My Week with Marilyn (41 page)

While she was making
The Prince and the Showgirl
, Marilyn was often in great distress. Of course she was in an unfamiliar foreign country, but even those with whom she had chosen to surround herself were from a completely different world to her. Milton and Amy Greene, Lee and Paula Strasberg, Arthur Miller, Hedda Rosten, Arthur Jacobs and Irving Stein all came from a New York, Jewish, immigrant background which was the opposite of Marilyn's unstructured Californian upbringing. Not for her the possessive mother in the warm Bronx kitchen, giving a child a sense of its own worth, and the future confidence that goes with it. And yet, when she was in front of a camera, Marilyn radiated a joy and a vitality which made everyone else pale by comparison. No wonder we cannot forget her.

It was clear that
The Prince and the Showgirl
was not destined to be a big success at the box office. It was too ‘stagy' and too
claustrophobic. Nor would the film make much impact on the career of either of its two stars. Paradoxically, it was Olivier's performance that was most affected by the problems on the set. Despite his unprintable comments about her inexperience and unprofessionalism, Marilyn had appeared in virtually the same number of films as he had (
The Prince and the Showgirl
was her twenty-fifth to his twenty-eighth), and her relationship with the camera was more intimate than his — Dame Sybil was right. Watching the film today, Marilyn appears happy and natural, while Olivier often looks stiff and awkward.

Marilyn's next film role, in
Some Like it Hot
, brought her great critical acclaim, but no relief from the problems of production. Many years after it was made I met the director, Billy Wilder, at a Hollywood party. Stuck for something to say to this fierce old Austrian, I murmured that I too had worked with Miss Monroe. ‘Then you know the meaning of pure pain,' he growled, and stalked away. Yes – but of pure magic too.

Laurence Olivier did not forget his promise to take me with him. He had found a play which would give him the new lease of life he had been looking for.
The Entertainer
by John Osborne opened at the Royal Court Theatre on 10 April 1957, and is still considered one of Olivier's greatest performances. I became his personal assistant, and also the Assistant Stage Manager at the Court. We took the play on tour and then to the Palace Theatre in the West End. Halfway through the run Joan Plowright took over the role created by Dorothy Tutin, and Olivier's marriage to Vivien Leigh finally collapsed. By this time I had accompanied Larry and Vivien on the Royal Shakespeare Theatre's tour of Europe with
Titus Andronicus
, but that is the subject of a different diary.

I never worked on another feature film, and in the film world you are either in or out. Consequently I never saw David Orton or Mr Perceval again; but I owe them both a debt of gratitude. I continued my friendship with Tony and Anne Bushell, and I often visited Larry in his dressing room wherever he happened to be performing. Vivien I saw up until the last week of her life in July 1967.

After Olivier went to Hollywood to make
Spartacus
in 1959 I was offered a job by Sidney Bernstein, Chairman of Granada Television. Once more I had high hopes, but I soon found myself back where I had started, as a trainee Assistant Floor Manager. Eventually I did become a producer and director – of documentary films on ‘the Arts', of which I made over a hundred. It has been a rewarding and enjoyable career, and I never forgot the lessons I learned on
The Prince and the Showgirl
.

Acting coach.
See
Strasberg, Paula

Actor's Studio

Addinsell, Richard

Alexander, Gordon

Allan, Rupert

Angeli, Pier

Ascot Racecourse

Association of Cinematograph Technicians (ACT)

Audley, Maxine

Austin Princess

Back projection

Baronova, Irina

Beaton, Cecil

Bernstein, Sidney

Blonde, Hollywood

Bodyguard.
See
Smith, Roger

Bolshoi Ballet

Bond, Gordon

Bond Street

Brando, Marlon

Burnett, Al

Burton, Richard

Bushell, Anne

about

in Clark/Pitt-Millward letter

description of

dislike for Monroe

Bushell, Ned

Bushell, Tony

about

in Clark/Pitt-Millward letter

dislike for Monroe

Cardiff, Jack

about

affair with stand-in

Saltwood Castle visit

Carpathian Embassy, Belgrave

Carr, Joan

Cast list,
The Prince and the Showgirl

Casting couch

Castle Arms

Celly.
See
Clark, Collette

Chappell, Billy

Cigarettes, named for Olivier

Clapperboard

Clark, Alan

Clark, Colin

Amy Greene and

Arthur Jacobs and

Arthur Miller and

as Assistant Stage Manager

bodyguard, hires

description of Monroe

Diana Dors and

dream to be a director

driver hired

farewell to Monroe

first day on set

flatmates of

Gene Kelly and

as gofer on set

house for Monroe and

Laurence Olivier and

meets Monroe

Milton Greene and

miscarriage, Monroe and

on Monroe without makeup

on Monroe's acting skills

Monroe's arrival in U.K.

Owen Morshead (Sir) and

Parkside House, Monroe and

pep talk, Monroe and

Pitt-Millward, letter to

relationship with Oliviers

at Saltwood with Cardiff

shopping with Monroe

Susan Strasberg and

as third assistant director

Wattis and Hardwick friendship

Windsor Castle, Monroe and

Clark, Collett (Celly)

Clark, Kenneth (Sir)

Closed set

Closed shop

Cockpit, The

Connell, Dr.

Constitution, Britain's

Contracts, long-term

Costume designer.
See
Dawson Beatrice

Cotes-Preedy, Mr.

Coward, Nöel

Crimson Drawing Room, Windsor Castle

Cross-plot

Cukor, George

Dalcross airport

Damone

Dastagir, Sabu

Da Vinci, Leonardo

Davis, Bette

Dawson, Beatrice

Day, Vera

De Valois, Ninette

Devine, George

Dillon, Carmen

DiMaggio, Joe

Dors, Diana (aka Fluck)

Dressing room, Pinewood Studios

Driver.
See
Evans

Drugs, prescription, Monroe's use of

Du Maurier, Gerald (Sir)

Dumb blonde

Edwards, Dennis

Electrician's Union

Elwes, Dominic (Dommy)

Englefield Beige

Eton College

Eton High Street

Eugenie (Empress)

Evans (Monroe's driver)

Extras

Fath, Jacques

Film Artists Association (FAA)

Fonteyn, Margot

Furse, Roger

Gaiety Theater

George the Third (King)

Gilman (Olivier's driver)

Giraudoux, Jean

Grace (Monroe's caretaker)

Green Drawing Room, Windsor Castle

Greene, Amy

Greene, Josh

Greene, Milton

affair with Monroe

arrival in U.K.

Clark, Parkside House and

in Clark/Pitt-Millward letter

dislike for Monroe

family arrives in U.K.

manipulation of Monroe

Marilyn Monroe Productions and

on Monroe romance

Pinewood Studios

Guilaroff, Sidney

Hardwick, Paul

Harlow, Jean

Harris, Jack

Heathrow Airport, Monroe's arrival at

Helpmann, Robert

Henry the Sixth (King)

Henson, Gladys

Hepburn, Katharine

Hohenberg, Doctor

Holbein

Holden, William

Hollywood blonde

Hope, Bob

Hunt, Marita

Hyde, Johnny

Infidelity, Monroe's

Inge, William

Insurance policy, on actors

Jacobs, Arthur P.

changing arrival plans

character of

house hunt

Jewish supporters of Monroe

John (King)

Joseph, Teddy

Karsavina

Kazan, Elia

Kelly, Gene

Kelly, Grace

Kennedy, Jacqueline

Kennedy, John F.

Kent, Allegra

Kent, Jean

Kiss, first, between Clark and Monroe

Knight, Esmond

Korda, Alexander

Laughton, Charles

Laurence Olivier Productions

Lawyer.
See
Stein, Irving

Lean, David

Leigh, Vivian

awards of

in
Caesar and Cleopatra

in Clark/Pitt-Millward letter

Clark's relationship with

hires Gilman as driver

meets Monroe at airport

as Scarlett O'Hara

as unstable

visit to set

Letter, Clark to Pitt-Millward

Life
magazine

Lighting.
See
Cardiff, Jack

Logan, Josh

Lost Boys

Love, Monroe's desire for

Magna Carta

Makeup artist.
See
Snyder, Allan

Marilyn: A Very Personal Story
(Rosten)

Marilyn Monroe Productions

Martinelli, Elsa

Maysles, David

Media.
See
Press

Melandribos, Andrea

Method, the

Miller, Arthur

arrival in U.K.

character of

in Clark/Pitt-Millward letter

Clark's dislike for

as co-producer

fights with Monroe

investigation by McCarthy

Monroe's relationship with

Paris trip

passport issues of

as prima donna

return to U.K.

Ministry of Information

Miscarriage, Monroe's

MMP.
See
Marilyn Monroe Productions

Money, Monroe and

Monroe, Marilyn

acting skills of

appearance without makeup

arrival in the U.K.

Arthur Miller and.
See also
Miller, Arthur

behavior on the set

in Clark/Pitt-Millward letter

Colin Clark and.
See
Clark, Colin

dance scene

dark side of

desire for love

distress on set

dressing room at Pinewoods

drug use by

first day of filming

forgetting her lines

as freak of nature

love scenes with Olivier

marriage, first

miscarriage

money and

mother's mental health

Ophelia Complex

Paula Strasberg and

pregnancy

psychoanalysis and

Queen Elizabeth II and

romances of

self-confidence and

sex and

shopping expedition

singing

stand-in

trapped by fame

unfaithfulness of

walk

work habits of

Moore, Garrett

Moore, Joan

Morshead, Owen (Sir)

Morshead, Paquita

Music,
The Prince and the Showgirl

Musical score.
See
Addinsell, Richard

NAAFI wagon

NATKE, union

Newton, Bob

Nissen hut

Niven, David

Notely Abbey (Olivier's home)

Novak, Kim

Old House Hotel

Olivier, Laurence (Sir)

awards of

Cecil Tennant (agent) and

cigarettes named for

in Clark/Pitt-Millward letter

Colin Clark and

Dame Sybil and

dislike for Monroe

as Grand Duke

Greene on

love scenes

miscarriage, work and

Monroe at airport

Monroe/Miller marriage and

Ophelia Complex

Orton, David

Clark and

Orton, Penny