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.

A Jet Is Still A Jet

I don't know that I would call this anniversary momentous, but 50 years ago today, the Tomorrowland Astro Jets attraction was renamed the Tomorrowland Jets.

Zooming in closer for this December 1963 shot, we get a look at the Spica, named after the brightest star in the constellation Virgo.



A July 1962 image:



The attraction's name was changed at the request of United Airlines, who had just taken over sponsorship of The Enchanted Tiki Room. As you can see in this April 1965 image, United cares. In fact, they give EXTRA care.



Seems that they cared that American Airlines' coast-to-coast "Astrojet" service was getting free advertising from Disneyland. Of course, the first thing you thought about when you got to Disneyland and rode the Astrojet was buying a ticket on American Airlines. It's only natural, you know.

See more Daveland Astro/Rocket Jet photos at my main website.

TPE: Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room, Pt.1

Now that we've done some shopping in Adventureland, let's go back out to the gate and enjoy Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room. The first three photos show this fun and kitschy attraction while it was still under construction.





I just know this boy's name is Melvin. It has to be.



Today's post focuses on the exterior and courtyard only, as the courtyard alone is a fun little attraction all on its own.



The original show sponsor was United Airlines, as seen in this festive signage:



Check out that line in this July 1966 shot:



Zooming in, you can see Juan, the talking barker bird that was eventually removed because he slowed down the foot traffic of guests who stopped to gawk at him.





Zooming in for another look at Juan:



Here is an August 1966 shot...



that shows Juan has gone from blue to red:



Years later, Kevin Kidney sculpted a replica honoring the 50th Anniversary of Disneyland. As Kevin describes on his Flickr photoset:

A doozy of a dream project! Jody and I located the molds for the original "Side Macaw" figure sculpted back in 1962 by Disney Legend Blaine Gibson. Naturally, being designed for animatronics, the basic body form had no feathers, eyes or dressing, so I happily (understatement) undertook the task of figure-finishing. While we'd originally planned for each replica to be covered in real feathers and fur, we discovered it would have been impossible to mass-produce to our satisfaction. So all feather and fur had to be cast in solid resin, and while not terrible to look at, it did give the bird a sort of frozen appearance that I wasn't absolutely thrilled with.

Using many photographs as reference, I duplicated his straw hat and carnival "barker's" cane which were also cast up in hard resin. With the glass eyes, however, we were able to truly obsess over authenticity, purchasing them from the original taxidermy supplier that made eyes for the attraction. The end result was a hit with the collectors. I bought five of them myself (you know, so I can build a Tiki Room in my house. Get over it.)



Moving into the courtyard area, you can see all of the different Tiki Gods that are part of the pre-show:

















The trash cans in these vintage shots are a different shape than the ones you typically see at Disneyland:





The last shot appropriately shows guests anxiously awaiting the doors to the show to open:



I think I can almost hear the strains of the Sherman Brothers' famous tune now...

See more vintage & current Disneyland Enchanted Tiki Room photos on my Tiki Room web page.

Adventureland/Tiki Room Entrance

May 1967 brings us this photo showing the famous Adventureland arch as well as the entrance to the Tiki Room; be sure not to miss the very large bouffant on the left. Even in 1967, there are a ton-o-strollers. I have also zoomed in on the United Airlines sign/Jose the Barker Bird area.



See more vintage and contemporary Disneyland Enchanted Tiki Room photos at my main website.