MARILYN IN MANHATTAN (1998)

  • By 1954, Marilyn Monroe had reached the pinnacle of Hollywood stardom ñ yet contentment eluded her. Monroeís marriage to baseball great Joe DiMaggio was on the rocks, and the 20th Century Fox studio kept her trapped in bankable but unchallenging ìdumb blondeî roles. Determined to break free of the celebrity machine and reclaim her soul, Monroe fled to New York with the help of a close friend, photographer Milton Greene. Basking in newfound anonymity, she launched her own production company with Greene, studied her craft at the Actors Studio under ìmethodî guru Lee Strasberg, and successfully reinvented herself as a serious actress. But in the end, she could escape neither the crushing demands of fame nor her own demons. This documentary chronicles Marilyn Monroeís flight from Hollywood in search of freedom, with seldom-seen photographs and archival film footage, as well as interviews with the likes of Ellen Burstyn, Ben Gazzara, Susan Strasberg and Amy Greene.

  • 45 minutes

  • VHS quality

  • NOTE:  There are ads for a Marilyn contest that appear on the screen now and then throughout.

  • I really enjoyed this documentary and highly recommend it if you enjoy her New York period.

PRICE $12.95 plus shipping