As part of London's National Theatre on screen program, we will be screening Arthur Miller's The Crucible. This is the perfect opportunity to revisit Miller's only collaboration with his wife, Marilyn Monroe, and focus on her own career. The Misfits (1961), filmed as Miller (as screenwriter) and Monroe's (as actress) marriage was on the brick of crumpling, centers on an affair between an older man and a young, insecure woman. Monroe's appearance in the film is raw and stirring, and the fact that this was her last film (it is also Clark Gable's final film) adds to the film's mythology.
Monroe's broke through in the early 1950s', when she starred in two successful films - Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and Niagara. These two films revealed her rare talent - from a cabaret dancer who knows how to be innocent and cunning to a sensual and unsentimental femme fatale. And mostly, these two works revealed just how much the camera was in love with her. Her image, as the quintessential woman, was forged by the acclaimed directors she worked with - Billy Wilder, John Huston, Howard Hawks, Otto Preminger and her signature blonde hair and red lips. However, Monroe was much more than her overwhelming physical presence. And perhaps, it was the tension between that image and the woman herself, which led to her breakdown and ultimate death at such a young age. Sixty years on, it seems that it is the image that remains, which is a shame. This program will showcase what a great actress and powerhouse Monroe was.
