Marilyn: Something's Got to Give

One of my Marilyn Monroe obsessions concerns her final and unfinished film, “Something’s Got to Give.” These wardrobe test shots show a slimmed-down star at her peak, alternating between serious, smiling, and sultry.



The outfit shown below was for Ellen Arden’s (Marilyn) reunion with her children after being separated from them for a number of years.



Just in case you wanted to see the United Air Lines Hawaii bag in color:


Presuming his wife dead, Nick Arden (Dean Martin) moves on with his life and remarries. Oops. He finds it difficult to tell his current wife Bianca (Cyd Charisse) that Ellen is still alive, so Marilyn pretends to be a new nanny for the children. Are you following so far? This is the outfit Marilyn wore for that scene:



Just in case you wanted to see the wardrobe slate up close:



Here is Dean Martin and Phil Silvers, who plays an insurance agent in a brief cameo.



From the vintage publicity blurb:

(LA2-May 8) HOLLYWOOD, May 9—COMICS AT PLAY—Funnymen Dean Martin (left) and Phil Silvers pretend to watch the other actors at work as they clowned at the door of Martin’s dressing room between scenes of “Something’s Got to Give,” at Hollywood at 20th Century-Fox studio. Silvers, returning briefly to the studio where he spent eight of his youthful years, is playing a cameo role in the film.



All of the footage Marilyn shot survived and was edited together into a truncated version in 1990. Marilyn sparkles but the film seems overly contrived. Director George Cukor did not seem to have control of the production, often losing his temper with the kids that were portraying Marilyn’s offspring.



The set for the Arden home was an exact recreation of Cukor’s own home, which seems like an odd choice as to the type of home that the Arden family would have inhabited. Monroe was plagued with illness, which forced filming delays. This did not endear her to Cukor or the Fox higher-ups, who were losing their shirts from an out of control budget for Elizabeth Taylor’s “Cleopatra,” filming overseas at the same time. Bitchy Cukor forced the cast and crew to delay Marilyn’s onset birthday celebration until he could get “a full day’s work out of her.”



I adore this photo of Marilyn giving Wally Cox the whammy in between takes of the movie:



Marilyn took her profession quite seriously, as you can see from the detailed notes written on the script:



Monroe was fired on June 8, 1962. Martin refused to continue filming with Lee Remick, who the studio attempted to recast the Monroe role with. For him, it was Marilyn or nobody. Smart man. While Remick was a good actress, she definitely lacked the star wattage that Marilyn exuded.



HOLLYWOOD, June 11—MISS REMICK REPORTS TO THE STUDIO—Actress Lee Remick, who was named to replace Marilyn Monroe in the movie “Something’s Got to Give,” has a big smile for director George Cukor in Hollywood today as he goes over the script with her. Studio officials said Miss Remick was given a copy of the script and is expected to begin filming soon. Meanwhile officials at 20th Century-Fox faced another crisis: If Monroe’s out and Remick’s in, Dean Martin says he’s out too.

Fox backed down on their decision and hired Monroe back, agreeing to her demand that Cukor be replaced by Jean Negulesco. I’ll bet nobody from the film celebrated Cukor’s July 7 birthday! Moral of the story: don’t f$%^ with Marilyn Monroe! Filming was slated to begin again in October, with the substandard script getting an overhaul in the meantime. Marilyn’s unexpected death on August 4, 1962, obviously ended that.

See more Marilyn “Something's Got To Give” photos at my main website.