Some like it cold
When Marilyn Met The Queen
Michelle Morgan Robinson, £20
Self-confessed Marilyn Monroe obsessive Michelle Morgan tells the story of the four months Marilyn spent in England in 1956 when she filmed The Prince And The Showgirl with Laurence Olivier.
Morgan’s research is impressive and the level of detail will delight fans. We learn about the dresses Marilyn wore, the luggage she brought to England (27 pieces, weighing 861lbs) and what she did in moments away from the cameras, including attending a magical party hosted by Terence Rattigan and a trip to the theatre for the premiere of husband Arthur Miller’s play A View From The
Bridge. The visit was also a working honeymoon for Marilyn and Miller who settled into a rented mansion in Surrey.
Morgan says the country was struck by Marilyn fever. Even the Queen fell under her spell when they met at the Royal Command Performance that year, an unnamed source claiming that the Queen found the star “a very sweet person”.
Morgan admires Marilyn’s achievements and understands her insecurities, such as not feeling talented or intelligent enough for the film’s tight-knit English cast.
Olivier was icily exasperated by her late arrivals, inexplicable absences and inability to leave her dressing room when stricken by nerves.
She had her admirers on set, though. Formidable co-star Dame Sybil Thorndike thought her “the only one out of the whole company who knew how to act in front of the camera”.
Olivier was considered the greatest actor of his generation but the irony now is that he appears so wooden while a radiant Marilyn takes the breath away.
This entertaining account of a brief interlude in Marilyn’s helter-skelter life leaves you with fresh admiration for the way she navigated the merciless scrutiny of the world and the hefty expectations placed upon her.