I love to watch Marilyn Monroe movies. She was an original, and there was no one else quite like her. That said, was she really a good actress? Sometimes I think so, for instance, when she was in Bus Stop, and sometimes not, citing her performance in The Prince and the Showgirl. Yet still her movies endure. Why? Was her persona her own or was it all just a good act?
Her work endures because she was an archetype, not because she was a great performer (although she was certainly a serviceable one). Also, since she died young and tragically in a high-profile way, she’ll never be known for disintegrating and wearing out her welcome a la Bette Davis.
I read an article once comparing James Dean with Jan-Michael Vincent, who started out at about the same age, had some promising early works, and then went on to become a flabby alcoholic disgrace instead of dying while young and hot-looking.
Did you know that Marilyn was roommates with Shelly Winters early in her career? And that Winters was also quite the babe at the time? No one ever questioned Shelly Winters’ acting ability, but my God, who would you rather have your name somehow linked to?
Young Miss Winters was very much a blonde bombshell. She didn’t age well, though neither might Miss Monroe had she survived.
Where are the Marilyn Monroes/Jane Russells/Jayne Mansfields of today? The bombshell, alas, is no more.
Was Marilyn a good actress? Yes. She was better in some types of roles than in others, obviously. Her flair for comedy is undeniable, for example.
Before we minimize MM’s ability by comparing her to Merryl Streep, let’s say, consider this: Could MM have starred in “Sophie’s Choice” and been believable ? Not likely. On the other hand, picture how dismally unsuited to the role Ms. Streep would be in “Some Like It Hot.”
I think she was under-rated as a dramatic actress and over-rated as a comedienne.
She was actually quite good in several dramatic roles: The Asphalt Jungle, Clash by Night, Bus Stop. But her comic act—the breathy dumb blonde—was cute schtick, but it was all the same thing over and over again. Watch her in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, How to Marry a Millionaire, Some Lime It Hot: it’s all the exact same character, same gestures, same voice. It’s cute and effective, don’t get me wrong, but it’s not really “acting.”
I’ve always thought she was an excellent singer, by the way—her voice wasn’t strong, but it was very good.
“Some Lime It Hot?” Mmmmmm . . . Limes . . . .
I like to watch “Some Lime it Hot” in conjunction with “Tequila Mockingbird”…
I have one of those cardboard bills (bought in most any record/souvenir/head shop) that bills her as “the world’s greatest screen actress”.
However, this text is printed beneath a rather unexpected photo of Ms. Monroe sitting towards the camera and obviously unaware that she is providing an (ahem) inappropriate viewing opportunity. The caption beneath goes on to describe this as “the rarest photo ever taken of her”. Perhaps, for this reason, the credence of such a statement is compromised.
There’s a pic of her in a burger store in my city, with an illustrated background. She has her back turned to the viewer, but twists to look over her shoulder at you. The background is a drawing of a city skyline, with spotlights sweeping the sky and long white slashes meant to represent the sparkle of the lights. One of those long slashes makes it look as if Ms Monroe is peeing - it curves out from her hip area to a point that appears to be a couple of feet in front of her shoes. Very classy.
Stupid picture aside, I don’t think she was really encouraged in her dramatic acting. People wanted to see the cute schtick, and that’s what got her roles. But her dramatic acting was very good, I wish there had been more of it.
I think she was highly underrated as a dramatic actress. Because of her image, she wasn’t really offered the type of roles that would have allowed her a better chance to show this. If you can, hunt down “Don’t Bother to Knock”- an early MM film in which she gives a stunning dramatic performance.
I see I’ve been beaten to it–but see Don’t Bother to Knock. She was amazing in her role there. I guess all the ‘silly girl’ roles she did in movies like How to Marry a Millionaire paid the bills, though.
I have to dispute the OP in slagging MM’s performance in The Prince and the Showgirl. This is my favorite MM comedic performance and I find it far superior to her more highly acclaimed roles in SLIH and GPB (although I like those performances as well). I haven’t seen her dramatic performances; never much interested me. But for a great MM performance we need look no further than All About Eve. In a film loaded with heavyweights MM more than holds her own in her brief scenes. Anyway, to answer the OP, yes, MM was a good actress whose acting abilities have been overshadowed by her image and her death.
Many biographers say that Monroe was much irked by this, and that she hated playing the “dumb blonde.” She constantly nagged at her agents and studio heads to get her into dramatic roles, but she was an unfortunate victim of type-casting.
She also used to make noises about becoming a stage actress and some biographers say, “oh, what a shame she never got the chance!” But theater actresses have to show up on time, every night, and know their lines, which poor Mar’ was not capable of.
Nice gal, smarter than she’s given credit for, but what a mess, bless her little cotton socks.
Some conspiracy theorists say that the allegations of Monroe being unable to remember lines is greatly exaggerated. They contend that the studios created this rumor to justify their firing of Monroe shortly before her death, and that it has been falsely incorporated into Monroe’s legend. One biographer I’ve read insisted that Monroe took her craft very seriously, and that he has seen rushes of Monroe’s last film in which, he says, she was spot-on, only making the kinds of mistakes that the other actors made, with no greater frequency than they.
Why did the studio need to fire her if she wasn’t flaked-out, you ask? Well, there’s always the much-loved theory that Washington pressure forced the studio to do so: that Marilyn wouldn’t keep quiet about her relationship with Kennedy, or Bobby, or whoever, and they had her fired to show they meant business. The more reasonable explanation (and that depends on how much credence you put on the whole idea that Monroe wasn’t as bad as rumor has it) is that Monroe was aging out of the sex-pot roles. The studio had misgivings that Monroe was going to continue to be a draw, and cut its losses. Added to this is the allegation that Monroe was irritating the bosses with demands for serious roles when they didn’t think audiences would find her believable or enjoyable in those kinds of parts.
I agree with Lissa about the whole Marilyn being fired thing. I watched a biography on her last night, and they actually showed some footage from her last movie. Her outtakes all looked like any outtakes I’ve seen from any shows or movies. She’d have her lines down and then forget a few words, or a line, or something would make her laugh.
And about if she was a good actress or not? I think she was amazingly talented, and since I was quite young I’ve seen her as one of, if not the, most beautiful woman I have ever seen. So I might be a little biased 
Tony Curtis maintains to this day that she was difficult and unpleasant to work with.
Whatever she had, she made you want to watch, directors knew that working with her might be a bit overwhelming, but if you wanted Marilyn you had to deal with it,after all people weren’t buying tickets to see the director,Marilyn had the juice,could she act, watch Niagra she was the movie.
Zombies Prefer Blondes.
I agree. Her “dumb blonde” act was not very good – she tries too hard and overdoes everything. It comes across as very heavy-handed. At best, she’s innocuous, but often she is just not funny.
I haven’t seen too many of her dramatic roles, but she had to be better than the one-dimensional character she was usually forced to play.
Bullshit it wasn’t acting. It was a character she created and used in several roles very well and with amazing comedic timing. That’s exactly what acting is all about. If you need proof of this you can see her dramatic works where she is not playing that character or you can read about what she was like in person to see that it was all a character.
She wasn’t brilliant, but she was good and had more charisma than most and was a great comic actress.