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The Diamond Collection
Marilyn Monroe
Released 2001
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The Diamond Collection II
To be released on May 14, 2002
Be
sure to check out the second box set in this series, The
Diamond Collection II, which features Don't Bother To
Knock, Niagra, Let's Make Love, Monkey Business and River
of No Return. It includes restoration comparisons, stills
galleries and original theatrical trailers.
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The
Diamond Collection
Released
in 2001, this is a five DVD box set featuring five definitive
film roles featuring the 50s bombshells, Marilyn Monroe. Splendidly
compiled, the remastered films returned to their original
color and other goodies added to the collection. Theatrical
trailers, restoration footage and most interesting, a 40-minute
re-creation of footage from her last unfinished film, "Something's
Got to Give." The films on the collection are as follows:
Gentlemen
Prefer Blondes How To Marry A Millionaire The Seven Year Itch
Bus Stop There's No Business Like Show Business Each of these
films, in their own right, was essential in Marilyn's career,
and features memorable scenes, dialogue and dance numbers.
Gentleman Prefer Blondes highlights Monroe's excellent hand
at comedy, playing the gold-digging blonde with such conviction,
it would be hard for her to break her image from her character
of Lorelei Lee.
How
To Marry a Millionaire features Monroe with two of Hollywood's
finest actresses, Betty Grable and Lauren Bacall. The three
play the role of gold-digging women, who find out that all
they really want in life is a man who they love. Lauren Bacall
plays the role of an icy, scorned women and delivers deadpan
lines to her co-harts like, "You're not actually thinking
about going away with that chowder head?" Betty Grable, luminous
as ever, plays a wisecracking model, which manages to capture
the film with her performance. Marilyn effervesces on film,
playing the dumb blonde, who refuses to wear her glasses ("Men
aren't attentive to girls who wear glasses") and frequently
walks into walls. She winds up with a guy who is even more
nearsighted than she is!
The
Seven Year Itch finds Monroe playing opposite of Tom Ewell.
Her character (forever known as "The Girl") is model, who
rents an apartm
ent above Ewell, in a steamy New York summer. Ewell's wife
and son head upstate for the summer and Monroe and Ewell find
their love of champagne, nice, tall, cool martinis and air
conditioning. Despite Ewell's fantasies of sweeping Monroe
off her feet, the two learn more about love than either expect.
Bus
Stop, often cited as Monroe's finest acting moments, tells
the tale of saloon singer, Cherie, and her rocky relationship
with an uncouth cowboy, "Bo," and his attempt to marry her,
whether she likes it or not. A difficult film for the person
who expects to see Monroe as the dumb blonde of previous roles,
her portrayal of Cherie, a singer who yearns to make it to
Hollywood, but ends up in a bus stop somewhere in Wyoming
can seem tedious at times, but is incredibly empathetic.
There's
No Business like Show Business is probably the least important
role in the collection, since it really was an Ethel Merman
and Dan Dailey vehicle. It does however feature Monroe in
one of her sexiest dance numbers, the tropical, "Heat Wave,"
making the mercury rise to 93. The film also includes the
perky Mitzi Gaynor.
The
Final Days, a documentary about Marilyn's last days, includes
a 40-minute re-creation of her last unfinished film, "Something's
Got to Give." Just days before her death in 1962, she was
rehired to complete the film, and the remains of the film
have sat in a film can since then. It is with great relish
we get to see Monroe's radiance and we can imagine what this
film and her life would have been had she not passed.
This
is a stellar collection, required by all fans of Marilyn Monroe
and essential viewing for anyone who has ever been intrigued
by one of the 20th centuries most-recognizable icons.
Original
review, written by Dawn Marie, Bombshells.Com, 2002 ©
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