My Week with Marilyn (30 page)

Whenever something goes wrong in the studio during filming, the blame either falls on MM or on some technical mystery. But today I think the blame fell on the doors – those doors into the purple room through which everyone has to enter. Mind you I'm not sure if SLO or Tony or David would agree.

In the opening shot of the day, MM was due to burst in through these doors and surprise Dicky and SLO. She had been ‘below stairs' with Nicky, the young King, and the Grand Duke has only just been told that she is still in the Embassy. He is expecting an old flame, Lady Sunningdale, to come to supper. Lady Sunningdale is late and he says he wishes she had grown out of that habit. His line is: ‘She has had, after all, time,' and that was MM's cue. Her line is: ‘Hello. Oh – supper! How thoughtful of you, darling. I'll just run down and say goodnight to Nicky. See you in a minute.' Then exit. Not too hard for her – all one ‘thought'.

David shouts: ‘Let's go for a take. QUIET studio.' MM is tucked into a little bit of corridor outside the doors, where she can hear SLO's cue. We go through the ritual as usual. Lights, Camera, Sound etc. ‘Action.'

SLO: ‘She has had, after all, time.'

Nothing. The doors do not move an inch. No sound. No clues. Nothing.

‘CUT.' Controlled passion now from Tony.

‘Marilyn? Is anything the matter behind there?' Muffled grunts.

‘COLIN!' Would you go behind those doors and see if you can help Miss Monroe!' I dash round the corners of the set (quite a long way, as it happens) to find MM smiling mildly in her little alcove. She seems as mystified as everyone else.

‘Any problems, Miss Monroe?' She shakes her head with wide eyes.

I am not empowered to say ‘Well, what the hell is going on then?' so I squeeze into the little alcove with her and wait.

‘Going for a take, studio?' I hear distantly.

‘Lights.'

‘Camera.'

‘Sound.'

‘Action.'

SLO: ‘She has had, after all, time.'

I am holding the handle of the door, and I pull it firmly towards me, so that MM can burst in with her line. Nothing. The door doesn't budge. Then and only then do I remember that the doors open inward and not out into the corridor. Too late. There is a bellow of rage simultaneously from Tony, David and SLO. ‘COLIN!'

I caught MM's eye and we both dissolved into total, helpless giggles. The more they cursed from the other side of those nice strong doors, the more we laughed. The tears literally ran down our cheeks and we were both incapable of speech. David marched across the set and flung open the doors to expose us to the whole studio, helpless as naughty school children. MM buried her face in her hands and rushed off to Make-up for half an hour – plenty of time for me to get an old-fashioned roasting from David and Tony. I couldn't really explain, and nobody in the whole studio thought it was funny – except for Marilyn and me. She really can be adorable when she is human like that.

Tony was very gruff at dinner tonight, but Anne thought it hilarious. How like a married couple.

‘Vivien is coming to pay us a visit today,' said SLO when he arrived this morning. ‘Call me when Marilyn gets here. I'd better butter her up a bit first.'

Gilman gave me a wicked grin. Vivien is famous for being unbelievably catty while at the same time being unbelievably charming. I
did not think Vivien's visit was a good idea, under the circumstances, but of course no one can stop Vivien doing something if she has a mind to it. It was Vivien who created MM's role on stage, and MM knows this well. I suppose Vivien would have liked to do the movie herself too. ‘But Larry went and fell in love with Marilyn, silly boy,' she said to me at Notley: ‘And a fat lot of good that did him.' (Vivien is
always
right.)

I suggested caution to SLO, but he had a mischievous look in his eye. Perhaps he thought Vivien might inspire MM to greater efforts.

Vivien arrived at lunchtime, after we had endured another painful session in the purple room. SLO, in full costume, escorted her on to the set as if she were royalty.

‘Hello, Colin darling' – that got the crew's attention – ‘Are you looking after Larry for me like you promised?'

Me: ‘Gulp.'

Tony: ‘We are all trying our best, Vivien.'

Vivien advanced and, to MM's intense surprise, kissed her lightly on both cheeks.

‘Marilyn,' she sighed, ‘Larry tells me you are quite, quite superb. He never stops singing your praises. I'm getting a little jealous.'

Very sweet, very sincere, what an actress! MM smiled and fluttered her eyelids, easily flattered although not quite convinced. Since Vivien was looking stunning in a little Jacques Fath suit and MM was looking like a plump frump in a towelling robe, the crew could hardly imagine Vivien being jealous. But still, it was a true meeting of the stars. Everyone was impressed, even Paula. Vivien quickly made her excuses.

‘I know how frantically hard Larry makes you all work etc.,' and she vanished in a cloud of very expensive perfume. Even David, who has bellowed at every film star in Britain, was in a bit of a dream.

MM took a long time to emerge in the afternoon, but she did definitely seem more committed and we got a surprising amount done. Tomorrow we do the love stuff on the armchair. Fingers crossed.

I have been watching MM very closely. She is really like a lovely child. Whatever possessed her to become an actress? I suppose it was some sort of clichéd idea about Hollywood. In America pretty blondes with buxom figures often think that they are meant to be film stars. Or perhaps it was some man who found that the quickest way into her pants was to promise that he could get her into movies. MM is certainly very ambitious. Once she got to LA,
⁵⁹
I'm sure she found a whole string of men who told her that they could get her into the movies, and she must have been very single-minded to get where she has. Many pretty girls are convinced that they are ‘someone special', and she was proved right!

A natural on camera MM certainly is, but a great actress she is not. When SLO, or Dicky or Dame Sybil act, they stop being who they are and become the character who they are acting. They enjoy changing into someone else completely. It feels natural to them, often better than real life. They can become heroes, villains, lunatics, poets etc. depending on the script they are given.

With the minor actors on the set it may be different. Take the footmen, for example. One or two may be burning with ambition. They will be acting footmen with all their might – dreaming of the day when they will be acting the Grand Duke. The other two may be earning their living the easiest way they can, and just walking where they are told to, without a thought in their heads.

MM is different again. She desperately wants to be an ‘actress'. She has been told many times, by the people who see her magic in front of the camera, and also by unscrupulous people who just want her money, that she is a wonderful ‘
actress
'. She is not. MM is always MM. Can one imagine her playing a ruthless spy? Most of the time she is desperately trying to remember her lines and the ‘motivation' of the character who speaks them. This automatically
precludes ‘being' the character. The
character
doesn't have to think of lines and motivation. So the process of acting is very frightening for her. She needs Paula a few feet away and Lee at the end of a phone to reassure her. But there is no easy formula, no short cut. I suspect that there have been quite a few ‘Paulas' in the past, and all of them will ultimately fail because they are substitutes for a training which is just not there.

MM's scenes are made even harder by the idiotic Rattigan script. In the middle of her first love scene, after the Grand Duke has finally kissed her on the sofa, she is supposed to run her fingers through his hair. Well this is very difficult and unpleasant because SLO's hair is greased absolutely flat, but would she really ask him what he used on it? She's not a beautician. But this is what the script would have her do.

‘Oh, a little pomade,' the Grand Duke replies abstractedly, and she is meant to reply ‘You should use Pinaud's “Lilac”.'

What on earth is this interchange doing in the love scene between Marilyn Monroe and Laurence Olivier? It's hardly the place for a witty quip, or a laugh for that matter.

It was far too much for MM to remember – no ‘motivation' at all. She plunged in bravely, forgot, desperately tried to remember after all, and finally blurted out: ‘You should use' – loud squeak – ‘I know, er, er, er, PINAUD'S “LILAC”' giggle giggle. SLO, his face two inches from hers and due to kiss her passionately in the next shot, was trying frantically to cover the gaps and keep a straight face.

‘Think of love, my darling,' he gabbled. ‘Don't forget our
love
.'

After many attempts, he decided to print everything and choose the best one. Everyone hopes it will work, but it may look a little odd, to say the least. Perhaps it will be a triumph of nature over art.

It has been a tough week. SLO and Milton are shattered. So is AM. He came over to collect MM but ended up sending her on
ahead with Paula and Whitey and Plod. I went into SLO's dressing room with fresh whisky and cigarettes.

‘I've had it,' said SLO. ‘I think I'll go off to China for a month.'

‘I'll come with you,' said Milton, laughing.

‘So will I,' said AM grimly.

‘Come now, dear boy,' said SLO. ‘Your new bride.'

‘She's devouring me,' I heard AM say as I left.

Three strong, famous men all in awe of that young lady. Luckily they take no notice of me whatsoever, which I
think
is a compliment.

Before I left the studio, Plod rang from Parkside. MM had announced that she wants to go shopping tomorrow – incognito. Plod is nervous and wants me there too. Parkside at 10 a.m. But no one is to tell Milton. I went and told Milton right away and then came back here for supper.

I arrived at Parkside at 9.45 a.m. Milton was already there.

‘Colin. What's the smartest shopping street in London?'

‘Bond Street.'

‘OK. We'll go there.'

Plod went off to make a discreet phone call (to Gerald Row Police Station I expect) and Milton and I sat and waited . . . for one and a half hours. Milton is a great charmer, very easygoing and direct. He told me he used to be a top photographer which is how he got to meet MM.
⁶⁰
He genuinely feels that MM was being exploited by 20th Century Fox – nothing new about that – and he wanted to help her escape from her contract. And that I can understand too. Everyone who meets MM wants to help her, even me. It is another part of her magic. Milton teamed up with a lawyer called Irving Stein who Milton said is as brilliant as he is unsympathetic. (The ‘unsympathetic' bit is right. I ‘met' him when MM first arrived.) Together they succeeded
in getting MM free and Milton set up Marilyn Monroe Productions. But he underestimated the power that MM generates, and the number of people who are determined to get a piece of that power. Trying to control MM is like riding a tiger. With the best will in the world, you can't really control, or even forecast, which way it is going to go. So Milton is forever trying to
manipulate
MM with promises, threats, even drugs
⁶¹
– and he has to compete with Paula, AM, Hedda Rosten, various psychiatrists and doctors and, ultimately, SLO and me. I feel sorry for Milton. He wants to get the film made as much as we do, and he has a very difficult job, as pig in the middle.

When MM did come down at 11.30 she was in a sulky mood. She was all in beige as usual – tight blouse, slacks, head scarf – and dark glasses, with very little make-up. She looked like she had when she first turned up at the studio. She was not in the least surprised to see Milton, or me. AM and MM and Milton and Plod got into the Princess and I followed in the Bristol. When we got to Bond Street, I could immediately see a problem. We were late, as usual, and all the shops were going to shut at 12.30 (Saturday early closing). Nobody else in the party seemed to mind, however, so we all got out and trooped along behind AM and MM. As AM is pretty tall and MM is pretty wiggly, we expected quite a reaction, but no one seemed to notice. The most famous couple in the world (bar two, I suppose
⁶²
) were strolling along a busy street with no protection, and nothing happened.

All of a sudden Milton realised that MM was
not
happy about this. She wanted to be incognito, but she didn't want to be
that
incognito. Not mobbed, perhaps, but a round of applause might have been nice! But the shops were now shutting and the crowds were thinning out.

‘Where are the big shops, Colin? Where is everybody?'

I wheeled the party into Regent Street. I could see a few policemen
around, winking at Plod, so I felt reassured. Then suddenly we were surrounded. I don't know who spread the word, the police or Milton, or perhaps some reporter Milton had called earlier. The crowds picked up the scent of a ‘star' and it took all Plod's chums to help us fight our way back to the cars. For the first time I saw how dangerous a leaderless mob can be, although in this case they were driven only by curiosity. Poor MM was quite upset and shaking, despite AM's arm round her. But perhaps she is used to this sort of horror, and even welcomes it, to confirm her view of the awfulness of her life. AM had also had quite a fright, though nothing really shakes his air of smug complacency. He is much more pleased with himself than MM is with herself, that's for sure. Plod worships MM, and can't stand AM, and nor can I. (And to be honest, we are probably a little bit jealous too!)