Marilyn Monroe at the 1956 Royal Film Performance

The Daily Telegraph 10/30/56

In 1956, two of the most famous women in the world met. Both women were the same age - 30, but their lives could not have been more different. The occasion? The Royal Film Performance. The women? Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second and Marilyn Monroe. The result? An iconic moment in time.

How did this meeting come about?

Marilyn's arrival in London

In July 1956 Marilyn and her new husband, Arthur Miller, arrived in London, where Marilyn was set to start work on her latest film, The Sleeping Prince (later renamed The Prince and the Showgirl) with Laurence Olivier. She made it known that she hoped to meet the Queen while there and was thrilled when she was issued an invitation to the Royal Film Performance, which was held every year in aid of the Cinematograph Trade Benevolent Fund. It would take place at the Empire Theatre on Monday, October 29th. 

Here is footage of Marilyn arriving, as well as footage of the Queen going down 

the line meeting the stars (with audio from a 1960 interview in the background).

A crowd of around 2000 waited outside the theatre to catch a glimpse of the stars. Marilyn was one of the last to arrive at "The Queen's Show," as she had nicknamed the event. She stood outside and waved to the crowd for two minutes, while they chanted her name, before making her way inside.

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Her dress, designed by Madame de Rachelle with Marilyn's input, caused quite a stir once she removed her cape. It was described by the Daily Telegraph as "gold tissue with topaz shoulder straps" and by the Daily Record as a strait-jacket, due to its tightness. 

The safety-pin incident actually happened at a press conference.

The Queen, however, didn't bat an eye at Marilyn's revealing dress. Rather, she remarked on the fact that they were "neighbors." With Princess Margaret, who was also in attendance, they talked about biking (Marilyn was gifted a bicycle on her arrival by the Daily Sketch). 

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When asked about what she thought of the Queen afterwards, Marilyn replied that she was "very warm-hearted. She radiates sweetness." She also demonstrated her curtsy to the press. 

Marilyn apparently made a big impression on the Queen too, as she was later reported to have watched all of Marilyn's films. The source also quoted the Queen as saying, "I thought Miss Monroe was a very sweet person. But I felt sorry for her, because she was so nervous that she had licked all her lipstick off" (People, 1961). 

Whether this is true or not, I believe the Queen probably saw at least some of Marilyn's films. 

I'll leave you with this article from the Evening Standard with its' extensive write-up about Marilyn.

Mr. Miller Was Marilyn's LIFEBELT

This post is part of the Marilyn Monroe - 100th Birthday Anniversary Blogathon hosted by Hoofers and Honeys. Be sure to visit her site and read the rest of the entries celebrating the centennial of this iconic woman!

Sources: 
Morgan, Michelle. When Marilyn Met the Queen: Marilyn Monroe's Life in England. Pegasus Books, 2022. 
British and Australia Newspaper Archives

Double Feature: Two Hitchcock Remakes

I recently discovered British actor Kenneth More in The Admirable Crichton (1956) and, by searching Tubi to see what other films of his were available, that he had starred in a 1959 remake of Alfred Hitchcock's The 39 Steps (1935), which is a great favorite of mine. This led me to also discover that there was a 1979 remake of The Lady Vanishes starring Cybill Shepherd, Elliott Gould, and Angela Lansbury. I ended up watching them back-to-back and decided to jot down a quick post with my thoughts.

While enjoyable, The 39 Steps, directed by Ralph Thomas, had none of the suspense of the original. More acted as if he were simply on holiday and there was never any real feeling that his life was in danger. The women in the film - the lady who was murdered in his flat, the wife at the house he took refuge in, and finally Miss Fisher (Madeline Carroll's role) - weren't quite right either. The first was too matter of fact, the second a "fortune teller," and Miss Fisher not nearly annoyed enough. All of the tenseness of the original scenes simply wasn't present. The impromptu political speech Hannay gives in the original is replaced with a botany lecture at a girl's school that isn't nearly as tense or funny and the final scene fell a little flat. It's still worth a watch and the color scenery was lovely, though not as harsh and dramatic as in black and white. It helped lend to the more "holiday" feeling.

The Lady Vanishes, directed by Anthony Page, faired better. I've only seen the original once (as opposed to I think four times for The 39 Steps plus the book by John Buchan). Cybill Shepherd plays the heroine differently than Margaret Lockwood (I do wish Sheperd didn't talk so loud the entire time) but it was a fun film. Again, not as tense as the original but that film also had more of Hitchcock's humor. I would say the remake had a slight screwball element to it as well with Sheperd's portrayal as a seemingly flighty heiress with multiple marriages and on her way to another.  It was set in 1939 and had a stronger N*zi presence - our introduction to Shepherd's character is her doing a H*tler impression. There was on-location shooting in Austria, so this film had lovely scenery as well. 

Have you seen any remakes of Hitchcock films (aside from the one's he remade himself)? What did you think of them? Did you like them better than the original?

Movies I Watched in July

Isn't this floating card table in Maisie was a Lady (1941) amazing?

This month was much better movie-wise. I even started back up watching White Collar! Also I FINALLY watched both The Lady Vanishes and Brief Encounter! Loved both of them! If you like Brief Encounter you should watch Falling in Love (1984). It's not a remake but it's very similar. I've never been a fan of Meryl Streep but I really liked her in this one. She actually reminded me of my cousin's teenage daughter. I watched it on Kanopy.

I also finally posted another Recycled Costume Roundup!

1. New Morals for Old (1932) - Robert Young, Myrna Loy 
2. The Lady Vanishes (1938) - Margaret Lockwood & Michael Redgrave, Dame May Whitty
3. The Four Feathers (1939) - Ralph Richardson, C. Aubrey Smith
4. That Hamilton Woman (1941) - Vivian Leigh & Laurence Olivier, Gladys Cooper
5. My Life with Caroline  (1941) - Ronald Colman & Anna Lee, Charles Winninger, Reginald Gardiner, Gilbert Roland
6. Maisie was a Lady (1941) - Ann Sothern, Lew Ayers, Maureen O’Sullivan, C. Aubrey Smith
7. Brief Encounter (1945) - Celia Johnson & Trevor Howard
8. Lady Luck (1946) - Robert Young & Barbara Hale, Frank Morgan
9. *The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) - Fredric March & Myrna Loy, Dana Andrews & Teresa Wright, Harold Russell & Cathy O'Donnell, Virginia Mayo
10. Sword in the Desert (1949) - Dana Andrews, Marta Toren, Jeff Chandler
11. Where the Sidewalk Ends (1950) - Dana Andrews & Gene Tierney, Karl Malden, Gary Merrill
12. Walk Softly, Stranger (1950) - Joseph Cotten & Alida Valli
13. *Westward the Women (1952) - Robert Taylor & Denise Darcel, Hope Emerson
14. *River of No Return (1954) - Robert Mitchum & Marilyn Monroe 
15. Elephant Walk (1954) - Elizabeth Taylor, Dana Andrews, Peter Finch
16. The Sharkfighters (1956) - Victor Mature 
17. *Gidget (1959) - Sandra Dee & James Darren, Cliff Robertson 
18. The Hound of the Baskervilles (1959) - Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee
19. Number One (1969) - Charlton Heston, Bruce Dern
20. Falling in Love (1984) - Robert De Niro & Meryl Streep
21. Tough Guys (1986) - Burt Lancaster, Kirk Douglas, Eli Wallach, Alexis Smith
22. The Fugitive  (1993) - Harrison Ford, Tommy Lee Jones 
23. When in Rome (2010) - Kristen Bell & Josh Duhamel, Danny DeVito 
24. *Safe Haven (2013) - Julianne Hough & Josh Duhamel 
25. Bravetown (2015) - Lucas Till, Josh Duhamel, Laura Dern
26. *The Lost Husband (2020) - Leslie Bibb & Josh Duhamel 

Least Favorite Film: The Sharkfighters wasn't very good. Some of Number One was good but then some was like ??

Favorite Movie: Tough Guys was really funny. Eli Wallach was hilarious, especially the part where he picks up the walker. Also Brief Encounter and Falling in Love.

Favorite Quote: 

A dream is alright. It's an island everybody can sail to. But you can't stay on it or make a life on it.

~ Alida Valli in Walk Softly, Stranger (1950)

I hope I spot this gown from Maisie was a Lady (1941) in another movie someday! 

It looks like it has a sparkly crescent moon on the front. And love the back too!

Pick My Movie Tag 2: Five Least Favorite Hitchcock Films

I was tagged by The Flapper Dame to write a post on my five least favorite Alfred Hitchcock films for The Pick My Movie Tag 2. The rules are as follows:

• Nominate one or more people to review the film or films of your choice. Or you can request they review something from a certain year, genre, or star. Everyone can review the same thing, or you can request each person cover something different. As long as it’s something they haven’t written about yet, you’re good.
• Nominees are allowed to request a different pick for whatever reason no more than five times. Stuff happens. We all know it.
• Nominees must thank the person who nominated them and provide a link their blog.
• Nominees may nominate others to keep the tag going. Picking the person who nominated them is allowed, or they can nominate someone else. Maybe both.
• All participants need to include these rules in their post, whether they’re nominees or picking nominees.
• All participants should use the “Pick My Movie” banner or something similar in their posts.
• Have fun!

At first I thought I wouldn’t be able to come up with that number, but I looked through the films I’ve seen and five was the exact number. Now, I still have several films I haven’t seen. I started Under Capricorn once but it wasn’t grabbing me, and I have no desire to watch his final films, Family Plot and Frenzy. And of course I haven’t seen most of his British films (that includes a The Lady Vanishes - I know). However, here is what I was able to come up with (SPOILERS are marked):

1958

Ok, before you start, I only watched this once probably over a decade ago. I need to rewatch it. At the time though, I really wasn't a fan of Jimmy Stewart, especially when he gets those crazy eyes. I have a thing about close-ups of eyes in movies. I also thought he was too old for Kim Novak (same goes for Grace Kelly in Rear Window). The whole psychedelic sequence was not to my liking either. Being younger, I probably missed a lot of underlying meanings and signs that I would get nowadays. Anyway, this is the first film that pops into my head when asked about my least favorite Hitchcock film.

1944

SPOILERS: It really disturbed me when Walter Slezak (I think it was him?) let Canada Lee fall overboard while everyone was sleeping just because he was black. And William Bendix losing his leg also bothered me.

1948

I watched about 15 minutes but did not like it so I stopped. I will probably never watch it all the way through. It was just too morbid.

1936

I couldn't get on board with Sylvia Sidney being married to Oscar Homolka. And SPOILER, her brother getting blown up at the end was pretty gruesome, even though they didn't show it.

1939

I don't really remember anything about this movie except that it was boring and I didn't like it. Was probably just creeped out by Charles Laughton.

What can I say? Those are my choices and I'm sticking to them!

Thanks to Emily for tagging me! And now I tag Hamlette's Soliloquy to write about her Favorite Movie that was FILMED in Europe!

Royal Film Performance Series: Beau Brummell (1954)

The controversy over the poor choice film of the past several years for the Royal Film Performance came to a head in 1954, with the showing of Beau Brummell, starring Stewart Granger, Elizabeth Taylor, and Peter Ustinov. It portrayed an embarrassing time in Britain's history and the Monarchy. It also alluded more recent Royal scandals and mishaps, with parallels to the Duke of Windsor (King Edward VIII who abdicated in 1936) and Wallis Simpson. This article outlined the uncomfortable moments:

(Screenshot)

CLICK HERE TO READ ARTICLE

The scene where the "mad King George III" (Robert Morley) tries to strangle his son, the Prince of Wales (Peter Ustinov), was awkwardly, and noticeably, cut from the film.

"Whoever chose it deserves the Order of the Royal Boot" (source).

The Daily Express also wrote, "Why aren't the organizers satisfied with their yearly achievement of boring the Queen with what they choose to show her? Why this year did they decide to embarrass her instead? Fancy giving your patronage at a film show in which you have to watch [...] your ancestors going mad," [etc.].

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Another article asked, "What on earth persuaded the organizers to choose this of all films to show the Queen? Why didn't the Queen's advisers point out that it made fun of the Royal line and made the monarchy into a clown's act? Did the Queen go to the theatre last night, not knowing what she was in for?"

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Peter Ustinov, whose portrayal as the Prince of Wales/George IV was part of the controversy, had his own idea of why the film was chosen - "because the committee in charge of such events decided that nothing interested royalty more than royalty. It was only when Robert Morley as George III attempted to strangle me - a most realistic performance - that suddenly a hideous doubt sprang up in the minds of those responsible that the sight of one of the Queen's not-too-distant ancestors attempting to strangle another one in a fit of insanity was perhaps not the happiest of diversions for Her Majesty, and the press the next day bubbled with that particular form of pious hypocrisy which has marked all recent British scandals, large or small" (Dear Me, Peter Ustinov, 1977).

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The Duke of Edinburgh was also shocked at the choice. The royals understandable left quickly after the film. I would love to know what the Prince Philip's actual words were ;)

It even led to accusations of the Royal patronage being exploited by the movie magnates in order to line their own pockets, as a film that was attended by the Royals earned as much as £50,000 extra.

Read the full article here.

The Queen is famous for "keeping calm and carrying on" but she had finally had enough. In 2010, recently declassified documents confirmed the 1954 headlines. Winston Churchill's Private Secretary, David Pitblado, wrote in a memo, "The Prime Minister asked me to look into this when he returned from his audience with the Queen. The Queen had told him what a bad film it was and he, on his own initiative, wanted to see what could be done about it for the future." Another memo written by Sir Frank Lee, the Permanent Secretary at the Board of Trade, said, "There is no doubt at all that the quality of the films shown to HM on the last four occasions (which I have also had the misfortune to attend) ranged from the mediocre down to the vulgar and distressing. The whole evening is a long and garish ordeal; it is not surprising that both HM herself and most outside critics should ask whether the selection of the main film to be shown could not be radically improved." You can read the Daily Mail article here. 

Suggestions for this improvement were reported in this article:

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Producer Alexander Korda, suggested an independent committee that would choose something "more worthy of the occasion which would make the event a more glittering occasion and may be more entertaining for Her Majesty" (source).

There were even rumors of the Queen banning future Royal Film Performances.

Source

It was decided that a someone from outside the movie business would have the final say in the choice of picture. They would also eliminate the stage show and shorten the "meet and greet," so that the length of the evening would be around two hours and forty minutes. This proved to solve the problem, and the Queen was delighted with the choice of film for 1955 (check back next month to see what it was!) and the new shorter format.

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Despite the choice of film, the event, which took place on November 11 at the Empire Theatre, was a glittering event. Stars in attendance included Stewart Granger and his wife, Jean Simmons, Peter Ustinov, and some of the usual British stars that attended annually: John Mills, Anna Neagle, Jack Hawkins, and Michael Redgrave. Hollywood stars included Jane Russell, Shelley Winters. Jack Hawkins' son, Nicholas, was chosen to hand the bouquet to HM. J. Arthur Rank, of Rank Films, was also present.

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Video of Stars and Royals arriving

Jack Hawkins, the narrator, calls Stewart Granger "Jimmy Granger." Granger's real name was James Stewart. He understandably couldn't use that name in pictures ;)

Clips of the shorts and stage show shown before the film

Jane Russell source | Shelley Winters source

Their reactions to meeting the Queen were included in this article (sadly, Russell didn't write about her second Royal Film Performance in her autobiography and Winters merely mentions she attended in hers).

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This article describes the gowns in a little more detail.

Jane Russell also recalled what she spoke about with Prince Philip:

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Much was made of Peter Finch meeting the Queen:

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One more article on the evening:

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To see some great photos of the evening, Google "Royal Film Performance 1954" and click on "images."

Cinema Wedding Gowns: Rob Roy the Highland Rogue (1953)

This month's Royal Film Performance post was on the Walt Disney film, Rob Roy the Highland Rogue (1953). In it, Glynis Johns wears a lovely wedding dress. I thought it would be fun to feature it today.

Set in 18th century Scotland, the dress features a silhouette similar to Colonial/Revolutionary War style gowns, with the 3/4 sleeves edged in ruffles and the low neckline. 

It is made of heavy ivory satin and ends just above the ankles.

The skirt is flat in front and pleated on the sides and back.

The waist is tight and seems to have some sort of belt. Notice the way the ruffles on the sleeve are attached.

The neckline is just barely off the shoulders and features an interesting wrap-like design, withplisse fabric attached behind and covering the bust. It makes a soft "V" shaped neckline. A tartan (probably her family's clan, as it is different from the MacGregor tartan) is attached at the right shoulder with a brooch and falling behind her is then caught up over her left arm.

A closer look at the sleeves, double heart brooch, white shoes and stockings, and what looks like a veil. In a promotional photo she is wearing a wreath of ivy in her hair.