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My Week with Marilyn
In 1956, fresh from Oxford, the 23-year-old Colin Clark worked as a humble ‘gofer’ on the set of 'The Prince and the Showgirl'. The film united Britain's leading actor, Laurence Olivier, with Hollywood's most glamorous sex symbol, Marilyn Monroe - and clashes between them entered film legend.
For one glorious week, the world's biggest star sought comfort in the arms of the set's most junior employee. This is the frank, fresh and comic story of how Clark came to share Monroe's confidences - and her bed!
Clark’s extraordinary experiences on and off set have now been turned into a major film starring Michelle Williams, Eddie Redmayne, Judi Dench, Emma Watson, Kenneth Branagh and Dominic Cooper.
For one glorious week, the world's biggest star sought comfort in the arms of the set's most junior employee. This is the frank, fresh and comic story of how Clark came to share Monroe's confidences - and her bed!
Clark’s extraordinary experiences on and off set have now been turned into a major film starring Michelle Williams, Eddie Redmayne, Judi Dench, Emma Watson, Kenneth Branagh and Dominic Cooper.
192 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2000
About the author
Colin Clark
4 booksColin Clark was a British writer and filmmaker who specialised in films about the arts, for cinema and television.
He was the son of the art historian Kenneth Clark, and the younger brother of the Conservative politician and military historian Alan Clark, with whom he was not always on good terms.
Born in London, he was educated at Eton College and Christ Church, Oxford. From 1951 to 1953, he did national service as a pilot officer in the Royal Air Force. In that capacity, he flew the Handley Page Hastings aircraft to Malaya and the Middle East.
Colin Clark's first job on leaving university was as a personal assistant on the film The Prince and the Showgirl (1957), directed by Laurence Olivier and starring Olivier and Marilyn Monroe, an experience Clark later turned into two books – The Prince, the Showgirl and Me and My Week with Marilyn – the former a set of diaries (a TV documentary version of which was also made in 2004) and the latter a memoir of his relationship with Monroe. Clark's period with Monroe is the basis of the 2011 film My Week with Marilyn.
Clark was briefly married to prima ballerina Violette Verdy in the 1960s. Their marriage ended in divorce. He retired from filmmaking in 1987 to write books. He died in December 2002 in London.
Abridged from Wikipedia.
He was the son of the art historian Kenneth Clark, and the younger brother of the Conservative politician and military historian Alan Clark, with whom he was not always on good terms.
Born in London, he was educated at Eton College and Christ Church, Oxford. From 1951 to 1953, he did national service as a pilot officer in the Royal Air Force. In that capacity, he flew the Handley Page Hastings aircraft to Malaya and the Middle East.
Colin Clark's first job on leaving university was as a personal assistant on the film The Prince and the Showgirl (1957), directed by Laurence Olivier and starring Olivier and Marilyn Monroe, an experience Clark later turned into two books – The Prince, the Showgirl and Me and My Week with Marilyn – the former a set of diaries (a TV documentary version of which was also made in 2004) and the latter a memoir of his relationship with Monroe. Clark's period with Monroe is the basis of the 2011 film My Week with Marilyn.
Clark was briefly married to prima ballerina Violette Verdy in the 1960s. Their marriage ended in divorce. He retired from filmmaking in 1987 to write books. He died in December 2002 in London.
Abridged from Wikipedia.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 242 reviews
May 29, 2020
Colin, Alan Clark's brother, tells the truly amazingly detailed story (since, made into a movie) of a week he spent involved with Marilyn Monroe, whilst being third associate director ('gofer') for the filming of 'The Prince & The Showgirl'; hired as a family friend of Laurence Olivier and Vivian Leigh. The book is even that more amazing as the details and even existence of the 'missing week' were left out of Clark's original critically acclaimed book on the filming. Ne'er has a book captured the essences of Monroe, and indeed Arthur Miller, Laurence Olivier et al. Great book, great writer, great read. Recommended. 8 out of 12
2013 read
2013 read
May 19, 2012
This is a book by the third production assistant on the Prince and the Pauper film that Marilyn Monroe and Laurence Olivier starred in. He became her confidant and correctly identified that the cause of most of her angst were the sycophants, her low self-esteem and the drugs she took in order to numb herself from this, and those who exploited her fame and beauty for their own ends. He had a nine-day affair with her and later, much later, joined the rank of exploiters and published this book.
Years ago, I was in a nightclub in London sitting at the next table to Bianca Jagger, Mick's ex-wife. She had a lot of people with her and she was quite obviously the centre of attention and just as obviously the host, the one who was paying. I went to the lavatory and was doing the usual girl thing of putting on lipstick, brushing hair and checking everyone else out. A couple of Bianca's 'friends' were there. They were horrible about her, saying how old she looked and showing off her tits (she had a very low cut dress on) at her age and whether or not they could get her to take them to the Groucho club the next night.
You wonder why they fall for it? Are these celebrities so desperate to look like they are popular or what? As the cash flows in does the sense flow out?
The book was a very enjoyable read without doubt. A lovely, tender fairy tale of the Princess and the pauper who was her gilded Prince for a short while. But ultimately the money became more important than any beautiful memories he might have kept close in his heart and he betrayed her, he wrote this tell-all book. So a 4-star book loses a star because I have no respect for Colin Clark at all.
Years ago, I was in a nightclub in London sitting at the next table to Bianca Jagger, Mick's ex-wife. She had a lot of people with her and she was quite obviously the centre of attention and just as obviously the host, the one who was paying. I went to the lavatory and was doing the usual girl thing of putting on lipstick, brushing hair and checking everyone else out. A couple of Bianca's 'friends' were there. They were horrible about her, saying how old she looked and showing off her tits (she had a very low cut dress on) at her age and whether or not they could get her to take them to the Groucho club the next night.
You wonder why they fall for it? Are these celebrities so desperate to look like they are popular or what? As the cash flows in does the sense flow out?
The book was a very enjoyable read without doubt. A lovely, tender fairy tale of the Princess and the pauper who was her gilded Prince for a short while. But ultimately the money became more important than any beautiful memories he might have kept close in his heart and he betrayed her, he wrote this tell-all book. So a 4-star book loses a star because I have no respect for Colin Clark at all.
October 10, 2011
This guy did not spend a week with Marilyn Monroe. One evening she had him over for some chicken salad and then they spent a Saturday together. Supposedly she had him over to her house when she suffered a miscarriage. He basically worked on "The Prince and the Showgirl" with her and then spent a few hours of additional time at her house and in her company, not a week. I don't put a lot of faith into his retelling of events. Yes, I am certain she was lonely while filming "The Prince and the Showgirl" in England and especially after Arthur Miller left to attend to some business. Was she hitting on the third assistant director? I think he gives himself more importance in her life than is true. She was used and abused by lots of people and probably was sad and lonely at times, we all are. But I don't think she was as naive and stupid and dumb as this guy writes. And it appears to me this guy is just another who, in the end, used her for his own gain, too.
October 24, 2014
Dedicato a una stella.
Che l'abbia letto nel mese di agosto è solo una coincidenza.
O forse no.
Perché era la fine dell'estate del 1956 quando l'allora giovanissimo Colin Clark venne assunto sul set del film «Il principe e la ballerina» con Laurence Olivier e Marilyn Monroe, come terzo assistente alla regia ossia, per dirlo con parole sue, «l'ultima ruota del carro», e solo grazie all'amicizia che legava la sua famiglia a Laurence Olivier e alla moglie Vivien Leigh.
È il racconto di quelle settimane, e in particolare di quei nove giorni, del tutto imprevisti, in cui il giovane Colin rimase abbagliato dallo splendore di quella che sembrava essere una stella cometa fissa nel cielo di Hollywood e di tutto il mondo, ma che più che mai rivelava tutta la sua insicurezza e la sua fragilità emotiva.
Era sempre estate, il 5 Agosto del 1962, la notte che Marilyn Monroe morì, e in estate, la notte di San Lorenzo, si alza lo sguardo e si guardano le stelle, ma per vederle cadere.
Di alcune, delle più luminose, sembra ancora di vederne la scia.
Altre, invece, restano in cielo per sempre, e continuano a brillare.
Non ha nessun valore letterario, questo breve racconto autobiografico, ma per chi ama Marilyn Monroe è un altro tassello che si aggiunge alla storia della vita della diva più raccontata di tutti i tempi.
Ed io, che non amo le dive, come molti, continuo a subire il fascino di Marilyn, l'unica stella che continua a brillare in cielo anche dopo essere caduta.
«E tu chi sei?» mi sfidò un uomo mentre cercavo di infilarmi nel sedile posteriore dell'auto.
«Oh, io non sono nessuno” risposi. «Lavoro al film con la signorina Monroe.»
«Non devi mai dire che non sei nessuno» disse Marilyn molto seriamente, quando riuscimmo a chiudere la portiera. «Tu sei 'tu'.»
(In questa foto Marilyn Monroe è ritratta da Jack Cardiff)
«Jack Cardiff, il direttore della fotografia del Principe e la ballerina, era molto amato da Marilyn. Seppe riconoscere il lato tragico dell'attrice e la ritrasse come una ragazza di Renoir piuttosto che come un sex symbol.»
Io amo Pierre Auguste Renoir, è in assoluto il pittore che amo di più, sopra ogni altro.
Sarà per questo che ho sempre amato tanto anche Marilyn Monroe, così distante, per molti versi, da tutto quello che amo?
E non è forse vero quello che Cardiff pensava?
Qui sotto altre bellissime foto di Cardiff in cui la bellezza i Marilyn è messa a confronto con le donne di Renoir.
(In queste foto Marilyn Monroe è ritratta da Jack Cardiff)
Che l'abbia letto nel mese di agosto è solo una coincidenza.
O forse no.
Perché era la fine dell'estate del 1956 quando l'allora giovanissimo Colin Clark venne assunto sul set del film «Il principe e la ballerina» con Laurence Olivier e Marilyn Monroe, come terzo assistente alla regia ossia, per dirlo con parole sue, «l'ultima ruota del carro», e solo grazie all'amicizia che legava la sua famiglia a Laurence Olivier e alla moglie Vivien Leigh.
È il racconto di quelle settimane, e in particolare di quei nove giorni, del tutto imprevisti, in cui il giovane Colin rimase abbagliato dallo splendore di quella che sembrava essere una stella cometa fissa nel cielo di Hollywood e di tutto il mondo, ma che più che mai rivelava tutta la sua insicurezza e la sua fragilità emotiva.
Era sempre estate, il 5 Agosto del 1962, la notte che Marilyn Monroe morì, e in estate, la notte di San Lorenzo, si alza lo sguardo e si guardano le stelle, ma per vederle cadere.
Di alcune, delle più luminose, sembra ancora di vederne la scia.
Altre, invece, restano in cielo per sempre, e continuano a brillare.
Non ha nessun valore letterario, questo breve racconto autobiografico, ma per chi ama Marilyn Monroe è un altro tassello che si aggiunge alla storia della vita della diva più raccontata di tutti i tempi.
Ed io, che non amo le dive, come molti, continuo a subire il fascino di Marilyn, l'unica stella che continua a brillare in cielo anche dopo essere caduta.
«E tu chi sei?» mi sfidò un uomo mentre cercavo di infilarmi nel sedile posteriore dell'auto.
«Oh, io non sono nessuno” risposi. «Lavoro al film con la signorina Monroe.»
«Non devi mai dire che non sei nessuno» disse Marilyn molto seriamente, quando riuscimmo a chiudere la portiera. «Tu sei 'tu'.»
(In questa foto Marilyn Monroe è ritratta da Jack Cardiff)
«Jack Cardiff, il direttore della fotografia del Principe e la ballerina, era molto amato da Marilyn. Seppe riconoscere il lato tragico dell'attrice e la ritrasse come una ragazza di Renoir piuttosto che come un sex symbol.»
Io amo Pierre Auguste Renoir, è in assoluto il pittore che amo di più, sopra ogni altro.
Sarà per questo che ho sempre amato tanto anche Marilyn Monroe, così distante, per molti versi, da tutto quello che amo?
E non è forse vero quello che Cardiff pensava?
Qui sotto altre bellissime foto di Cardiff in cui la bellezza i Marilyn è messa a confronto con le donne di Renoir.
(In queste foto Marilyn Monroe è ritratta da Jack Cardiff)
September 6, 2020
WARM, FUNNY & INFORMATIVE
If you are looking for a biography of Marilyn Monroe this is not it.
The first section consists of journal entries by Colin Clark. It reads as a very warm & funny account of his first time working on a movie set which just happened to be ‘The Price and the Showgirl’ (1956-7) with Marilyn Monroe & Sir Laurence Olivier.
Marilyn Monroe & Sir Laurence Olivier! A more unlikely match-up in Hollywood history I can’t imagine, but it came about because each of them had the idea that it would be good for their career: Marilyn to show her as a serious actress & Sir Laurence to show him as a ’film star’.
As 3rd Asst. Director (the lowest of the low on the movie –making totem pole) Mr. Clark recounts with interesting details the mechanics of the making of a movie, although I’m sure much has changed since that time, I found it fascinating. (Mr. Clark is very much named in the full cast & crew list of this movie as a ‘production assistant’ so there can be no doubt that he was present.)
The second section deals with a couple of ‘missing’ days from the first section which involves his intimate association with Ms. Monroe during the making of the film. It is heartbreaking; heartfelt; profound & entirely sympathetic.
Colin Clark shares with us an intimate look at the ‘real’ Marilyn, a rare observation, but since he was in the right place at the right time I have no cause to doubt that what he has to say is absolutely true. From all I have read previously about Ms. Monroe it does not waver from other accounts about her fragile state of mind & complex personality. It reads as a touching story about a star-struck young man coming to the aid of a confused & often sad leading lady whose fame seems to have got the better of her.
While everyone else around her seemingly had some ulterior motive why would it be so hard to believe that she would turn to a young man showing her a little compassion? There is no dirt to be dished here. It is indeed to his credit that he did not take advantage of the situation & I wholeheartedly believe this is the truth. Who would deny sleeping with Marilyn Monroe if they actually did??
Having read the book I am now much more excited to see (again) “The Prince and the Showgirl” rather than the movie made from this book. It will be a treat to watch it with Mr. Clark’s voice in my ear telling about every frame of film.
If you are looking for a biography of Marilyn Monroe this is not it.
The first section consists of journal entries by Colin Clark. It reads as a very warm & funny account of his first time working on a movie set which just happened to be ‘The Price and the Showgirl’ (1956-7) with Marilyn Monroe & Sir Laurence Olivier.
Marilyn Monroe & Sir Laurence Olivier! A more unlikely match-up in Hollywood history I can’t imagine, but it came about because each of them had the idea that it would be good for their career: Marilyn to show her as a serious actress & Sir Laurence to show him as a ’film star’.
As 3rd Asst. Director (the lowest of the low on the movie –making totem pole) Mr. Clark recounts with interesting details the mechanics of the making of a movie, although I’m sure much has changed since that time, I found it fascinating. (Mr. Clark is very much named in the full cast & crew list of this movie as a ‘production assistant’ so there can be no doubt that he was present.)
The second section deals with a couple of ‘missing’ days from the first section which involves his intimate association with Ms. Monroe during the making of the film. It is heartbreaking; heartfelt; profound & entirely sympathetic.
Colin Clark shares with us an intimate look at the ‘real’ Marilyn, a rare observation, but since he was in the right place at the right time I have no cause to doubt that what he has to say is absolutely true. From all I have read previously about Ms. Monroe it does not waver from other accounts about her fragile state of mind & complex personality. It reads as a touching story about a star-struck young man coming to the aid of a confused & often sad leading lady whose fame seems to have got the better of her.
While everyone else around her seemingly had some ulterior motive why would it be so hard to believe that she would turn to a young man showing her a little compassion? There is no dirt to be dished here. It is indeed to his credit that he did not take advantage of the situation & I wholeheartedly believe this is the truth. Who would deny sleeping with Marilyn Monroe if they actually did??
Having read the book I am now much more excited to see (again) “The Prince and the Showgirl” rather than the movie made from this book. It will be a treat to watch it with Mr. Clark’s voice in my ear telling about every frame of film.
January 15, 2013
I like a lightweight audio book when I'm walking, and I admit this fit the bill: no great lessons or revelations, just a self-aggrandizing story released 50 years after the events apparently took place, long after anyone else is still alive to dispute the facts.
So apparently, a 23 year old nobody, acting as the Third Assistant Director (a self-described gopher) on The Prince and the Showgirl, is the only one who can talk Marilyn Monroe into finally believing in herself. Not only that, but Colin Clark gets Marilyn to stop taking pills, to stop listening to the questionable advice of her hangers-on, to stand up to Laurence Olivier, to come to a deeper understanding of her husband (Arthur Miller at the time), and to show up on set on time and ready to work. And not only that, but Clark holds her hand through a miscarriage and refuses all sexual advances from "the most famous movie star in the world".
If one can believe every word Colin Clark says, it's even sadder to hear in the appendix that near the end of her life, Marilyn tried to get in touch with him one last time. After struggling with himself, should he call her back? Shouldn't he? (Why wouldn't he??), he was relieved when no one answered the phone.
He ends with:
“It wasn't that I'd abandoned her, certainly not in my heart. It's just that there was no one left to save her.
Poor Marilyn. Time had run out.”
Like I said, I like a lightweight audio book when I'm walking, but this one was a bit of a strain on the rolling eyeballs, most especially when the baritone British narrator put on his breathy Marilyn voice. There they go again, straining and rolling…
So apparently, a 23 year old nobody, acting as the Third Assistant Director (a self-described gopher) on The Prince and the Showgirl, is the only one who can talk Marilyn Monroe into finally believing in herself. Not only that, but Colin Clark gets Marilyn to stop taking pills, to stop listening to the questionable advice of her hangers-on, to stand up to Laurence Olivier, to come to a deeper understanding of her husband (Arthur Miller at the time), and to show up on set on time and ready to work. And not only that, but Clark holds her hand through a miscarriage and refuses all sexual advances from "the most famous movie star in the world".
If one can believe every word Colin Clark says, it's even sadder to hear in the appendix that near the end of her life, Marilyn tried to get in touch with him one last time. After struggling with himself, should he call her back? Shouldn't he? (Why wouldn't he??), he was relieved when no one answered the phone.
He ends with:
“It wasn't that I'd abandoned her, certainly not in my heart. It's just that there was no one left to save her.
Poor Marilyn. Time had run out.”
Like I said, I like a lightweight audio book when I'm walking, but this one was a bit of a strain on the rolling eyeballs, most especially when the baritone British narrator put on his breathy Marilyn voice. There they go again, straining and rolling…
April 17, 2012
I have notice this book has mixed reviews. I did enjoy the movie but read the book first and therefore, like the book more. I think Clark was rather honest as an author since this book was based on his personal diary. Colin describes his personal experience working on the film the Prince and the Showgirl with Marilyn Monroe and Sir Laurence Olivier. Some people thought this book portrayed Marilyn in a poor light, however, I think Colin exposes the conflict Marilyn faced as the most famous woman in the world. After reading this book, one can only feel despair and sympathy towards Marilyn. She was being pulled in many directions and those who were closest to her calmed her by giving her pills. Before reading Clark's diary, I already loved Marilyn but now I understand her. All she really need was a friend.
January 4, 2012
I loved reading this book and read it quite quickly. It's an honest portrayal of Marilyn Monroe. After reading quite a few books about her it was nice to read Clark's dairies which portray her as neither perfect goddess nor wholly troubled, but honestly shown as her true self, lovely and troubled.
This book provides a candid look into the golden age of cinema and some of its most famous icons. Clark's diaries were so easy to read and it felt as if I got to know him personally.
This book provides a candid look into the golden age of cinema and some of its most famous icons. Clark's diaries were so easy to read and it felt as if I got to know him personally.
May 2, 2020
4 stars only because I loved Eddie Redmayne's narration of the audio book. I guess he can read anything to me and I'll love it
February 14, 2012
My Week with Marilyn
Colin Clark
Weinstein Books
De Capo Press
978-1-60286-149-7
When I first seen the preview for this movie, I was immediately hooked. Being that I am a huge Marilyn Monroe fan I knew that I just had to see it. However when I found out that it was taken from a book, as most amazing movies are. At least in my opinion they are. I then knew I had to read the book and the book became much more important to me than the movie did and to this day I am writing this having just finished the book and still have not seen the movie. I do have the movie sitting on my dresser right next to me but I am the kind of woman that believes the books are so much better and I must read them before even beginning to watch the movie.
Now with that being said, ‘My Week with Marilyn’ is a book showcasing Colin Clark’s story of his week with Marilyn which he titled, “My Week with Marilyn” in its other releases as well as his own personal diary entries which were titled, “The Prince and the Showgirl”, those were written while he worked as a 3rd Assistant Director on the film, starring Marilyn Monroe and Sir Laurence Oliver. This was the first time both forms had been put together as a book; they had both previously been released separately.
I was very excited to start this book; I couldn’t even begin to imagine what it would hold in it, I mean imagine actually getting to spend a week with Marilyn Monroe! This book had to be good! The first part of the book, which is ‘My Week with Marilyn’, is extremely intriguing. You get to see everyone who was a part of that movie and what their role is. You see from Colin’s point of view what his take is on everyone including everyone in Marilyn’s party, which includes herself. At this point in time she was married to playwright Arthur Miller. This book did not portray Arthur as a very kind fellow, more of an egotistical self-centered jerk. Colin felt sorry for Marilyn in most of the book; he stated numerous times that the people surrounding her were so terrible for her and this I completely agree with and I believe they were a great contribute to her demise.
The Strasbergs, Milton Greene, and Hedda were the people that were her team. Lee and Paula Strasberg were her acting coaches on this film although Paula was the only one present; Lee was always contacted by phone when big problems arose. Milton Greene was her partner in Marilyn Monroe Productions and the man who got her out of her wretched contract with 20th Century Fox; he was in charge of getting her to the studio each day, which proved to be a great burden considering she was always late. Hedda was a secretary and really no help at all considering she was drunk most of the time.
Colin worked for Sir Laurence Oliver but somehow got twisted up into Marilyn’s life. He said she was just so hypnotizing no one could stay away from her. He feared for her well-being during the filming, because Milton’s way of helping her cope was to continuously feed her pills she did not need. In the end the film turned out to be torture for everyone.
I really enjoyed reading the first half of this book, the way he told his story of his week with her was wonderful, even though I do believe it was only a few days that they interacted and not a full week. However once I got halfway through the diary entries I lost a lot of interest, it seemed he was writing the same thing over and over again. Marilyn was late and seemed confused, Sir Laurence Oliver was getting more and more upset and didn’t know what to do about it. That was the general idea of every diary entry. Don’t get me wrong I did enjoy a lot of the diary entries but it was hard to read through all of them, with the same repetition it had.
It also doesn’t tell you much about Marilyn that you probably don’t already know, so if you are looking for a story of her life this isn’t it, this is a story of the filming of ‘The Prince and the Showgirl’.
Overall it was a wonderful book and a wonderful insight into the filming of ‘The Prince and the Showgirl’ which was intriguing. It is a nice piece to read and have if you are a Marilyn fan, I must say.
I give it four stars.
Colin Clark
Weinstein Books
De Capo Press
978-1-60286-149-7
When I first seen the preview for this movie, I was immediately hooked. Being that I am a huge Marilyn Monroe fan I knew that I just had to see it. However when I found out that it was taken from a book, as most amazing movies are. At least in my opinion they are. I then knew I had to read the book and the book became much more important to me than the movie did and to this day I am writing this having just finished the book and still have not seen the movie. I do have the movie sitting on my dresser right next to me but I am the kind of woman that believes the books are so much better and I must read them before even beginning to watch the movie.
Now with that being said, ‘My Week with Marilyn’ is a book showcasing Colin Clark’s story of his week with Marilyn which he titled, “My Week with Marilyn” in its other releases as well as his own personal diary entries which were titled, “The Prince and the Showgirl”, those were written while he worked as a 3rd Assistant Director on the film, starring Marilyn Monroe and Sir Laurence Oliver. This was the first time both forms had been put together as a book; they had both previously been released separately.
I was very excited to start this book; I couldn’t even begin to imagine what it would hold in it, I mean imagine actually getting to spend a week with Marilyn Monroe! This book had to be good! The first part of the book, which is ‘My Week with Marilyn’, is extremely intriguing. You get to see everyone who was a part of that movie and what their role is. You see from Colin’s point of view what his take is on everyone including everyone in Marilyn’s party, which includes herself. At this point in time she was married to playwright Arthur Miller. This book did not portray Arthur as a very kind fellow, more of an egotistical self-centered jerk. Colin felt sorry for Marilyn in most of the book; he stated numerous times that the people surrounding her were so terrible for her and this I completely agree with and I believe they were a great contribute to her demise.
The Strasbergs, Milton Greene, and Hedda were the people that were her team. Lee and Paula Strasberg were her acting coaches on this film although Paula was the only one present; Lee was always contacted by phone when big problems arose. Milton Greene was her partner in Marilyn Monroe Productions and the man who got her out of her wretched contract with 20th Century Fox; he was in charge of getting her to the studio each day, which proved to be a great burden considering she was always late. Hedda was a secretary and really no help at all considering she was drunk most of the time.
Colin worked for Sir Laurence Oliver but somehow got twisted up into Marilyn’s life. He said she was just so hypnotizing no one could stay away from her. He feared for her well-being during the filming, because Milton’s way of helping her cope was to continuously feed her pills she did not need. In the end the film turned out to be torture for everyone.
I really enjoyed reading the first half of this book, the way he told his story of his week with her was wonderful, even though I do believe it was only a few days that they interacted and not a full week. However once I got halfway through the diary entries I lost a lot of interest, it seemed he was writing the same thing over and over again. Marilyn was late and seemed confused, Sir Laurence Oliver was getting more and more upset and didn’t know what to do about it. That was the general idea of every diary entry. Don’t get me wrong I did enjoy a lot of the diary entries but it was hard to read through all of them, with the same repetition it had.
It also doesn’t tell you much about Marilyn that you probably don’t already know, so if you are looking for a story of her life this isn’t it, this is a story of the filming of ‘The Prince and the Showgirl’.
Overall it was a wonderful book and a wonderful insight into the filming of ‘The Prince and the Showgirl’ which was intriguing. It is a nice piece to read and have if you are a Marilyn fan, I must say.
I give it four stars.
January 7, 2013
Much of the debate about Colin Clark's follow-up to his published diary, "The Prince, The Showgirl and Me" revolves around the nature of its timing. Clark turned out this memoir only a few years before his death after leaving this allegedly remarkable chunk - several days where he got up close and personal with Marilyn Monroe - out of the original work. Let's assume for a moment that his recollections are solid and factual and that he isn't clearly trying to whore out Monroe's legacy for his own personal gain, putting aside the debate on both of those issues.
Instead, let's just talk about the work itself, which proves Clark not so much a bad writer but not much of one at all. What little charm the story has coasts on the allure of Monroe herself, which still isn't enough to overcome prose that lurches from sentence to sentence, paragraph to paragraph, page to page like a rectangular tire. That unoriginal simile, by the way, is part and parcel with plenty of Clark's own, which create deeply evocative sentences such as: "I felt like a fish in a bowl."
Clark's biggest problem, beyond his inability to write particularly well, is a dogged insistence upon not only sketching a portrait of Monroe during a few days of her life but relentlessly analyzing everything about her as if to prove he has some sort of inside track (actually, that's exactly what he's trying to prove). Nothing he says goes beyond the broad strokes painted about the legend since her sad death, and it reads nothing short of tacky.
Instead, let's just talk about the work itself, which proves Clark not so much a bad writer but not much of one at all. What little charm the story has coasts on the allure of Monroe herself, which still isn't enough to overcome prose that lurches from sentence to sentence, paragraph to paragraph, page to page like a rectangular tire. That unoriginal simile, by the way, is part and parcel with plenty of Clark's own, which create deeply evocative sentences such as: "I felt like a fish in a bowl."
Clark's biggest problem, beyond his inability to write particularly well, is a dogged insistence upon not only sketching a portrait of Monroe during a few days of her life but relentlessly analyzing everything about her as if to prove he has some sort of inside track (actually, that's exactly what he's trying to prove). Nothing he says goes beyond the broad strokes painted about the legend since her sad death, and it reads nothing short of tacky.
May 7, 2019
I listened to the audiobook version of “My Week with Marilyn”, and was surprised to find there was a second book included with the first. That second book, “The Prince, the Showgirl, and Me” was the original diary of Colin Clark covering his six months working on the Marilyn Monroe movie with Sir Lawrence Olivier as a third assistant director. This second book was about twice as long as the first, which was Clark’s story about working with Monroe written decades after the fact. Listeners and readers will notice that the stories aren’t the same. According to the recent Clark book, he had quite an intimate week with Marilyn. But according to his diaries of the time, there’s no detail remotely similar to the newer story. In fact, events seem to be mixed up in time between the two accounts. The author includes a forward to the diary saying that in his earlier diary he was protecting Monroe, but strangely he includes some details in that earlier diary that you wouldn’t think he would have recorded if protecting Monroe’s integrity and privacy was important, involving nudity and medical conditions, including reporting a miscarriage. The newer book seems to me more a “dream sequence” of Clark’s. If you take him at his word, that he believes both accounts are accurate, then this is a good illustration of the impact of time on memory. Time and celebrity. I found the books interesting in that Clark is an upper class young man in a gopher job, and he shows how he took advantage of his upbringing and especially his connections. Yes, anyone can succeed in the movie world of London, but it helps to have family working for the royals and friends who are knighted actors.
November 19, 2011
Book of the Week. Abridged by Robin Brooks.
Read by Samuel Barnett. Produced by Kirsteen Cameron.
blurb - In 1956, 23-year-old Colin Clark (younger brother of Tory MP Alan and son of Kenneth 'Lord Clark of Civilisation') worked as a 'gofer' on the set of The Prince and the Showgirl. In this memoir, Clark recalls how, during filming, he became Monroe's confidante and helped her to escape from the pressures of stardom.
Thanks to Naomi B, I now know there is a film due out this winter , which looks far more fun to encounter than this book because of the casting. Colin Clark, you are a shameless name-dropper and treasure-hunter - blergh.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 18, 2016
Just another guy using her fame for his own good.. such a shame.
June 24, 2024
Men...
September 17, 2019
Suggest you just read the first entries highlighting the author's "Week with Marilyn" and assoc postscript and skip the complete diary that follows. Subsequent diary entries are just daily observations from filming and do little to substantiate the tale told in the first part, which becomes suspect and leaves reader to doubt whether the events even occurred based on the context. Even if his time with Marilyn was just a fantasy it is an interesting story nonetheless and worth the read.
May 9, 2020
Is marilyn really that hot? yes
January 9, 2012
This was an okay book I suppose. The 2nd part was really hard to get through. I felt like it dragged on and on and on... But I do suggest reading it if you're a Marilyn fan. I really love Marilyn Monroe and believe she was a very beautiful person, inside and out, so I was really drawn to this book, but it was just really boring and didn't keep my attention much. The first part was sort of interesting and did keep my attention for the most part, but once I started the second part, it was really hard to keep going. I really hate quitting a book without finishing it, so that's the ONLY reason I saw this one through til the end. I'm actually sort of excited to see the movie because I think it's gonna be a lot better then the book was. I know alot of people were referencing to the fact that the book was untrue. All I can say is, how would you know that unless you were there on the set?
August 1, 2012
Oxford Student Colin Clark stumbles into the job of a lifetime, as an assistant to Miss Marilyn Monroe, while she is filming "The Prince and The Showgirl".it becomes a dream job, a sweet,innocent, and unforgettable week that Colin becomes her confidant, and co-conspirator, in her escapades. He is dazzled by both her beauty and her innocence.
He is also appalled at the control that people have over her through intimidation and prescriptions that are mind altering and dangerous.
He does his best to shelter her from situations that he thinks she can't handle, and being the good young man that he is he trys to save her, but in the end, Marilyn makes her own decisions and finishes the film, walking out of his life forever. The dream is over.
He is also appalled at the control that people have over her through intimidation and prescriptions that are mind altering and dangerous.
He does his best to shelter her from situations that he thinks she can't handle, and being the good young man that he is he trys to save her, but in the end, Marilyn makes her own decisions and finishes the film, walking out of his life forever. The dream is over.
April 5, 2012
The author shows good insight into personalities, hence and those around him. I do wonder if the fact that this was not included in his contemporary journal has to cause one to question its veracity. Marilyn, of course, comes across as an extremely compelling character.
June 22, 2024
This read like a fanfic. This book is the epitome of 'trust me bro'.
March 5, 2021
Listened to this solely because I am following Simon Prebble around.
I'm not interested in Marilyn Monroe but this story did sound worthwhile. Nope. It's full of a man, propping himself up with false humility and telling about his 5 or 6 interactions with Marilyn. From the book description it sounded like they spent a week together on vacation or something, but really he just went to her house a couple times and went for a road trip with her and the chauffeur.
I don't doubt that she was very troubled and lonely and needed a friend, but he really shows himself as her saviour and the only one who "didn't want anything from her".... But I expect he got a lot from her, after all. He just waited until she died to betray her and make money off of her. Hypocrite.
I'm not interested in Marilyn Monroe but this story did sound worthwhile. Nope. It's full of a man, propping himself up with false humility and telling about his 5 or 6 interactions with Marilyn. From the book description it sounded like they spent a week together on vacation or something, but really he just went to her house a couple times and went for a road trip with her and the chauffeur.
I don't doubt that she was very troubled and lonely and needed a friend, but he really shows himself as her saviour and the only one who "didn't want anything from her".... But I expect he got a lot from her, after all. He just waited until she died to betray her and make money off of her. Hypocrite.
September 2, 2026
Colin Clark is giving us an in depth look (at least from his perspective) of the iconic Marilyn Monroe; a chance to glimpse the human side of her. The first part of the book (and I was blindsided that it is really several short stories on the same week spent with Marilyn-I might have seen this more clearly with an actual book) is really a daily diary of his adventures with her. I found it enchanting and delightful to read. In my opinion, it should have ended there. The rest of the book, I skimmed to be sure I wasn’t missing something— I wasn’t.
November 27, 2025
I feel like this is far fetched to be true but who knows with Hollywood stars.
November 5, 2011
I have been looking forward to reading this book for some time, but until the film became a reality, it was rather hard to find. After the film, it was also hard to find, though for a different reason. I finally nailed a copy at the library. This edition contains both the original book, The Prince, The Showgirl and Me and Colin Clark's private entries, later released as My Week with Marilyn. I of course saw the film, being a Marilyn fanatic and it's my favorite film about MM ever. Michelle Williams managed to catch MM's charm and adorable qualities as well as her haunted side. The book does an even better job. Best of all, it's written from the perspective of a family friend of Sir Laurence Olivier, so he starts out quite firmly in SLO's (Olivier's nickname in print) corner.
I have, as MM's biggest fan of course read of the troubles that went down on the set of this film. Olivier and Marilyn were obviously oil and water--he was condescending and threatened by a new generation of actors and she was out of her depth in a new country with a new husband and so many personal problems. It did not help that no one explained anything to her. It's very interesting to see an outsiders view of the vampirism that went on around Marilyn at all times. This particular instance is especially heartbreaking as she had so much hope before this trip and film and the entire experience dashed it.
Interestingly though most of the people around Marilyn have an agenda and are sucking off of her, the person who comes off worst is Arthur Miller. I have never been a fan of his--vain, uptight and cold--he used Marilyn mercilessly and then left her. He wrote a cruel play that was obviously based on his marriage to her and was pushing it like crazy around the time of her death. He comes off as even worse in this book--impatient, demanding, sucking off Marilyn's money, abandoning her to a miscarriage and the questionable kindness of strangers. There are even several sections where the author mentions Miller's pride in his "trophy" as he struts around making leering comments (as if the world does not know Marilyn is his wife, therefore is very likely to be sharing his bed). It definitely confirmed my view of him as a terrible and selfish man and yet another leech trying to sun himself in the light of Marilyn's radiance. I think it's interesting that even now, while his plays are revered, he is not generally revered as a person. He was nearly drummed out of the theater, when his disgusting Marilyn based play came out--and you know if people think you are gross and grasping in showbiz, you really have to be gross and grasping.
Thank goodness for Colin Clark's lovely and clearly "learned" view of Marilyn. He started out rather disdainful of her and ended up falling in love as most anyone did who got to see glimpses of the real girl underneath the legend. He highlights her charm, her fragility, her beauty and also her pain. He describes beautifully what she was up against in this picture and how little anyone besides Dame Sybil Thorndyke and himself attempted to understand her. He has a charming and light touch even within his own journals that is so easily read and enjoyed that if he had not chosen a life as a director, he would have made a fine writer. Highly recommend.
I have, as MM's biggest fan of course read of the troubles that went down on the set of this film. Olivier and Marilyn were obviously oil and water--he was condescending and threatened by a new generation of actors and she was out of her depth in a new country with a new husband and so many personal problems. It did not help that no one explained anything to her. It's very interesting to see an outsiders view of the vampirism that went on around Marilyn at all times. This particular instance is especially heartbreaking as she had so much hope before this trip and film and the entire experience dashed it.
Interestingly though most of the people around Marilyn have an agenda and are sucking off of her, the person who comes off worst is Arthur Miller. I have never been a fan of his--vain, uptight and cold--he used Marilyn mercilessly and then left her. He wrote a cruel play that was obviously based on his marriage to her and was pushing it like crazy around the time of her death. He comes off as even worse in this book--impatient, demanding, sucking off Marilyn's money, abandoning her to a miscarriage and the questionable kindness of strangers. There are even several sections where the author mentions Miller's pride in his "trophy" as he struts around making leering comments (as if the world does not know Marilyn is his wife, therefore is very likely to be sharing his bed). It definitely confirmed my view of him as a terrible and selfish man and yet another leech trying to sun himself in the light of Marilyn's radiance. I think it's interesting that even now, while his plays are revered, he is not generally revered as a person. He was nearly drummed out of the theater, when his disgusting Marilyn based play came out--and you know if people think you are gross and grasping in showbiz, you really have to be gross and grasping.
Thank goodness for Colin Clark's lovely and clearly "learned" view of Marilyn. He started out rather disdainful of her and ended up falling in love as most anyone did who got to see glimpses of the real girl underneath the legend. He highlights her charm, her fragility, her beauty and also her pain. He describes beautifully what she was up against in this picture and how little anyone besides Dame Sybil Thorndyke and himself attempted to understand her. He has a charming and light touch even within his own journals that is so easily read and enjoyed that if he had not chosen a life as a director, he would have made a fine writer. Highly recommend.
September 8, 2012
Mlle Alice, pouvez-vous nous raconter votre rencontre avec Une Semaine avec Marilyn?
"Marilyn et moi, c'est une longue histoire d'amour. D'aussi loin que je me souvienne, elle m'a toujours fascinée mais jusqu'ici je n'avais jamais lu de livres sur elle parce que la plupart du temps, ce qu'en disent les gens m'énerve... Mais lorsque le film avec Michelle Williams est sorti, je n'ai pu m'empêcher d'aller le voir et j'ai adoré! Je me suis donc dit que je ne prenais pas de grands risques en lisant ce livre."
Dites-nous en un peu plus sur son histoire...
"Colin Clark était assistant sur le film "le Prince et la Danseuse" avec Marilyn et Laurence Olivier. Il était donc aux premières loges pour l'observer, et pendant quelques jours, il fut même son ami le plus proche."
Mais que s'est-il exactement passé entre vous?
"L'avantage du film, et de l'extraordinaire performance de Michelle Williams, est que la présence de Marilyn remplit l'écran à tel point que l'on n'a pas le temps de se poser de questions. Ici, c'est un peu différent. Je ne peux m'empêcher de me demander ce que Colin Clark peut vraiment se rappeler de ce qu'il s'est passé autant de temps après et qu'elle est la part d'idéalisation. Mais à part ça, il décrit Marilyn telle que je l'imagine: fragile et très mal entourée. Il a été pendant quelques jours ce que nous aimerions tous être en la voyant: son ami, son sauveur. Mais c'est toute la place que Marilyn laissait à ce genre de personnes désintéressées dans sa vie: quelques jours... Et finalement, c'est une histoire bien triste."
Et comment cela s'est-il fini?
"Pour tous les amoureux de Marilyn, je pense que c'est un livre véritablement indispensable, une si belle déclaration... Je suis sûre que je le relirai de temps à autres, et j'ai d'ores et déjà envie de me replonger dans le film, ou pourquoi pas dans l'un de ceux de Marilyn."
http://booksaremywonderland.hautetfor...
"Marilyn et moi, c'est une longue histoire d'amour. D'aussi loin que je me souvienne, elle m'a toujours fascinée mais jusqu'ici je n'avais jamais lu de livres sur elle parce que la plupart du temps, ce qu'en disent les gens m'énerve... Mais lorsque le film avec Michelle Williams est sorti, je n'ai pu m'empêcher d'aller le voir et j'ai adoré! Je me suis donc dit que je ne prenais pas de grands risques en lisant ce livre."
Dites-nous en un peu plus sur son histoire...
"Colin Clark était assistant sur le film "le Prince et la Danseuse" avec Marilyn et Laurence Olivier. Il était donc aux premières loges pour l'observer, et pendant quelques jours, il fut même son ami le plus proche."
Mais que s'est-il exactement passé entre vous?
"L'avantage du film, et de l'extraordinaire performance de Michelle Williams, est que la présence de Marilyn remplit l'écran à tel point que l'on n'a pas le temps de se poser de questions. Ici, c'est un peu différent. Je ne peux m'empêcher de me demander ce que Colin Clark peut vraiment se rappeler de ce qu'il s'est passé autant de temps après et qu'elle est la part d'idéalisation. Mais à part ça, il décrit Marilyn telle que je l'imagine: fragile et très mal entourée. Il a été pendant quelques jours ce que nous aimerions tous être en la voyant: son ami, son sauveur. Mais c'est toute la place que Marilyn laissait à ce genre de personnes désintéressées dans sa vie: quelques jours... Et finalement, c'est une histoire bien triste."
Et comment cela s'est-il fini?
"Pour tous les amoureux de Marilyn, je pense que c'est un livre véritablement indispensable, une si belle déclaration... Je suis sûre que je le relirai de temps à autres, et j'ai d'ores et déjà envie de me replonger dans le film, ou pourquoi pas dans l'un de ceux de Marilyn."
http://booksaremywonderland.hautetfor...
July 4, 2012
How do I put this delicately.
I think Colin Clark is a big fat liar.
I believe this about as much as I believe that there are sparkly vampires mentally abusing idiotic teenagers. I believe it as much as I believe that fairies come out at night to sprinkle magic dust on gardens to make flowers grow. I believe this as much as I believe that saying, "Happy Holidays" is a direct attack on Christmas.
Here's what I do believe. I believe Colin Clark worked on The Prince and the Showgirl. I believe he met Marilyn Monroe. I believe he was alive.
That about sums it up.
Really? Marilyn Monroe fixated on you, and you became her Knight in Shining Armour? You gave her the ol' "chuck under the chin, stiff upper lip, atta girl life will get better" speech, and she was oh so grateful to you? "Oh, Colin, you really think so? Oh, Colin, you're so wonderful. Oh, Colin, don't leave me."
Really?
"No, no, little lady, you don't need pills. Don't take them." "Oh, yes, Colin, you're so smart and brilliant and oh so handsome."
Give me a fucking break.
I think he was there on set, saw everything that happened, and in the 50ish years that passed between his writing The Prince, The Showgirl, and Me, he fantasized about "What if". Since, oh so conveniently, no one was around to witness it, and the other main character in the story is dead, who's going to stop him or fact check him?
And he tells you straight up front he's full of shit. How? He names the book "My week with Marilyn". As opposed to, "My three or four days with Marilyn".
Big. fat. liar.
I think Colin Clark is a big fat liar.
I believe this about as much as I believe that there are sparkly vampires mentally abusing idiotic teenagers. I believe it as much as I believe that fairies come out at night to sprinkle magic dust on gardens to make flowers grow. I believe this as much as I believe that saying, "Happy Holidays" is a direct attack on Christmas.
Here's what I do believe. I believe Colin Clark worked on The Prince and the Showgirl. I believe he met Marilyn Monroe. I believe he was alive.
That about sums it up.
Really? Marilyn Monroe fixated on you, and you became her Knight in Shining Armour? You gave her the ol' "chuck under the chin, stiff upper lip, atta girl life will get better" speech, and she was oh so grateful to you? "Oh, Colin, you really think so? Oh, Colin, you're so wonderful. Oh, Colin, don't leave me."
Really?
"No, no, little lady, you don't need pills. Don't take them." "Oh, yes, Colin, you're so smart and brilliant and oh so handsome."
Give me a fucking break.
I think he was there on set, saw everything that happened, and in the 50ish years that passed between his writing The Prince, The Showgirl, and Me, he fantasized about "What if". Since, oh so conveniently, no one was around to witness it, and the other main character in the story is dead, who's going to stop him or fact check him?
And he tells you straight up front he's full of shit. How? He names the book "My week with Marilyn". As opposed to, "My three or four days with Marilyn".
Big. fat. liar.
April 13, 2014
Irony.
That should be the theme of this book. Not fame, money, the pressure of success, drugs, dependency, love. Irony .
I find it fascinating that Colin Clark, the production assistant who witnessed first hand and documented in his diary the toll fame took on arguably most famous movie star of last century, would then turn around and essentially sell out his private moments with a vulnerable woman, doing the very thing he chastised those close to her (her manager, husband etc) for doing. Irony.
Don’t get me wrong, the story is fascinating, a kind of prince and the pauper story of how a lowly production assistant spent a week with the most famous woman on the planet. Although I take it wilt a grain of salt, after all, Marilyn Monroe is dead, how can she refute his claims? The first half of the book is great, filled with on set secrets and a glimpse into the not-so-glamerous life of Monroe. I do have an issue however, with the second half of the book as its essentially just a re-writing of the first half of the book without the diary format.
In the end I think I just find it sad that Colin Clark succumbed to the call of fame, the lure of dollar signs, especially when he writes of the treatment of Marilyn with such distain.
I suppose I just thought he was better than that.
That should be the theme of this book. Not fame, money, the pressure of success, drugs, dependency, love. Irony .
I find it fascinating that Colin Clark, the production assistant who witnessed first hand and documented in his diary the toll fame took on arguably most famous movie star of last century, would then turn around and essentially sell out his private moments with a vulnerable woman, doing the very thing he chastised those close to her (her manager, husband etc) for doing. Irony.
Don’t get me wrong, the story is fascinating, a kind of prince and the pauper story of how a lowly production assistant spent a week with the most famous woman on the planet. Although I take it wilt a grain of salt, after all, Marilyn Monroe is dead, how can she refute his claims? The first half of the book is great, filled with on set secrets and a glimpse into the not-so-glamerous life of Monroe. I do have an issue however, with the second half of the book as its essentially just a re-writing of the first half of the book without the diary format.
In the end I think I just find it sad that Colin Clark succumbed to the call of fame, the lure of dollar signs, especially when he writes of the treatment of Marilyn with such distain.
I suppose I just thought he was better than that.
July 6, 2025
My Week With Marilyn by Colin Clark http://realini.blogspot.com/2017/08/s...
9 out of 10
My Week With Marilyn is a captivating, fabulous story, about one of the most dazzling, popular, complex performers in the world, the troubled Marilyn Monroe, looking at a week in her life, as the title makes clear, as she was filming (well, most of the time making life hell for Sir Laurence Olivier aka Kenneth Branagh) The Prince and The Showgirl, which is incidentally based on a narrative from our realm
It looks as if the Prince in that comedy, portrayed by Sir Laurence Olivier, has been inspired by King Carol, one who had played a rather negative role in the history of our land, installing a dictatorship, deposing his son, Michael, one of the greatest sovereigns we have had, who also has a part to play in the Prince and the Showgirl, which does not refer to Romania, but looks like the royals from here have served the story well
Marilyn Monroe was insecure, addicted, and she was extremely difficult to work with, at least on the set of this film, and she admits as much, asking for forgiveness at some point, albeit the script looks as if the author is on her side – perhaps influenced by new Woke conspectus and the truth that men have been worse than domineering, telling women what to do, and abusing their positions – and we hear her side
Nevertheless, Sir Laurence Olivier was a perfect professional, a wonderful human being, not just a supreme actor, we learn from a holy text about the movies that he was ready to sacrifice for his art, Adventures in The Screen Trade http://realini.blogspot.com/2017/02/a... by William Goldman details what happened on the set of Marathon Man, wherein the British star had a supporting role
Sir Laurence Olivier had been invited to be a part of the cast, and he accepted, although he was very ill, and everyone could see that…Dustin Hoffman had the leading role, and acted with arrogance and carelessness, taking the co-star on long walks, probably trying to impose his position as more important in the structure of the film, and effort to get over the intimidation he must have felt, only his partner was in evident pain
Marilyn Monroe http://realini.blogspot.com/2017/06/b... had had a very disturbing childhood, she had been moved from one foster home to another – or is it from one orphanage to another – and this had had an impact on her – we have learned that from Sigmund Freud, although modern psychologists seem to reject his theories en masse, the notion that sex has such a paramount role for children, penis envy and the rest of it have fewer disciples – and we can see it in this narrative
She complains that she had been married three times already, and wonders why every man that she loves would eventually run from her…she is married to Arthur Miller, the playwright, and he had come with her to England, but their relationship does not work, she has found some of his notes, and he says that he regrets having married her, tells Laurence Olivier that he cannot work and would return to the USA eventually
We are to think that the star has had an intimacy with Colin Clark aka Eddie Redmayne - winner of the Oscar for Best Actor in a Leading Role http://realini.blogspot.com/2017/08/n... for The Theory of Everything – however platonic, I think I get that he had only seen her naked, they have been fond of each other, but it was not sexual, as in ‘going all the way’, but I may be wrong
This has anyway reminded me of my own Week With Marilyn, and while scenes were shown on the screen, I might have missed it and reminisce about the intimacy I have had with our first Miss Romania, who was not exactly Marilyn Monroe, albeit an actress herself, but on the other hand, there were many more weeks – in a total of maybe nine months – and we got closer than just holding hands
It did not end well, I had to see a psychiatrist and Everything, Everywhere All At Once became vain, while in Sofia, I have even contemplated suicide – I had acted wrongly, perhaps pushed by her as well, maybe it was the only chance to be like Colin Clark, acting as a sort of ‘support’, or what they call today ‘emotional support animal’, a label that is abused these days, by people who take all sorts of creatures on planes, because they need their companions, and now they joke on Late Night Shows, once they end the writers’ strike
Just like Colin Clark, I took the job of ‘assistant’, for this local star – I realize now that I am not coming back to the purpose of the note, or maybe just to mention that Marilyn Monroe had adopted the ‘Method Acting’ technique, which has made some headlines recently, Cox was complaining about Jeremy Strong and his immersion into the role, on the set of Succession, and mentioned Daniel Day Lewis http://realini.blogspot.com/2018/01/m... who was one of the best
From his role as the painter who can only use His Left Foot, Daniel Day Lewis has transformed himself – using his left foot and being the character – but the point Brian Cox is making is a valid one, for Laurence Olivier was aghast as the questions Monroe was asking, and then Daniel Day Lewis has burned out, and retired at a young age from the film business…in my case it worked and it did not, for there has been a ‘love story’ – it would have to be analyzed, but we arrived at the end of the space here – but with a rather sad ending
Now for a question, and invitation – maybe you have a good idea on how we could make more than a million dollars with this http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/02/u... – as it is, this is a unique technique, which we could promote, sell, open the Oscars show with or something and then make lots of money together, if you have the how, I have the product, I just do not know how to get the befits from it, other than the exercise per se
As for my role in the Revolution that killed Ceausescu, a smaller Mao, there it is http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/03/r...
9 out of 10
My Week With Marilyn is a captivating, fabulous story, about one of the most dazzling, popular, complex performers in the world, the troubled Marilyn Monroe, looking at a week in her life, as the title makes clear, as she was filming (well, most of the time making life hell for Sir Laurence Olivier aka Kenneth Branagh) The Prince and The Showgirl, which is incidentally based on a narrative from our realm
It looks as if the Prince in that comedy, portrayed by Sir Laurence Olivier, has been inspired by King Carol, one who had played a rather negative role in the history of our land, installing a dictatorship, deposing his son, Michael, one of the greatest sovereigns we have had, who also has a part to play in the Prince and the Showgirl, which does not refer to Romania, but looks like the royals from here have served the story well
Marilyn Monroe was insecure, addicted, and she was extremely difficult to work with, at least on the set of this film, and she admits as much, asking for forgiveness at some point, albeit the script looks as if the author is on her side – perhaps influenced by new Woke conspectus and the truth that men have been worse than domineering, telling women what to do, and abusing their positions – and we hear her side
Nevertheless, Sir Laurence Olivier was a perfect professional, a wonderful human being, not just a supreme actor, we learn from a holy text about the movies that he was ready to sacrifice for his art, Adventures in The Screen Trade http://realini.blogspot.com/2017/02/a... by William Goldman details what happened on the set of Marathon Man, wherein the British star had a supporting role
Sir Laurence Olivier had been invited to be a part of the cast, and he accepted, although he was very ill, and everyone could see that…Dustin Hoffman had the leading role, and acted with arrogance and carelessness, taking the co-star on long walks, probably trying to impose his position as more important in the structure of the film, and effort to get over the intimidation he must have felt, only his partner was in evident pain
Marilyn Monroe http://realini.blogspot.com/2017/06/b... had had a very disturbing childhood, she had been moved from one foster home to another – or is it from one orphanage to another – and this had had an impact on her – we have learned that from Sigmund Freud, although modern psychologists seem to reject his theories en masse, the notion that sex has such a paramount role for children, penis envy and the rest of it have fewer disciples – and we can see it in this narrative
She complains that she had been married three times already, and wonders why every man that she loves would eventually run from her…she is married to Arthur Miller, the playwright, and he had come with her to England, but their relationship does not work, she has found some of his notes, and he says that he regrets having married her, tells Laurence Olivier that he cannot work and would return to the USA eventually
We are to think that the star has had an intimacy with Colin Clark aka Eddie Redmayne - winner of the Oscar for Best Actor in a Leading Role http://realini.blogspot.com/2017/08/n... for The Theory of Everything – however platonic, I think I get that he had only seen her naked, they have been fond of each other, but it was not sexual, as in ‘going all the way’, but I may be wrong
This has anyway reminded me of my own Week With Marilyn, and while scenes were shown on the screen, I might have missed it and reminisce about the intimacy I have had with our first Miss Romania, who was not exactly Marilyn Monroe, albeit an actress herself, but on the other hand, there were many more weeks – in a total of maybe nine months – and we got closer than just holding hands
It did not end well, I had to see a psychiatrist and Everything, Everywhere All At Once became vain, while in Sofia, I have even contemplated suicide – I had acted wrongly, perhaps pushed by her as well, maybe it was the only chance to be like Colin Clark, acting as a sort of ‘support’, or what they call today ‘emotional support animal’, a label that is abused these days, by people who take all sorts of creatures on planes, because they need their companions, and now they joke on Late Night Shows, once they end the writers’ strike
Just like Colin Clark, I took the job of ‘assistant’, for this local star – I realize now that I am not coming back to the purpose of the note, or maybe just to mention that Marilyn Monroe had adopted the ‘Method Acting’ technique, which has made some headlines recently, Cox was complaining about Jeremy Strong and his immersion into the role, on the set of Succession, and mentioned Daniel Day Lewis http://realini.blogspot.com/2018/01/m... who was one of the best
From his role as the painter who can only use His Left Foot, Daniel Day Lewis has transformed himself – using his left foot and being the character – but the point Brian Cox is making is a valid one, for Laurence Olivier was aghast as the questions Monroe was asking, and then Daniel Day Lewis has burned out, and retired at a young age from the film business…in my case it worked and it did not, for there has been a ‘love story’ – it would have to be analyzed, but we arrived at the end of the space here – but with a rather sad ending
Now for a question, and invitation – maybe you have a good idea on how we could make more than a million dollars with this http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/02/u... – as it is, this is a unique technique, which we could promote, sell, open the Oscars show with or something and then make lots of money together, if you have the how, I have the product, I just do not know how to get the befits from it, other than the exercise per se
As for my role in the Revolution that killed Ceausescu, a smaller Mao, there it is http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/03/r...
April 1, 2012
I picked up this book at the library because I like biographies and I've always been kind of interested in Marilyn Monroe. The author of this book claims that his book is taken word-for-word from an actual diary he kept while working as 3rd assistant (a go-fer) on the set of a movie featuring MM and Laurence Olivier. I suppose it could be true, but the book does not really read like someone's diary or journal. It is very wordy and appears to be written after the fact (probably using his old diary for the framework, but definitely not word for word). There are too many details, too much dialogue between characters, and it reads like a story. I just don't think people who write in diaries/journals write in such a detailed, descriptive manner. Oh well, in any case the book was only semi-interesting. How much of it is true? Did MM really single him for a special interlude? We'll never really know what is true and what is the author's imagination. I would like to see the movie though!
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