The Girl

by Michelle Morgan

  Aside from describing her as “my poor Marilyn,” the final article was much the same as the rest, only this time Lytess compared an apparent suicide attempt from the early 1950s to Marilyn’s real death the week before. She had already written about this episode, but now wanted to share more to shed light on why Marilyn had ultimately died. She was sure—she claimed—that Marilyn would want the world to know all about it, although she had chosen not to disclose the words previously because “some confidences must be kept until death.” In the form of a conversation between herself and the actress, Lytess described Marilyn’s reason for the first suicide attempt as being because men only wanted one thing from her. Then, in order to pass some blame to the public who adored Marilyn, Lytess claimed that because the star had been admired by the world for her body, it had given her a complex about sex, which had been ever-present in her mind.

  To finish it all off, the teacher then spoke about Marilyn’s marriage to Miller, and added a dubious conversation that supposedly happened between Lytess and Monroe after the marriage had broken down. According to the coach, she spotted Marilyn at Schwab’s drugstore in Los Angeles, where she supposedly poured her heart out about Miller and—once again—her sex life.

  If Lytess felt in any way sorry for the loss of Marilyn’s life or the articles leading up to it, she certainly never showed it. Instead, she remained embittered about the relationship until her own death on May 12, 1963, less than a year after she had penned the vicious editorials. While it was clear that the teacher felt abandoned by Monroe, it should not have come as a surprise. After the limits she tried to impose on the actress’s life and career, it was only a matter of time before Marilyn rebelled and took back control. The way Lytess handled events afterward was nothing short of deplorable, and to continue the slander even in the week after Marilyn’s death was proof that not every woman was on her side and the actress made the best decision by letting her go.

  IN SPRING 1956, A press conference held at Marilyn’s rented Beverly Glen accommodation brought out the silliest of questions from reporters who were just happy to have Marilyn back in Hollywood. Thomas Wiseman, a reporter for the London Evening Standard, must surely have been an object of jealousy, however, since he was able to garner a private audience with the actress.

  Flirtatious and playful, Marilyn wore a low-cut dress with a white rose tucked into her neckline, until she suddenly pulled it out and tossed it aside. “If I keep it there much longer,” she laughed, “it is liable to wilt.” She then commented on a variety of topics, including how the house furniture was not to her taste, her belief that men were helpless creatures, and the notion that her ideal man must be a poet, “though that doesn’t mean he has to write poetry.” At one point the star briefly lay on the floor and kicked her legs in the air. “That would make a good photograph, wouldn’t it?” she asked. “Sell a lot of papers.”

  When the topic moved to the fact that during the whole interview she had not received any telephone calls, Marilyn grew pensive. She ceased the leg kicks and sat quietly on the sofa. There then followed a rather touching conversation where Marilyn explained that she never had any real friends while living in Hollywood, and that her move to New York had finally enabled her to find some. She then defended her studies and stressed that her move was no publicity stunt. She did not want to rid herself of the Marilyn Monroe character, she said, but stressed that while it was part of her personality, it certainly wasn’t the whole part.

  Another reporter who interviewed Marilyn during this time was Elsa Maxwell, and the two chatted about a variety of subjects. The one she most wanted to mention, though, was the rumor of a romance with Arthur Miller. With other reporters, Marilyn had denied the relationship so much that it was beginning to look as though she didn’t know Miller at all. However, with Elsa she opened up slightly: “I like Arthur very much. And I’m proud to have such a great playwright for my friend. I’ve had very few friends in my life, as you know.” When Elsa said that the two should get married, Marilyn laughed and replied, “You’re wonderful! Unfortunately we haven’t reached any such serious stage—yet…. I don’t say I won’t marry him. But I tell you, honestly, I have no plan to marry him—now.”

  Life at the Beverly Glen house was hectic, with the Greenes, their son, Joshua, and numerous staff and colleagues mulling around. To gain a little privacy, Marilyn rented a room at the Chateau Marmont hotel. There, she spent time with Arthur Miller, who sneaked in and out of Los Angeles during his Nevada divorce residency.

  The schedule for Bus Stop was relentless. Preproduction had begun on February 27, and by March 8 Marilyn and costar Don Murray (acting as Bo) posed for photographs on the Fox lot. The production then headed to Phoenix on March 15 for location shots at a parade and rodeo. After that, filming moved on to Sun Valley, Idaho, before returning to the stages of Hollywood shortly thereafter. Unfortunately, exhaustion, coupled with all the old insecurities that had plagued Marilyn during her years in Hollywood, soon returned, and her anxieties often reached mammoth proportions. Having Paula Strasberg on set proved beneficial to the actress, but as with Natasha Lytess before her, she seemed to fall into the role of second director, which none of the cast and crew particularly enjoyed. Eventually Logan asked her to stay in the dressing room until the day’s scenes were completed.

  Despite this being the first time Joshua Logan had ever worked with the actress, he seemed to understand Marilyn better than any other director. He later told Laurence Olivier that he had never worked with such a talent before, and that she was a “tremendous actress.” If she understood a direction, she would achieve such heights that Logan was often completely taken aback. If she did not understand what he wanted her to do, he would gently repeat the request and then Marilyn would give it everything she had.

  Her main problems on set were all related to the anxiety of whether she was giving a good performance. Logan noted straightaway that Marilyn would sometimes forget her lines, not because she hadn’t learned them but because she was too busy thinking about the way she had delivered a line prior to the one she was now speaking. With her mind still on something they had shot ten seconds before, it was impossible for her to remember what she was supposed to be doing now.

  He noticed that Marilyn was highly critical of herself, so he spent a great deal of time reassuring her that everything was perfect. It was a hard task, though, as the actress was so nervous on set that she would often break down and declare herself terrible. At those times, no amount of reassurance would convince her that she was actually giving a magnificent performance.

  Instead of growing impatient like so many directors before and after him, Logan used a simple but effective technique of asking his assistant to repeat the words to her whenever she stumbled. That way he could continue shooting the scene and Marilyn would get back on track quickly. He then edited the scene later so that it appeared flawless. Another trick was to shoot as many angles as he possibly could, because even when she made a mistake, other parts of the scene would be perfect and usable.

  Logan also got into the habit of leaving the camera rolling even when the scene had finished. That way, if he sensed that Marilyn was in a particularly good mood, they could do the scene again immediately, without any interruptions. If he shouted “Cut” after it was finished, she would cool off considerably and it would take a while for her to warm up again. The technique of keeping the camera rolling whenever possible proved invaluable for actor/director relations, as well as for the final edit, but another tactic was stressful for others on set. Because Marilyn was rarely happy with the way she had played a scene, Logan started printing every take she approved of, or was word-perfect in. This meant that it did not matter what kind of performance her costars gave during that scene, if Marilyn was good it was going in the can anyway. As a result, other cast members felt unnecessary pressure, trying to remain flawless during each and every take.

  By April 1956, the shoot was almost halfway through. However, Marilyn fell il
l with a bronchial infection and was admitted to Cedars of Lebanon hospital in Los Angeles. Whenever the actress became ill during a film shoot, there would inevitably be some talk as to whether she was being genuine. However, in Joshua Logan, Marilyn met a staunch ally, and in a letter to George Axelrod he made clear his belief that she was genuinely unwell. In another note written on the same day to William Inge, the director expressed his view that Marilyn was perfect for the character of Cherie; he loved her accent and thought she was adorable.

  While she recovered from the infection, two of the film’s actors—Don Murray and Hope Lange—were married. Lange had been lucky to be cast as a young waitress, since Marilyn was paranoid about having another blonde on set and had previously asked for her to be removed. She was not, however, and her performance, with slightly darker hair, complimented Marilyn’s perfectly.

  After the excitement of the Murray wedding, the company busied itself by shooting scenes that didn’t involve Marilyn. Several of these took place on the bus heading toward Grace’s Diner, and saw Bo and his friend Virg (Arthur O’Connell) having a conversation about women and, of course, Cherie. Joshua Logan loved Don Murray’s performance as Bo, and predicted that Bus Stop would make him a big star. He was right, as while the actor perhaps didn’t reach the heights of Marlon Brando or other contemporaries, he worked regularly from then on, and was still making movies into his seventies.

  Marilyn returned to work and shooting continued, but now Don Murray was unwell with pleurisy. However, because of Joshua Logan’s careful eye toward any problems Marilyn might have, the filming of Bus Stop was easier than it could have been. This did not mean that there were no problems, though. Logan was a patient man, but even he had his limitations. During one outdoor scene, the company had a tiny snippet of time to get the shot in a perfect light. Marilyn knew this and yet continued putting on her makeup, oblivious to everyone clock-watching outside. When she eventually walked onto set, she did so just as the magic light faded. Logan was so incensed with her behavior that he jumped up and down in front of hundreds of spectators, swearing furiously.

  Another problem arose between Marilyn and Murray. During one scene where Bo tries to stop Cherie from walking away, he tugs on the train of her show costume and is shocked when it comes off in his hand. She flies around, shouts at him furiously, and grabs the tail from his grasp. During one take, Marilyn shocked Murray when she turned and went at him with her fists. He braced for impact and the actress bounced off him and straight onto the floor.

  As Murray picked her back up and apologized, Marilyn stayed in character and delivered her line. This time, though, instead of just grabbing her tail, she whipped it across the actor’s face and he was left with a cut just below his eye. As she ran off set, Murray stormed after her, intent on telling her off. It was Logan who eventually managed to persuade him not to, fearful that it would create more drama.

  Even scenes that had already been shot caused controversy at times. One proved more bothersome than others due to the possibility of nudity and sexual connotation. During one part of the story, Bo visits the guesthouse where Cherie is staying, gets past her landlady, and proceeds to barge into her bedroom. Flinging open the curtains, he demands that she get up to join him at the parade, but then ends up on the same bed as Cherie, stroking her naked shoulder and getting rather carried away with himself.

  Murray told columnist Earl Wilson that Marilyn was totally naked underneath the sheet, and he did his best to make sure she stayed completely covered during the scene. However, as she moved around, the sheet kept coming off, and he would have to move quickly to pull it back on. On May 16, 1956, Bus Stop producer Buddy Adler received a letter from Fox colleague Frank McCarthy, who had queried the problems that could come from such a scene. While everyone agreed that the camera operator had made sure Marilyn looked covered at all times, a difficulty arose because Logan changed the scene slightly to have it dissolve at the crucial moment. This new development could lead viewers to think the couple had sex when the camera turned off, and Fox could not risk this happening.

  McCarthy was happy for the scene to stay as directed, but knew that the company needed to protect itself against any misunderstandings. On hearing the initial concerns, Adler proposed a change that could work for everyone: the landlady would be seen in Cherie’s bedroom, walk to the door, but not actually leave. Throughout the conversation between Bo and Cherie, the camera would then cut away to the landlady, particularly when his hands were on Marilyn’s body.

  McCarthy approved this angle and then added a point of his own: the landlady should say that she runs a respectable establishment and then vocally refuse to leave the room until Bo has gone. In the final film, there was a compromise. The landlady does leave the room as Bo talks to Cherie, but she makes sure the door is open so that she can hear what is going on. As the couple are about to kiss, the landlady returns, this time to interrupt proceedings by telling Bo he’ll be late for the parade.

  The Travilla-designed “snake costume” (nicknamed that way because the pattern looked a little like scales) that was worn during much of the film—including the nightclub scenes and one on the bus—was another center of concern. McCarthy told Adler that he would be on set when the costume was used, though in the end it was approved and got past the censors.

  Another scene that just scraped through was the kissing one between Bo and Cherie, toward the end of the film. First, because it was believed that Marilyn’s mouth was far too open to be decent, and then after reshooting it several times, they had problems because saliva could be seen as the couple’s mouths parted. It was also a problem when Marilyn’s face was leaned against her arm in despair. As she raised her head, a stream of wet could again be seen. The censors were dismayed, but the actress fought for the spittle to be left in, claiming that it would not be realistic if it disappeared. She won her battle and the scenes stayed intact.

  One scene that was not so lucky, however, was where Cherie is trying to escape the attentions of Bo. She plans to head to Hollywood to make her dreams come true, but when filming a suitcase-packing scene, Marilyn leaned over and her dress fell away from her breasts. McCarthy knew it would never be approved so suggested a cutaway shot of Cherie’s friend Betty instead. In the end, even this wasn’t enough, and in the finished scene, it is Betty who is seen packing the case, not Cherie.

  On May 17, 1956, the action moved to a scene where Cherie and Bo talk in a shed outside the nightclub where she works. During this part of the movie, he insists on pronouncing her name as Cherry, much to Cherie’s chagrin, but in spite of that, her initial reaction is one of intrigue and warmth. Joshua Logan was blown away by her performance and that day sat down to write a letter to George Axelrod. In it he described another impressive scene where Marilyn’s character tells her friend all about her life’s direction and her ambitions for the future. The director thought she had played it charmingly, and he was sure that all who watched the movie would fall instantly in love.

  On May 29, 1956, Bus Stop wrapped production and Marilyn presented Joshua Logan with a portrait of herself in a silver frame. Then several members of the cast went to the home of film producer William Goetz to see his art collection. That evening, Marilyn posed thoughtfully for Logan’s camera, in front of paintings by artists including Honoré Daumier, Édouard Manet, Paul Cézanne, and Pablo Picasso. A bronze statue of a fourteen-year-old dancer by Edgar Degas seemed to catch the actress’s imagination, and Logan captured her gazing wistfully at it.

  The interest in this particular piece is revealing. While Marilyn might not have been a professional dancer, she took many classes during the years and starred in various movies that enabled her to dance on-screen. However, her love of the art went far deeper than that, and in her vast library of books she had several volumes of related texts. Among those acquired over the course of her lifetime were The Thinking Body by Mabel Elsworth Todd and Dance to the Piper by Agnes de Mille. The former was a physiology study of how psycholog
ical processes affect movement of the body, while the latter was the autobiography of dancer Agnes de Mille. This book would have been particularly stimulating since the author had struggled against adversity to achieve her dreams, just as Marilyn did her entire life.

  On June 1—Marilyn’s thirtieth birthday—a party was given for her at the Beverly Hills Hotel. Thrown by Joshua Logan, the star appeared to have a wonderful time and was thrilled to meet Indonesian president Sukarno. After Marilyn left the event, Logan’s wife, Nedda, discovered that the actress had left her purse behind. A huge Marilyn fan who loved her performance in Bus Stop, Mrs. Logan made sure the bag was returned to her several days later.

  Despite the one blowup between actress and director on set, Marilyn had gotten along with Joshua Logan remarkably well. Even in the middle of Bus Stop, Logan told reporters that he was desperate to work with Marilyn on a play, and was prepared to direct her in any future film she wanted him for. Unfortunately, there was one problem that Marilyn was not aware of at the time of shooting: the film was just too long. On May 17, Logan mentioned to George Axelrod that he was worried about how he could ever bring the film to under two hours. This remained a concern throughout the entire production, and as it reached the editing stage, it became clear that some scenes would have to go.

  In the end, Logan and editor William Reynolds trimmed so much off that Bus Stop came in at around ninety-six minutes. They achieved this by editing tiny pieces here and there, right through to huge chunks of otherwise perfect scenes. By July 5, 1956, it was almost finished, though producer Buddy Adler still wished that more cuts could be made. Logan’s wife, Nedda, also became involved when she revealed that her favorite shot was that of Cherie putting on Bo’s coat in the final scene of the film. In honor of her, several more feet were added to the shot, making it longer than originally planned.