BEFORE: I've got time for one more film between packing for Portland and heading to the airport, because I don't want to fall any further off my schedule. I haven't been adding many films to the list lately, so it has shrunk down to 176 films. Since it's a bit more manageable now, I took the opportunity this week to re-arrange the chain and set the schedule for the rest of the year - things could change, of course, but if they don't, I know how I want this year to end in October when I hit movie #1,900, and I know which films are getting pushed into 2015. I'm hoping by Jan. 1 that the number of films on the list will be much closer to 100, but you never know.
Linking from "The Girl", Toby Jones carries over, in another bit of unplanned synchronicity.
THE PLOT: An employee of Sir Laurence Olivier's documents the tense interaction between Olivier and Marilyn Monroe during production of "The Prince and the Showgirl".
AFTER: My instincts were good, this seems to have quite a lot in common with "The Girl", since it's about what goes on behind the scenes (and behind closed doors) while making movies. Again, it's important that we all never forget how truly tough it is to be a beautiful actress - so Marilyn Monroe must be the ultimate extension of that. She was the woman that all men fell in love with, so therefore women must have simply hated her. And what a terrible burden it must have been, knowing that she was so attractive and could have any man she wanted wrapped around her finger.
But then (and I think I'm still being sarcastic here) there's the actual work. You know, memorizing lines and stuff. That can be tricky. And there's all that showing up on time, standing in one place, making talky-talky... why, she apparently only had time for two luxurious soapy baths per day! Then there's the drudgery of getting dressed, getting undressed, having hair styled and make-up applied. It just seems so labor-intensive, I can't imagine why people run off to Hollywood to get famous.
Much of this is told from the P.O.V. of Colin Clark, who ran off to make movies, not be in them, and took whatever position he could get at Laurence Olivier's production company, only to have his world rocked by working on Olivier's next film, which happened to co-star Marilyn. The film suggests that she was a movie star struggling to become an actor, while Olivier was an actor struggling to become a movie star. I can neither confirm nor deny, but it's an interesting enough juxtaposition.
As the production wore on, with Marilyn (allegedly) spoiling take after take by flubbing her lines, there were fewer and fewer people she felt she could trust, and when her husband returned to the U.S., she (again, allegedly) sought companionship in Clark, which led to touring the countryside, skinny-dipping, and a bit more. Allegedly.
I think Michelle Williams did quite a good job as Marilyn Monroe here - it must also be hard (and now I'm being serious) to play such an iconic figure, choosing which of her mannerisms to imitate and which to emulate. Branagh may have had a tougher job playing Olivier, since he doesn't fully resemble him, but from what I've seen, I think he got the speech cadence correct. And the temper tantrums, too.
I'll be back online in a couple days after a quick tour of Portland's food truck and restaurant scene - I've pretty much planned out my trip based on information obtained from watching "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives" on the Food Network.
Also starring Michelle Williams (last seen in "Oz the Great and Powerful"), Eddie Redmayne (last seen in "Les Miserables"), Kenneth Branagh (last seen in "Pirate Radio"), Julia Ormond (last seen in "Legends of the Fall"), Judi Dench (last seen in "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel"), Emma Watson (last seen in "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2"), Dougray Scott (last seen in "Ripley's Game"), Philip Jackson, Derek Jacobi, Pip Torrens.
RATING: 6 out of 10 outtakes
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