jerseyperson Posted January 15, 2012 Share Posted January 15, 2012 The current clip concerning Marilyn Monroe thinking that a party conversation comment about Walt Whitman was about Whitmans Chocolates might just be giving her a good laugh right now. The smug actress relating the story might have done a little research to find out that Whitman was one of Monroe's favorite authors. There is no doubt in my mind that Marilyn was just playing Marilyn. What I wonder is if Fred Astaire was just playing along or if he was taken in as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sepiatone Posted January 15, 2012 Share Posted January 15, 2012 I always saw Marilyn as more than what was percieved. I saw some flashes of brilliance in many of her on-screen personas, and bristle at any of the "dunderhead" labels too many pin on her. There are, unfortunately, too many actresses and actors who do something TOO well that it stifles their abilities to stretch further. Take the case of Max Baer Jr. No matter WHAT role he did or how well he did it, people always saw him as "Jethro Bodine, dumb-***". So he quietly proved otherwise by securing almost all the rights to "The Beverly Hillbillies", made a fortune on syndication and now rakes it in with those "Beverly Hillbillies" slot machines! Jethro showed THEM! Sepiatone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jerseyperson Posted January 15, 2012 Author Share Posted January 15, 2012 Funny you shold bring up Jethro and dumb. Just yesterday I commented to my wife that I think "dumb" when I hear Mark Harmon's character called by his first name on NIS, all due to to Max Baer Jr. Edited by: jerseyperson on Jan 15, 2012 4:20 PM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brackenhe Posted January 15, 2012 Share Posted January 15, 2012 Every time the interstitial with Arlene Dahl gets heavy play in the rotation (usually when a Monroe film is coming up on the schedule) I always think that Dahl was the dumb one in that situation--Monroe was probably just joking. Dahl was trying to make her name around the same time as Monroe was one of the biggest stars in Hollywood, and she was probably a little jealous of the attention Monroe attracted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slaytonf Posted January 16, 2012 Share Posted January 16, 2012 I think they were all taken in by Marilyn. Of course, she may have meant it to be taken as a joke, and expected laughter, but instead got condescension. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jerseyperson Posted January 16, 2012 Author Share Posted January 16, 2012 I had not thought of that angle. That would mean she was expecting the best from them and they were expecting the worst from her. If you are correct, the reality ended up being the reverse of that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ValeskaSuratt Posted January 16, 2012 Share Posted January 16, 2012 On August 21, 2005, Arlene Dahl told this story on "Larry King Live" and claimed she was sitting at a piano with Cole Porter singing "You're the Top" when Marilyn made her entrance and it was only to an anonymous "group of gentlemen" Marilyn made the supposed "I love his chocolates" comment. On December 12, 2002, also on "Larry King Live," Dahl described dancing with John F. Kennedy when Marilyn appeared and that she and JFK had "roared with laughter" when they overheard Marilyn making the remark. On February 10, 1974, Dahl was quoted in the Ocala Star-Register: "Marilyn Monroe came over to a group – Cary Grant, Artur Rubinstein, Joan Crawford and I were in it ..." Obviously, Arlene never spoils a story by telling it. Still, it's unfortunate that the TCM version comes across as slamming Marilyn for being stupid. (Photograph taken by John Florea in 1952) Shut not your doors to me proud libraries, For that which was lacking on all your well-fill'd shelves, yet needed most, I bring, Forth from the war emerging, a book I have made, The words of my book nothing, the drift of it every thing, A book separate, not link'd with the rest nor felt by the intellect, But you ye untold latencies will thrill to every page. *Shut Not Your Doors* - Walt Whitman (Leaves of Grass, 1881) One final tidbit of trivia: in the TCM segment, Dahl is saying that the party was at "Lady Mendl's" (aka Elsie de Wolf) and not "Mickey Mantle's." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ValeskaSuratt Posted January 16, 2012 Share Posted January 16, 2012 > {quote:title=slaytonf wrote:}{quote}I think they were all taken in by Marilyn. Of course, she may have meant it to be taken as a joke, and expected laughter, but instead got condescension. If the "Whitman" story actually happened, I'd love to have been there to see the reactions -- did anybody realize MM was making a self-deprecating joke ? Did she even let on that was what she was doing ? The fact is that (much to her later regret) MM helped launch her career by making "sexy dumb blonde" remarks in public, hoping they'd get picked up by the columnists she was courting (including Winchell - ugh!). F'rinstance: when asked what she wore to bed? "Chanel No. 5." What did she have on while posing for the infamous calendar? "The radio." Why didn't she wear colored nail polish ? "I like to feel naked all over." etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thestick Posted January 16, 2012 Share Posted January 16, 2012 One of the stars that was present that night recounts this tory on TCM and said that Fred Astaire absolutely treated her kindly showing his absolute class! I did not get condecension (SIC) out of the story when the actress was recounted it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slaytonf Posted January 16, 2012 Share Posted January 16, 2012 The condescension was in the fact that they assumed Miss Monroe was speaking sincerely, and not making a joke. I was not aware I misspelled condescension. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sepiatone Posted January 16, 2012 Share Posted January 16, 2012 Actually, I've sort of done the same thing, intentionally, to get a chuckle or to lighten the mood. Me: "What're you guys talking about?" Them: "Joyce Kilmer" Me: "Oh, yeah, she was cute!" I've overheard many people make the same kind of smart-alec remarks for the same reasons. If Marilyn did so for the same reason, and people actually believed she was that dumb, she was better than they thought. Sepiatone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jerseyperson Posted January 16, 2012 Author Share Posted January 16, 2012 Not that I am in control of this dyscussion, but as the inytiator I want to say fuddegabout it regarding the spfelling error. I am new here, but as a frequent conetributor the the Yankees message boards I have noticed that posters who use "sic" never seem to agree with the premice of the posting they are comenting on. I am not a peesakeyatrist (to quote the great Desi Arnaz as Ricky Ricardo) so I canot spekulate on the why, but that has been my experiense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jerseyperson Posted January 16, 2012 Author Share Posted January 16, 2012 Good point. Now that I think about it every time a male poet, author, or artist is mentioned someone in the group will say "didn't he play second base for the Cleveland Indians?". Assuming of course that there are enough men in the crowd. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thestick Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 Slatonf, My (SIC) was for myself as when i typed the word it came out as misspelled and I didn't feel like looking up the correct spelling at the time. It was in no way in reference to the way you had spelled it. I personally think the story as related on TCM was a cute kind of thing. I wasn't there so I don't know what the tone of Fred's reply was or if Marilyn meant the whole thing as a joke. Who knows? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DownGoesFrazier Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 This has been discussed before on these boards. For the first time, last night I saw the "word of mouth" in which Arlene Dahl relayed the story. I could have slapped her. She sounded really smug and snarky. Has anyone offered HER a position as a university English professor? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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