least one extra magazine to a separate location so she can get extra coverage. No apology, I have been ate up with Marilyn too long now to change.
___Thanks for your reply, the boards getting a bit tired, so I tried to think of something new.
Dorian

That was a gorgeous picture.

"See? He can be a real sweetheart once you get to know him"-Fluttershy

True, it is a gorgeous picture, but one that's been seen endlessly by now. Also, it hardly needed retouching that makes it resemble a painted illustration, rather than a photograph. Bert Stern--a rather twisted soul-- resented, I think, the fact that Marilyn rejected his advances on one of the three nights he photographed her. His response, after her death, was to release all his shots of MM without any retouching whatsoever. (retouching, or photo-shopping, as it is called now, is a given, no matter if the subject is 26 or 36. But when a lady is the latter, be a gentleman!) He also allowed many of the most revealing--and unflattering--pictures to be reproduced in the harshest fashion, with orange skin tone, etc.

So, while it is nice to see MM's image respected, as the photographer himself should have had the decency to do, VF went a little overboard in smoothing her out, and I just wish the editors had been more imaginative. The last session Stern did with Marilyn, with her hair spread out, and the glitter and pearls-- many of those would make a spectacular, unusual cover. Ditto lots of the fashion shots.

Denis,
___Though I love this head shot, and similar ones that appeared on the cover of Mailers book, and if I recall an issue of McCalls or some ladies magazine back in the early 70's, all were breathtaking and beautiful. My Mom just went on and on about that ladies magazine and those last costume tests. Marilyn's face was not lined, and she had incredible skin. But, I agree those pearl, jewel floor shots were also incredible, and would make very fine covers, like Avant-Guard. Also, those fashion shots, like the fur coat, or that black ball gown. Even though Marilyn had complete control over approved photos, it was understood there would be minimal retouching and Stern reneged, what an A-Hole! Still, sometimes it was hard to see what Marilyn saw in the ones she X'd out, or took a hairpin to. Those, to me were at times better than those approved. Marilyn was probably astutely aware she was back in shape after her baby fat years, and no baby, so she perhaps went overboard approving shots she should not have. She looked tremendous, but still better with 5-10 pounds back on her. As I have said previously, almost no one would come out good under those lighting conditions. I myself would be horrified at shots of myself taken like that. Of course the only ones I'd be completely satisfied with would be no lighting at all.
Dorian

Dorian--

I agree, re what was wrong with some of the ones she X-d out, but we all see ourselves differently. However, MM did not see all the shots. Stern provided her with only half the color shots, and the black and whites in which she was semi-nude, from the first session. In some of the X shots, I see what her issue was--there are a bunch in black and white, nude from the waist up (w scarf) where she posed in a manner that actually makes her look heavy. She draws a line through some of these, apparently approving the face and bust, not the body. But, look, out of 3,000 pix, there were about 200 that definitely should never have seen the light of day, and others that were so-so, catching her in-between poses, coughing, etc. Useless. But he published every shot.

In truth one of the loveliest of the photos wasn't even taken by Stern, rather his assistant--the full nude, laying on the bed, "asleep."

So many of the fashion shots are great and not at all typical. It would smart for editors to use those, rather than the now over-seen semi-nudes.

I am truly biased against Stern. I interviewed him once, and came away with a profound dislike of him. He was surrounded by prints of MM, and seemed resentful that out of all his work, it was she who dominated his reputation. (And lined his pockets.) I asked about retouching, and the scar. "Yeah, that was a nasty thing, that scar" he said. "Well, why didn't you retouch it, as you said would, during the shoot?" He replied, "What the hell, so what-she was dead."

No other photographer treated her image so disrespectfully. Although many of George Barris's shots could have vanished, I don't think he published out of any enmity toward her. (Although I do NOT believe they were collaborating on a book, he was simply interviewing and shooting her for Cosmopolitan magazine. Many of the quotes he attributes to her, are clearly made up and/or culled from other remarks she was known to have made.) But he was a nice, simply guy, and I don't think he even thought about retouching little things like the bruises on her hip and leg, etc. Maybe he thought they made her seem more "human." I find them distracting, and, again, had she lived, the majority of those pix would never have been published, and her bruises would have been erased.

Denis

Denis,
___OMG, agree about Barris and the visible bruises on the beach. Even though he claimed she shredded many right in his car. If she takes the time to line up a shot to only show her from bust to face, I'm pretty sure she would never allow the aforementioned shots.It makes me really hate these two last photographers for such a cavalier attitude on what were historical photoshoots. I am doubly sure Marilyn would be angry about it, as well as being amazed at still being the most alive dead celebrity.
Dorian

Dorian--

The astonishing thing is how easily those bruises can be retouched. There's a great shot of her, on the beach. She kind of standing tip-toe, her hands behind her back, looking out over the ocean. Her body looks incredible (which in some of those bikini shots, it does not.) But there on her hip is this massive bruise! It's such a lovely picture, but your eye goes right to that mark on the hip. It took two seconds on my computer to erase it.

I think if there's any kind of afterlife and Marilyn could see what's been done with her image and reputation, she'd likely forgive even the wildest, most salacious rumors--maybe even Arthur Miller's "After the Fall." But bad photos? Uh-uh. No way.

Denis

Was it Barris or Schiller who claimed she shred pix in riding in the car? Schiller told the exact same story. With MM, it's always so hard to arrive at the truth.