I was always a bit bothered when I read, years ago, that Tony Curtis said that kissing Marilyn was like kissing Hitler. I thought it was very unproffesional. But now it turns out he regrets saying that, as you can read in the following article. The thing that bothers me now is how he did a 180. Now he says he was arroused by Marilyn. Why? I still think it’s unproffesional. You just don’t say that you were arroused by your collegue.

‘Hot’ Marilyn Monroe kiss was no drag, Tony Curtis concedes
Updated Friday, October 3rd 2008, 10:14 AM

Tony Curtis still regrets his flippant crack about how kissing Marilyn Monroe in “Some Like It Hot” was “like kissing Hitler.” In fact, he now reveals, he was extremely turned on.

Start with Marilyn wearing a see-through dress and removing the cloth that was supposed to hide her nipples. “When we kissed, I was on the receiving end of her tongue, and of her grinding,” Curtis writes in his long-awaited memoir, “American Prince.” “I [was aroused] all through that scene … and when [director Billy Wilder] yelled ‘Cut!,’ she pushed herself off me and gave me a big, satisfied smile.”

Curtis had actually been carrying a torch for Marilyn since they had a brief affair in their early days in Hollywood. Back then, he held off on bedding the ticking sex bomb because he sensed her concealed sadness. When he finally did undo her bra, he recalls in November’s Vanity Fair excerpt, “her breasts were every teenage boy’s fantasy. … It was truly unforgettable.”

Curtis also admits that “after years of putting up with guys coming on to me,” he felt nervous about dressing in drag for “Some Like It Hot.” And while co-star Jack Lemmon slipped easily into his high heels, Wilder had originally wanted to cast Frank Sinatra for the part. The trouble, Wilder told Curtis, was that “[Frank] will have to dress up as a woman every day, and I just can’t see Frank doing that.”

If you want to see a little bit of the footage that was sold earlier this week for $17,500, click on the play button below.

Rare behind-the-scenes footage of actress and sex symbol Marilyn Monroe on the set of 1959’s Some Like It Hot has sold for $17,500 at an auction in Melbourne.
The two-and-a-half-minute amateur film, featuring Monroe with co-stars Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon, was taken by a US naval officer invited onto the set after Monroe visited his base in San Diego.

Still in its original box, the eight-millimetre film was found among the sailor’s possessions after he died and brought to Australia by his daughter when she moved here.
The footage, which was bought by an unnamed private collector from Sydney, had been expected to fetch between $20,000 and $30,000.

“We’re surprised there weren’t more bidders, but we are happy that it sold,” said Charles Leski of Leski Auctions. “Marilyn Monroe memorabilia is always in demand, but rarely do we get one-off material like this. It is also extremely rare for such important archival footage to be auctioned outside of the US before its domestic release and for that we are extremely proud,” he added.

The footage shows Monroe surrounded by sailors on a visit to the naval base and later features moments of Monroe acting “playfully” on the set with Lemmon and Curtis.

“It’s a couple of minutes of colour footage of Marilyn Monroe and her co-stars from Some Like It Hot. The film was made in black and white, released in black and white, and to the best of my knowledge - except for a few studio photographs - nothing survives in colour,” Mr Leski said.

A 47-minute amateur film of Monroe and Clarke Gable on the set of her last completed movie, The Misfits, sold in the US recently for $US60,000.

“Considering what Misfits reached in the US, we are happy, as this means we got $7,000 per minute,” Mr Leski said.

Monroe died aged 36 in August 1962 after an overdose of pills that was ruled a suicid
Curtis is the only surviving key member of the cast of Some Like It Hot, a cross-dressing comedy directed by Billy Wilder.

Source.

I’m not much of a Marilyn doll collector, but I do own the 2 dolls produced by Mattel. I own the Happy Birthday doll and How To Marry A Millionaire doll.

As I was surfing the web, I came across the news that Mattel will be releasing yet another Marilyn Monroe doll, which can be found here (fourth row, first doll).
It’s a beautiful doll with the famous gold lame dress. It’s not the kind of doll that was produced a few years ago, which was Barbie with a Monroe dress on. No, this one actually resembles Marilyn. The doll is created to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Mattel and is part of the Blonde Ambition Collection.

If you’re interested in owning a doll, please make sure to keep an eye on the Mattel website as the doll will be released somewhere in March 2009.

Dear visitors, I know I have been absent lately. I’ve gone through some things lately which forced me to leave the internet for some time. I have moved and had an accident, but I’m back although not completely better.

I do bring you a great article from Vanity Fair. Recently, two cabinets, filled with documents once owned by Marilyn were found. Vanity Fair has published a wonderful article on this matter and I encourage everyone to read it. It can be found here.
Look at those lovely pictures! I love these indepth articles on Marilyn. It gives us a sneak peak at her personal life.

A link to a video about the article: here.

And also the interesting article The Things She Left Behind:

The tragic 1962 overdose … two filing cabinets holding many of her secrets: keys to the mystery that was Marilyn Monroe. As her estate battles for control of her image, the author describes the cache’s revelations—papers, furs, jewelry, and other items—which have cast a spell over several people, including photographer Mark Anderson, who spent more than two years documenting the disputed collection. Related: “The Marilyn Files,” more than 500 images from Anderson’s archives. Read more at Vanity Fair.

I have ordered a copy of the magazine online. It will probably arrive sometime next month. I will scan some bits and pieces of it, for you to watch.

Earlier this year I got totally excited because some rare footage of Marilyn footage showed up during filming The Misfits. Now, then you might understand when I did a happy dance when I read the following news below.
I’m still a bit disappointed though that we didn’t get to see much of the rare footage of The Misfits. Let’s hope we get to see some of this!

RARE behind-the-scenes footage of screen legend Marilyn Monroe which ended up in rural Victoria is to go under the hammer.

The two-and-a-half-minute amateur film of Monroe acting playfully on the set of the 1959 movie, Some Like It Hot, was taken by a US naval officer in San Diego.

The footage, featuring Monroe, Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon, was taken by the officer when Monroe visited his base. Later that day he was invited by the film superstar to visit the nearby movie set at the Hotel Del Coronado.

The sailor’s daughter migrated to Australia and brought the 8mm film with her.

The footage is to be auctioned in Melbourne later this month.

Charles Leski, of Leski Auctions, said the footage shows Monroe surrounded by sailors.

It then cuts to scenes on the movie shoot, which show Monroe rehearsing for an upcoming scene with Curtis, with crew members and extras watching her.

The sailor’s daughter discovered the film, which is still in its original Kodak box, by chance among her late father’s possessions.

“Marilyn Monroe memorabilia is always in demand, but rarely do we get one-off material like this,” Mr Leskie said.

“It is also extremely rare for such important archival footage to be auctioned outside of the US before its domestic release, and for that we are extremely proud.”

The film has a pre-sale estimate of $20,000 to $30,000 and the lot includes a CD copy and a DVD copy together with the original 8mm film.

The purchaser of the film also acquires full commercial rights worldwide.

Earlier this year, an amateur film shot of Monroe on the set of The Misfits sold in the US for $US60,000 ($A70,000).

I have always loved Elliot Erwitt’s intimate pictures of Marilyn. She looks so relaxed in them so I was very excited when I heard the following story. I can’t go, unfortunately, since I live to far away, but for fans more close, this is an excellent opportunity to get a look at a personal Marilyn.

Source: Actuphoto
“Elliott has to my mind achieved a miracle working on a chain-gang of commercial campaigns and still offering a bouquet of stolen photos with a flavor, a smile from his deeper self.” - Henri Cartier-Bresson

POLAR+NKA* photography opens an important exhibit titled ‘Unseen’ by internationally renowned photographer Elliott Erwitt, with an opening reception on September 11th to October 31th Erwitt’s photographs of ordinary life, beach scenes, celebrities, children and dogs have delighted viewers for decades. At age 78 he has culled through sixty years of work and chosen what he considers to be his very best photographs. Many have never been published before. These ebullient images reflect the vast scope of the wittiest photographer of our time. POLAR+NKA* photography will have approximately 40 of Erwitt’s classic photographs representing many phases of his long career.
Read more… »

Fans in the UK are in luck again: an exhibition in Bath shows Travilla’s designs of Marilyn Monroe’s dresses.
Personally, I love Travilla’s sketches so if you’re able to see it, I would love a review of it! You can contact me at marloes(at)marilynfan.org

The exhibition runs until the 21nd of August.

More on this at BBC’s website.

I don’t need to tell anyone that Marilyn was a revolutionairy style icon back in the day. But it might just be that she will be that again starting in spring 2009.

Shaw Archives, who has copyrights over about 400 images of Marilyn, has signed a deal with Blues Clothing. I just checked out their website and found clothing with Sesamestreet characters on it. Don’t know what to think of that :S
I sure hope they’re going to take this seriously, because if they do, they could book some great succes. Personally, I hope they will make casual clothing, like sweaters, jeans, etc. I would love to look a bit like a casual Marilyn!

I just added a new section to the Fanstuff area: avatars.

I was wondering what you would like to see on this fansite! What do you miss? What do you need?
Please help me to make this the best Marilyn Monroe fansite of the web!