The Non-Iconic Marilyn Monroe

Back when I was image fishing for the last piece, I ran into a number of Marilyn Monroe’s cover photos showing her in non-stereotypical compositions. As we are all familiar with Marilyn Monroe in a grouping of trademark poses, I thought it might be interesting to showcase her work which went against type—or at least was unusual for what we know of her.

Stupid idea. Or at  the least it’s an idea whose exploration is more interesting to me than it was to Marilyn Monroe. It turns out the covers that I tripped over were not representative of any broad trend in her career. Once Marilyn Monroe discovered her “moves” as a cover model, she stuck with them like a trained poodle.

If you ever wondered why Andy Warhol did prints of Marilyn Monroe, it’s because Marilyn Monroe did prints of Marilyn Monroe. She had more tricks that your average cover model, but she also had far more exposure on magazine covers than anyone outside of presidents and popes.  As strictly a magazine cover model, she is without peer. Marilyn Monroe is the Beatles of covergirls.

Monroe’s career as a film actress spanned that unusual time between the death of the studio system and the rise of gossip journalism. And you see that in the magazine photos. There was a time when the production of movie magazines was done in conjunction with the studio’s publicity departments. In the wake of WWII the government forced the studios to divest themselves of what turned out to be their best performing assets—the actual ownership of movie theaters. That sliced the studio’s income. With the long-predicted rise of television on the horizon, the studios cut their star system entirely. With no studios to protect them, the stars were left to the mercies of agents and publicity people—whom the stars themselves arguably hired. Marilyn Monroe was one of the first of these Hollywood Orphans.

As mentioned last posting, Marilyn Monroe’s career as a cover model is ongoing. Given the state of the subject (dead) very little of Monroe’s post 1962 output is new material and none of it strays from the iconic. To touch on those images lightly, they are a product of a trend towards psychological manipulation which was having its heyday in magazine composition and advertising at the time. This is beyond ‘sex sells’: there’s an actual vocabulary to it. Mostly. Some of them are just poses Monroe is copping from her own films.

As for the non-iconic covers that I am going to show you, they fall into certain categories, most of which match up to the phases of her career. As an actress, she explodes onto the scene in 1952, has a ten year half-life and dies (literally). As a magazine covergirl, her career starts in 1946 and lasts into the present. She’s on the cover of something, every other month or so, from 1946 to 1950. From 1949 on, she’s migrated to movie magazines. After the Playboy spread in 1952, she’s on a half a dozen covers a month for the rest of the decade. By 1960 she is a joke—one she is willing to play up. Her career, even as a covergirl, tanks until 1962, when it is briefly revived due to her sudden death. From that point on, her career waxes and wanes. This being the 50^th anniversary of her death, it is currently waxing.

The first type of non-iconic photos of her are from early in her career. She is on a number of magazines listed as Jean Norman. Later, she would meet the announcer for The Shadow radio program, who gave her the name Marilyn Monroe. Once she hit it fairly big, much of this work—including what became the Playboy shoot—would boomerang back on her.

The above magazine marks the start of her transition from covergirl to movie actress. As this first issue of Foto Parade proudly touts, its 1949 Miss Everything Marilyn Monroe will soon have a featured part in an upcoming Marx Brothers movie. Not too many chunks of ‘Anatomical Art’ can make that claim.

True Experiences here is dubious on a few levels. I will believe in it when I see one in the flesh. This is supposedly from 1950, before Marilyn Monroe would have been that much of a draw. If true, it is somewhat in keeping with the pre-orphan period of her film career.

They had no idea how to package her. Is she Jean Harlow? Is she Veronica Lake? Note: the ‘Anatomical Art’ guy had no problem figuring out what was so enticing about her. Psst. She’s built like a brick shithouse. Show that.

EEEK! It was possible to blow a shot of this woman, as our pals from Ideal Magazines have done here. In this case I am not going to blame the photographer as much as I am the composition department. Yes the expression is bad, but the black background and lack of softening on the cheeks sinks it into the setting sun.

Don’t pose her to show off her curves. Don’t have her flash that mad as a hatter smile. And she becomes the blondie from central casting. Suitable for walk ons in Marx Brothers movies and being kept by mid level film executives.

Here she is being touted as one of Hollywood’s Hottest Newcomers. It’s now 1952, three years since her first role opposite Chico, Harpo and Groucho and six years since her first national appearance on a magazine cover. Not exactly an overnight sensation.* From this point on, she makes few errors as a covergirl.  Note Robert Wagner is also being heralded as a newcomer. If she had lived, would she also be selling reverse mortgages on television? Or Depends?

Monroe kept busy in magazines throughout the 1950s. In general, she showed for the shoots. She was on Time, she was on Life, she was on People (the Hillman version). Generally she would just show and do her thing—and pick up her check. On those occasions when the studios might want to pitch in, they issued random stills. This accounts for quite a few of the non-iconic covers.

The magazines also changed. It wasn’t so much about glamour as it was scandal. Although some might consider Monroe rather shameless in her escapades, she was a comparative piker. (It should be said that when it comes to monthly magazines pitching scandal, quantity counts more than quality.) Monroe’s bad behavior was being blown off the covers by the likes of Debbie Reynolds, Eddie Fischer and that all time sleaze champion Liz Taylor. It also didn’t help that candid photos made her look rather ordinary.

She was well on her way to being a punch line holding a stuffed cat.

In the end, why pick at scabs? The actual iconic images are clearer and more numerous. And it seems we will have plenty of opportunity to see them again. That the best of someone’s work still holds up is outstanding. Given the nature of her work, it’s incredible. 

*She is quite typical of the average overnight sensation, which is to say that little in life is as easy as it looks. 

Coda:

Holy crap, I just posted a bunch of not pretty Marilyn Monroe pictures. And I had to search for them, too. Talk about a dubious task. 

It should be noted that some of these covers were from 1954, which was not her best year. 

There is a modern myth that Marilyn Monroe was, by the standards of today's modern model, a cow. 

At five foot five and a half, she weighed at most 140 pounds with 35-22-35 measurements. That's not a stick figure--she's not going to blow over--but she's hardly pushing porky.