the Fox publicity office, eager for any assignment. She wanted to talk to reporters. She wanted to be photographed. She was willing to pose in any and all circumstances. Posing for still photographs never caused Marilyn the sort of anxiety that going in front of a motion picture camera invariably did. When the studio publicity people had nothing for her, she danced attendance on the show-business columnist Sidney Skolsky, who had an “office” in Schwab’s drugstore. Marilyn enlisted Skolsky’s help in preparing sympathetic stories about her to feed to the press. Skolsky frequently mentioned “the Monroe” in his own columns and encouraged his colleagues to do the same.
Touched by Marilyn’s efforts to get publicity, Kazan asked Shaw to take some pictures for her portfolio. Shaw protested that photographing pretty girls wasn’t his line, but Kazan insisted. Marilyn turned up for the shoot in a black gaberdine suit, stiletto heels, and a cute little white beret. Shaw, uncomfortable with the assignment, decided to do the pictures as a satire. He photographed Marilyn, wearing horn-rimmed glasses, reading Vernon Louis Parrington’s thick tome on the history of American literature. When Kazan saw what Shaw had done, he was outraged. “You son of a bitch!” Kazan barked. “That’s a satirical thing. You’remaking fun of the kid!” Kazan, almost in spite of himself, seemed really to care about her.
Kazan took his family home on August 11. There was a last-minute censorship crisis over
A Streetcar Named Desire
, and he needed to be in New York. The remaining post-production work on
Zapata
could wait until he returned to Los Angeles. While in the east, Kazan met up with Miller, who was once again in crisis. That month,
As Young as You Feel
had its premiere in New York. Seven months had passed since Miller and Kazan had first glimpsed Marilyn on the Fox sound stage. Almost seven months had passed since Miller had decided to resist his attraction to her and go back to his wife. Miller told Kazan that he had done everything he could to save his marriage, but that it was no use. After California, Arthur felt that Mary had shown no willingness to forgive. According to Miller, their household, across the East River in Brooklyn Heights, remained a harsh, cold, loveless place.
When Marilyn heard about Arthur’s decision, she rushed to New York to see him. But it was no good. At the last minute, he called off their meeting. He had decided to try yet again with his wife. Marilyn, hurt and humiliated, spent some time at her hotel with Kazan. She flew back to Los Angeles in the morning. By the time she got back, she had filed away the whole Miller episode as something that wasn’t going to happen. The fantasy that such a man was going to swoop into her life and fall in love with her appeared to have ended. Marilyn had her work to occupy her. Hardly had she returned to Hollywood when exciting new developments demanded her full attention. Indeed, it appeared that Marilyn’s efforts were finally about to pay off.
Suddenly, Marilyn seemed to be making progress on several fronts at once. On August 21, Twentieth officially agreed to loan Marilyn out to RKO, where she was to appear in
Clash by Night
, a screen adaptation of Clifford Odets’s play. Marilyn’s assignment was a major breakthrough in two ways. She would be working with Fritz Lang, the director of such classics as
Metropolis, M
, and
Fury
, and she would receive star billing, though in fact she was to have only a supporting role as a worker in a fish-canning factory. For the first time, her name would appear above thetitle, along with those of Barbara Stanwyck, Paul Douglas, and Robert Ryan.
Two weeks after the contracts for the loan-out were signed,
Collier’s
magazine published the first full-scale profile of Marilyn Monroe. The article, “1951’s Model Blonde,” was an extraordinary achievement for a young actress who, after all, had yet to do a single
Touched by Marilyn’s efforts to get publicity, Kazan asked Shaw to take some pictures for her portfolio. Shaw protested that photographing pretty girls wasn’t his line, but Kazan insisted. Marilyn turned up for the shoot in a black gaberdine suit, stiletto heels, and a cute little white beret. Shaw, uncomfortable with the assignment, decided to do the pictures as a satire. He photographed Marilyn, wearing horn-rimmed glasses, reading Vernon Louis Parrington’s thick tome on the history of American literature. When Kazan saw what Shaw had done, he was outraged. “You son of a bitch!” Kazan barked. “That’s a satirical thing. You’remaking fun of the kid!” Kazan, almost in spite of himself, seemed really to care about her.
Kazan took his family home on August 11. There was a last-minute censorship crisis over
A Streetcar Named Desire
, and he needed to be in New York. The remaining post-production work on
Zapata
could wait until he returned to Los Angeles. While in the east, Kazan met up with Miller, who was once again in crisis. That month,
As Young as You Feel
had its premiere in New York. Seven months had passed since Miller and Kazan had first glimpsed Marilyn on the Fox sound stage. Almost seven months had passed since Miller had decided to resist his attraction to her and go back to his wife. Miller told Kazan that he had done everything he could to save his marriage, but that it was no use. After California, Arthur felt that Mary had shown no willingness to forgive. According to Miller, their household, across the East River in Brooklyn Heights, remained a harsh, cold, loveless place.
When Marilyn heard about Arthur’s decision, she rushed to New York to see him. But it was no good. At the last minute, he called off their meeting. He had decided to try yet again with his wife. Marilyn, hurt and humiliated, spent some time at her hotel with Kazan. She flew back to Los Angeles in the morning. By the time she got back, she had filed away the whole Miller episode as something that wasn’t going to happen. The fantasy that such a man was going to swoop into her life and fall in love with her appeared to have ended. Marilyn had her work to occupy her. Hardly had she returned to Hollywood when exciting new developments demanded her full attention. Indeed, it appeared that Marilyn’s efforts were finally about to pay off.
Suddenly, Marilyn seemed to be making progress on several fronts at once. On August 21, Twentieth officially agreed to loan Marilyn out to RKO, where she was to appear in
Clash by Night
, a screen adaptation of Clifford Odets’s play. Marilyn’s assignment was a major breakthrough in two ways. She would be working with Fritz Lang, the director of such classics as
Metropolis, M
, and
Fury
, and she would receive star billing, though in fact she was to have only a supporting role as a worker in a fish-canning factory. For the first time, her name would appear above thetitle, along with those of Barbara Stanwyck, Paul Douglas, and Robert Ryan.
Two weeks after the contracts for the loan-out were signed,
Collier’s
magazine published the first full-scale profile of Marilyn Monroe. The article, “1951’s Model Blonde,” was an extraordinary achievement for a young actress who, after all, had yet to do a single
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