honey. to begin with, zanuck sees marilyn as i believe he said that her talent was all below her navel and above her waist. basically, that she was tits and ass, and that was it. if marilyn wants to keep her contract, she will have to fight for it. she kind of had a sort of whatever means necessary, i will find my way to this. that meant doing the right photo shoots or taking acting classes. she wasn t just sitting idly by waiting for the studio to tell her what to do. she was going to fox every single day. i said, why do you work so hard? the other kids that are on the contract sometimes i call at 11:00, 12:00, they are still sleeping from being out the night before. she said, mr. lyon, i work so hard because maybe one day opportunity will knock, and i want to be prepared.
zanuck s office to account for herself, and she was put in front of, you know, all of the powerful male studio heads. they said, did you pose for a calendar? and i said, yes. anything wrong? for 20th century fox, it wasn t about, we really think sin is bad. it was like, wait a minute. sin might be bad for business. posing nude was such an explosive thing. there was great anxiety. everybody said, say you didn t. i said, but i did. you know, i should say that i did. and they were very unhappy. the studios thought her career would be over. but marilyn devises a high-stakes plan to let the
not everyone welcomes the new marilyn. her last movie for fox is about to open. and darryl zanuck orchestrates a stunt to put her back in her place. the whole energy of the response to her was about resistance to the idea that marilyn monroe could be anything other than a sex object, and certainly that what she was not was an actress. i think it s terrific. very nice. some girl. i think s wonderful, i think it s wonderful, wonderful, wonderful. it s the same thing as ever. same look, look at this basically upskirt shot. i said, what has marilyn monroe got that a million other women have and prefer not to show? the two marilyns were seen as somehow impossible to reconcile, as if it isn t possible to imagine that a woman could be sexual and flirty and giggle and
i d like some coffee, dear. yes, mr. mckinley. this could be marilyn s last chance to impress darryl zanuck and prove her worth to the studio. well, anyhow, mr. cleveland, i want you to know i think your speech was grand. i felt real honored just to hear it. she s memorable. she s given notice in, i believe, the new york times, calling her superb. it s really just kind of the patriarchy praising the patriarchy, you know? yes, this is how we like our women. we like them objectified, and she was excellent at being objectified. darryl zanuck said, when i look at her, i don t see star. but he was a shrewd businessman, and he saw the potential to make money. around 80% of moviegoers are women, and zanuck wants to draw in the men.
here you see the world s largest motion picture studio, with its acres of sound stages spread out under the bright california sun. now let s enter the gate. by the end of 1946, marilyn is four months into a contract with 20th century fox. in just a year, she s gone from young model to aspiring starlet. but if she s going to break out, she will need to impress studio head darryl zanuck. in many ways, darryl zanuck is almost cliche of an old-school movie mogul. he s short. he s aggressive.