Growing up, I never really knew enough about Marilyn Monroe. I saw parts of "The Seven Year Itch" on TV as a little kid, and I later saw "There's No Business Like Show Business" and "Some Like It Hot" and liked them, but that was my extent of Monroe knowledge. Then, one day in college, bored out of my mind, I randomly decided to look up this documentary on YouTube. I was instantly intrigued. This caused me to realize that there was more to the beautiful woman who graced movie screens with her presence than meets the eye; it also caused me to become a fan.
"The Final Days" takes a look at the troubled production of Marilyn's last work in front of a movie camera, the romantic comedy "Something's Got to Give." From interviews from those who knew Marilyn and from those who worked on the production, it presents a day-to-day account of "Give"'s making. The most fascinating aspect of this piece to me was the footage from "Give." This documentary concludes with a reconstruction of the film from the available footage, beautifully restored and edited together, and surprisingly easy to follow, despite the fact that the film was never finished. The interviews present a balanced account of what went wrong behind the scenes and with Marilyn during this time (screenwriter Walter Bernstein's comments are extremely negative and annoyed me greatly). Despite that minor caveat, I enjoyed this look at a person who is deservedly famous and talented. Marilyn Monroe is a star. A legend. An icon. And above all... utterly human. Marilyn, we love you.
"The Final Days" takes a look at the troubled production of Marilyn's last work in front of a movie camera, the romantic comedy "Something's Got to Give." From interviews from those who knew Marilyn and from those who worked on the production, it presents a day-to-day account of "Give"'s making. The most fascinating aspect of this piece to me was the footage from "Give." This documentary concludes with a reconstruction of the film from the available footage, beautifully restored and edited together, and surprisingly easy to follow, despite the fact that the film was never finished. The interviews present a balanced account of what went wrong behind the scenes and with Marilyn during this time (screenwriter Walter Bernstein's comments are extremely negative and annoyed me greatly). Despite that minor caveat, I enjoyed this look at a person who is deservedly famous and talented. Marilyn Monroe is a star. A legend. An icon. And above all... utterly human. Marilyn, we love you.