HER STORY (REFRAMED: MARILYN MONROE)

 

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It's hard to think of a film star with a greater hold on our imagination than Marilyn Monroe.

In terms of 20th Century icons, only Elvis Presley is on a par. 

Like Elvis, her first name is a brand that is instantly recognisable and her life still fascinates people born decades after her death.

Without a doubt, some of this is due to her effervescent presence onscreen.

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Bubbly, highly sexual but much smarter than many give her credit for, Marilyn made men swoon but also cleverly subverted the stereotype of the dumb blonde.

No star before or since has seduced the camera the way she did with the same guile.

Maybe our enduring fascination with her is also down to a colourful personal life that saw her married to the baseball legend Joe Di Maggio and then one of America's most respected playwrights Arthur Miller.

Her extramarital dalliance with President John F Kennedy adds to the intrigue.

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Or maybe it stems from the mystery around her death at the age of 36 while still at the height of her fame.

Over the years, Marilyn has been tended to be viewed as a victim of a male dominated studio system that exploited her sexually and financially.

This was very much the thesis of Andrew Dominick's movie 'Blonde' on Netflix last year which earned Ana de Armas a Best Actress Oscar nomination.

CNN's new four part documentary 'Reframed: Marilyn Monroe,' however, very much challenges that view.

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In it, women writers, critics, academics and actors make the case for Marilyn as a groundbreaking feminist icon.

Marilyn is depicted as a star who was a lot more savvy about shaping her career.

The filmmakers and their interviewees argue Marilyn was ahead of her time in how she used her celebrity.

She's portrayed as a rebel who took on the patriarchy in the studio system and often outwitted them.

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Marilyn is presented as a woman who from the very beginning knew the importance of being able to control her own image and she was prepared to fight powerful studio heads like Daryl Zanuck for that right.

Raised in an orphanage and foster homes before she became Marilyn, Norma Jean Baker had a mum who struggled with mental illness.

The programme claims this troubled upbringing made her a pragmatist from an early age - marrying her first husband James Dougherty at the age of 16 to avoid going back into care after being introduced to him by a foster family.

Enchanted by the movies, Norma's first break came while working in a bomb making factory during World War II, catching the eye of a photographer during a photoshoot.

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With this big break a bombshell was born, with a modelling career taking off followed by the role she really craved as an actress in motion pictures.

Initially she was a bit part player at 20th Century Fox and while Marilyn was the name given to her by the studio, Monroe was her idea and a nod to her mother's maiden name.

This early act is depicted as a sign of her determination to shape her own destiny.

With studio head Daryl Zanuck not rating her at all, she lost her first contract at 20th Century Fox and went to Columbia instead, landing a lead role in the 1948 musical 'Ladies of the Chorus'.

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While at Columbia she resisted the sexual harassment of the studio head Harry Cohn, who was an infamous predator.

However it came at a cost to her contract.

Marilyn subsequently bit back by exposing the Hollywood casting couch culture in an article entitled 'Wolves I Have Known'.

Teaming up with Groucho Marx on the United Artists pic 'Love Happy' revitalised her career, paving the way for significant star making roles in John Huston's Metro Goldwyn Meyer flick 'The Asphalt Jungle' and Joseph L Mankiewicz's 'All About Eve' with Bette Davis following.

However it was her sensual, eye catching performance as a young woman in an unhappy marriage in Henry Hathaway's 1953 film noir thriller 'Niagra' that elevated her to another level.

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Her subsequent lead role as the gold digging blonde showgirl Lorelei Lee in Howard Hawks' musical comedy 'Gentlemen Prefer Blondes' with Jane Russell catapulted her to fame.

Narrated by Jessica Chastain and featuring interviews with actresses like Ellen Burstyn, Joan Collins, Mira Sorvino, Amber Tamblyn and writers and academics like Alicia Malone, Jeanine Basinger, Susie Orbach and Bonnie Greer, 'Reframed: Marilyn Monroe' portrays Marilyn as much more savvy and driven than many people give her credit for.

Faced with the emergence of nude photos from her modelling days just as her career was about to take off,  interviewees gush about how she deftly handled a scandal that could have torpedoed her Hollywood career.

By owning up to them and explaining why she posed for them by framing them in the context of her struggle to become famous, she won over the public.

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This ability to know how to trade her on her public persona was a huge asset and she used it time and again when faced with adversity.

Tired of being cast in light comedies that traded on her voluptuous figure, she used her growing clout as a star to form her own production company and assert more creative control over her career and her choice of roles.

The iconic upskirt photo over a subway grill in Billy Wilder's 'Seven Year Itch' is reclaimed in the programme as a woman knowing exactly how to exploit her sexuality.

Turning to the camera for the perfect pic, Marilyn's timing, skill and knowledge of the camera during the shoot delivers the defining image.

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Marilyn's relocation to New York and her decision to study at Lee Strasberg's Actors Studio is hailed as a demonstration not to be pigeon holed as the dumb blonde and of her burning desire to grow as a performer.

Even still at the height of her fame, she was having to constantly battle and outwit men in her life.

Di Maggio's inability to cope with her success and his attempt to force her to abandon her career hit the buffers quickly, ending their marriage.

Miller's exploitation of their own marital woes in the script for 'The Misfits' signalled the death knell for their marriage.

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Even Laurence Olivier's arrogant treatment of her during the making of the 'Prince and the Showgirl' proved ultimately self-defeating, with Marilyn's screen presence upstaging him in every scene.

An attempt by Fox executives to mask the financial problems Elizabeth Taylor's movie 'Cleopatra' was causing their studio by shutting down Marilyn's movie 'Something's Got To Give' and blaming her for the spiralling costs backfired.

The docuseries shows how she cleverly exploited her sexualised image by posing for nude photos during the making of the film for Life magazine, using them to remind the studio of her star power.

It was so effective Daryl Zanuck, the man who initially wrote her off, reinstated her in the studio giving her more sway.

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Where 'Reframed: Marilyn Monroe' undoubtedly scores is its steadfast refusal to play the "Marilyn as victim" card.

Even in addressing her death, family friend Amy Greene-Andrews dismisses the conspiracy theories that claimed the Mafia, the Kennedys, the CIA were involved in her overdose.

It is painted as a tragic case of someone forgetting she took her pills.

Whatever theory you believe, there is no doubt this intelligent series makes a compelling case for reclaiming the narrative around Marilyn's life.

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To present Marilyn entirely as a victim is to perpetuate patriarchal myths.

She was much stronger and more savvy than that. 

The docuseries also drives home the magnitude of her loss and it celebrates her star power which continues to outshine all who have followed and have imitated her.

Sixty one years after her death, Marilyn's persona lives on as vibrant as ever, burning bright with no sign of extinguishing.

And that's the real triumph.

('Reframed: Marilyn Monroe' was broadcast on BBC2 in the UK on July 28- August 4, 2023)