The Best of Marilyn Monroe Films
We’ve compiled a comprehensive list of our favourite films featuring icon Marilyn Monroe. We’ve gotten so many requests about films we recommend featuring film icons, so we’ve started with the most feminine screen legend Marilyn Monroe.
Now we have to say, we love the characters Marilyn has played more than her actual life itself (her life was quite tragic, but more on that later) so we’ve made this list in order of preference.
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
Showgirls Lorelei Lee and Dorothy Shaw travel to Paris, pursued by a private detective hired by the suspicious father of Lorelei's fiancé, as well as a rich, enamored old man and many other doting admirers.
Did you know: According to Marni Nixon, the studio initially wanted Marilyn Monroe's entire voice dubbed, as they thought her voice was silly. Nixon thought that was "awful", as she felt Monroe's voice suited her persona so beautifully. Nixon told The New York Times in March 2007 that she ended up only dubbing the operatic "no, no, nos" at the beginning of the song and the phrase "these rocks don't lose their shape."
Watch it:
How to Marry a Millionaire (1953)
Three women set out to find eligible millionaires to marry… do we need to say any more?
Okay we will. Three New York models, Shatze, Pola (Marilyn) and Loco set up in an exclusive apartment with a plan....tired of cheap men and a lack of money, they intend to use all their talents to trap and marry three millionaires. The trouble is that it's not so easy to tell the rich men from the hucksters - and even when they can, is the money really worth it?
Did You Know? This is the fourth highest grossing Hollywood film of 1953.
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The Seven Year Itch (1955)
When his family goes away for the summer, a hitherto (or weird if you ask me) faithful husband with an overactive imagination is tempted by a beautiful neighbor and attempts to resist her effortless seductive charm.
Did you know: One of the most icon film clips in history came from this film. The scene where marilyn's dress blows up took place in the presence of 5,000 onlookers, who whistled and cheered through take after take as Monroe repeatedly missed her lines.This all occurred in the presence of an embarrassed and angry Joe DiMaggio, Monroe's husband at the time. This event reportedly hastened the end of Monroe's and DiMaggio's marriage. The original footage never made it to the screen; the noise of the crowd had made it unusable. Wilder re-staged the scene on a Fox set replicating Lexington Avenue, and got a more satisfactory result.
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The Prince & The Showgirl (1957)
An American showgirl becomes entangled in political intrigue when the Prince Regent of a foreign country attempts to seduce her.
Did you know: Three or four different copies of Marilyn Monroe's white dress were made to accommodate her fluctuating size. At the time, she was suffering from various illnesses which caused severe amounts of water retention. She also suffered a miscarriage during filming.
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There’s No Business Like Show Business (1954)
Molly and Terry Donahue, plus their three children, are The Five Donahues. Son Tim meets hat-check girl Vicky and the family acts begins to fall apart.
Did you Know: Marilyn Monroe's voice on the Decca soundtrack album "There's No Business Like Show Business" was replaced by singer Dolores Gray because Monroe's voice was under contract to another record company that would not release the rights for use on the album.
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Monkey Business (1952)
Barnaby Fulton is a research chemist working on a fountain of youth pill for a chemical company. While trying a sample dose on himself, he accidentally gets a dose of a mixture added to the water cooler and believes his potion is what is working. The mixture temporarily causes him to feel and act like a teenager, including correcting his vision. When his wife gets a dose that is even larger, she regresses even further into her childhood. When an old boyfriend meets her in this state, he believes that her never wanting to see him again means a divorce and a chance for him.
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Niagara (1953)
George and Rose Loomis (Marilyn) are honeymooning at a Niagara Falls motel. She plots with Ted Patrick to do him in, but all does not go smoothly. For one thing, after Loomis is reported missing Polly Cutler spies him at the motel but her husband Bud thinks she's imagining it.
Did you know: Even though she had a starring role, Marilyn Monroe was still under contract to 20th Century-Fox as a stock actor at a fixed salary, so she actually made less money than her make-up man did.
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Some Like It Hot (1959)
When two male musicians witness a mob hit, they flee the state in an all-female band disguised as women, but further complications set in.
Did You Know: Marilyn Monroe required 47 takes to get "It's me, Sugar" correct, instead saying either "Sugar, it's me" or "It's Sugar, me". After take 30, Billy Wilder had the line written on a blackboard.
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Bus Stop (1956)
A naive but stubborn (and annoying imo) cowboy falls in love with a saloon singer (marilyn of course) and tries to take her away against her will to get married and live on his ranch in Montana. - Sounds like a dream haha
Did you know: this was the film for Marilyn Monroe Productions. Her own production company would produce only one more film.
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Let’s Make Love (1960)
When billionaire Jean-Marc Clement learns that he is to be satirized in an off-Broadway revue, he passes himself off as an actor playing him in order to get closer to the beautiful star of the show, Amanda Dell (marilyn).
Did you know: Marilyn Monroe and her Co-star, Yves Montand were both married to other people at the time of filming and they began an affair during shooting that was destined not to end well.
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The Misfits (1961)
A sexy divorcée (Marilyn Monroe) falls for an over-the-hill cowboy who is struggling to maintain his romantically independent lifestyle in early-sixties Nevada.
Did you know: When the film premiered in February 1961 Marilyn Monroe was being treated at a psychiatric hospital.
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