why on God's green earth did she choose to do this movie? it is my understanding that she had the opprtunity to do a remake of The Blue Angel with Spencer Tracy, but she delayed to such an extent that it did not happen.. Then there were contract disputes, debate over how many films were still owed etc. Barbra Leamings book goes into it. by the way, that book is interesting in terms of what it says about her career. forget about what else she goes into.
shareUh, she needed the money?
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"Puppy cuter than pig, but piglet cuter than puppy." -Mail Order Wife-
She did not need the money. She was paid $300 000 for Some Like It Hot (plus 10 per cent of box office gross). she had just been paid $100 000 for a movie she did not make - The Blue Angel (see last post). She was still getting paid in installments by Fox for the movie rights to a book called "Horns of The Devil" she had purchased the movie rights to the book and sold them to Fox as part of her contract negotiations. She was paid $100 000 for Bus Stop, plus salary and expenses.
She could not have been that desperate
MM was the greatest star not only on Earth but in the Universe after Some Like It Hot...she owed Fox some pictures and she wanted to The Misfits but had to get a Fox pic done first. She had already received some of the Misfits money in advance btw. Why Fox with the biggest star in the world cast her in this movie is hard to comprehend. I think they wanted a movie to sell quickly to the public to garner some of the great good will of Some Like It Hot.
She was directed by a Man she disliked- George Cukor- and had the trials of being married to one man ( Arthur Miller) but in love with another ( Yves Montand)...it is a miracle she was able to pull this off. Seem today it is a trifle of a picture but MM is as always glorious. Peerless.
She still could have chosen to work with Spencer Tracy in The Blue Angel. It is not a good movie.
shareI thin this was a better film than Bus Stop and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.
"Bored now" - Willow Vamp
(Buffy)
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I read that MM did not have a problem with Spencer taking top billing. According to Barbra Leaming's book, MM delayed committing to the project so long that Spencer had to pull out because of other committments. Then MM argued that because Fox hadn't put her in a movie that year, they had forfeited one of the movies she owed them. They paid her the $100 000. I can't remember how they dealt with the issue of how many movies swhe still owed them. Leaming seems to suggest that MM did not really want to make the movie at all and that she delayed deliberately to get the $100,000, and see to it that she owed Fox one less movie.
Confusing enough??
I am not sure what happenned to the four movies that MM owed Fox under her 1956 contract. There was Bus Stop, Let's Make Love and Something's Got To Give, which was apparently, according to most that I have read, her last film under that contract. That's three. Maybe Fox did forfeit the fourth picture when Blue Angel was axed. I am confused. A little help?
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MM made this film because she was under contract by Fox. Plain and simple. MM hated this script and hated this film. She repeatedly told reporters that this was her worst film. She felt that she didn't have a part [meaning a role where she could truly show her acting abilities;] She felt she was just there to sing and draw in audiences.
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Winterm-1, "Bus Stop" was her first picture under the new contract then "Let's Make Love" was second. SGTG was supposed to be the third film but when she was re-hired they negotiated a new contract. MM would owe Fox two pictures that she would co-produce [SGTG being the first] and recieve a salary of a million dollars. We all know she passed before she started filming again but I wonder if she was paid any of the money negotiated in the new contract.
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BTW, MM had a clause in her contract that stated if principal photography didn't start within a week of the date given, she'd recieve her full salary amount. I thought this was the case with "Blue Angel" but does anyone know what the other film was? I think it was "Rain," a film that was going to be made for television.
Wait a minute! I smell liquor on my breath: You're drunk!
If SGTG was to be co-produced with MMP that would essentially mean that her 1955 contract was to be abandoned altogether. They were meant to be 4 Fox productions.
My original point was that she could have made Blue Angel with Tracy which is a more interesting story than this movie. She had the power to work with Fox constructively and find a project that would satisfy them both. It was, after all, important for them to do their best to keep her happy. MM had rejected roles outright before, she could have put up a fight and done it again. For some reason, she did not.
Yeah, the 1956 contract was null and void in 1962 when she was rehired. I don't know why she didn't fight for another film; My initial thought was that she was so tired of battling Fox that she just decided to do the picture to hurry up and fulfill the contract. IMO, I don't think LML is as bad as many say. I love that film; I can watch it all day!
Wait a minute! I smell liquor on my breath: You're drunk!
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You C-A-N-T be serious! ? !
shareAt this point in her career, Marilyn's reputation as being difficult to work with and hard to get to the set on time when she was needed was legend and she just wasn't being offered the plum parts she was being offered seven or eight years prior to this. People didn't want to take a chance with her anymore.
shareThis movie's the worst one out of the DVD collection I got for Christmas. The songs were horrible.
share@shorenuff The songs are beautiful and classics! And this movie is one of her most charming and adorable, plus Yves Montand is funny and handsome, very commanding and a great leading man who happens to be a great crooner in real life but has to pretend he cannot dance/act/sing when in fact he could do all 3.
One of my fav MM movies, who cares about the contract w Fox and her reputation. The movie is a gem and all of them carry their part beautifully. Much underrated. "Bus stop" is her lamest movie, but not LML!
I might be in the minority on this particular thread be this is actually one of my favorite films that she did. Some Like It Hot was probably her best film but for some reason I like LML better. Yves Montand and Frankie Vaughan have something to do with that. It's too bad that Marilyn might not have liked it but I find LML cute and entertaining. Sometimes that's all the doctor orders!
~"Chris, am I weird?"
~"Yeah, but so what? Everybody's weird."
I agree. Title very apt in view of her and Montand's offscreen relationship
sharei've seen most of her movies, and there are alot lamer movies she did than this
although by the time of this movie she was more of a star
so many movies, so little time
I thought it was brilliant myself.