The name “Marilyn Monroe” conjures a variety of different images and impressions. Some might call her an icon, others a sex symbol. Someone might take note of her platinum blonde hair while another could go on about her body (which was not considered plus-size, then or now). Regardless, she is a legend who has transcended the era in which she lived and has become ubiquitous with everything that represents Hollywood, glamor and tragedy.
Monroe only lived to the age of 36, dying of an accidental drug overdose in 1962. But over the past 100 years since her birth, she’s given viewers a person to love, mourn and analyze. The emphasis on her personal life and demons, though, has often overlooked the films themselves. As Billy Wilder, Monroe’s director on the features The Seven Year Itch and Some Like It Hot once said about her, “The greatest thing about Monroe is not her chest. It is her ear. She is a master of delivery. She can read comedy better than anyone in the world.” And the films included below certainly showcase her mastery of delivery, whether that’s in comedy, drama or musicals.
Her legacy as a performer is one of appearances being deceiving. In spite of her beauty and platinum hair, she was anything but a “dumb blonde”. She was a producer, a perfectionist, a woman who wanted to be seen as a person and respected as a woman. Even in movies made about her, only one of which is included in this list, there’s a desire to showcase who she was as a person and an actor. The films below—in chronological order—demonstrate different facets of Marilyn Monroe, and do a fantastic job of presenting the performer she was, and what she could have been.
