My journey ends here...
1960
JANUARY :
Wednesday, January 6 : Marilyn attended the reahearsals of "Let's Make Love" but could only stay half an hour at the studio.
Friday, January 8 : Marilyn's agent at the MCA, George Chasin, called Lew Schreiber, (one of the head of the Fox) to inform him that Marilyn would only go back to work in 10 days. He had had a long conversation with her and she had promised to come on time and to work properly.
Starting the shooting on January 18, it would be finished on March 25, if everything was all right. In other words, Marilyn would directly go from the shooting of "Let's Make Love" to the one of the "The Misfits".
In the condition she was at that time, it was hard to imagine but technically possible.
As for Miller, he was impatient to achieve his project.
The studio asked him a new serie of revision of the screenplay of "Let’s Make Love", for a 7 000$ more consideration.
Meanwhile, he was supposed to cut the screenplay of "The Misfits".
Monday, January 11 : John
Huston informed Frank Taylor, friend and publisher of Miller,
in charge of the production of "The
Misfits" (
),
that he tried to cut the screenplay on his own, hoping that by
combining their efforts, they would manage to reduce the length of the
scenario.
Saturday, January 16 :
Press conference
organized by the Fox to present "Let's Make Love", with the main actors (
,
,,
,
,
), director George Cukor
(
), producer Buddy Adler (
), reporter Dorothy Kilgallen
(
,
) and presenter Milton Berle (
,
,
).
The shooting had to start the following Monday, January 18.
The couples Montand and Miller then left the party (
,
) to have dinner (
).
Sunday, January 17 : at 5.00 PM, the studio was notified that Marilyn wouldn't be present the next day.
(
,
).
After the tensions of the past year, Marilyn and Arthur seemed to have concluded a respite; they hoped "The Misfits" (real token of love from Miller) would re-establish the harmony in their married life.
Miller knew Montand since 1956, and the 2 couples had spent many and pleasant evenings in September 1959, when Montand triumphed in Broadway.
At that time they had dinner together every evening, at restaurants, eating some spaghettis (
) or a
lamb stew, after the rehearsals (
,
,
,
,
,
,
).
While Yves Montand improved his English language and tried to understand a badly
structured, whitout any humor screenplay, Simone Signoret, who was
between 2 shootings, did some shopping and strolled in Beverly Hills.
She also helped her husband rehearsing his text , Montand fearing more than everything else to express himself in English.
Monday, January 18 : beginning of the shooting of "Let's Make Love". Because of Marilyn's absence, Cukor shot a scene which didn't need her presence.
She called in sick day after day. Montand, who had to change his text at the last minute, cracked up on Thursday, January 21.
Friday, January 22 : Miller informed John Huston he postponed his leaving to Ireland.
From New York City, Marilyn's psychoanalyst, Dr Marianne Kris, recommended her one of her colleague in Los Angeles,
Marianne Kris called Greenson asking him to take care of Marilyn for few sessions, because she was in a serious tension and anxiety condition.
Dr Greenson also belonged to Anna Freud's circle.
He was professor in psychiatry at the Medical School of the UCLA
(University of California, Los
Angeles), dean of the Los Angeles Institute for Psychoanalysis
school and member of the medical council of the Reiss-Davis Clinic.
Among his patients there were other actors, including Peter Lorre, Frank Sinatra and Vivien Leigh.
He visited Marilyn in her bungalow at the Beverly Hills Hotel and started by reducing the drugs doses, asking her to to ask anymore for prescriptions to various doctors, as she did it for a long time.
He demanded she would only be treated by him and Dr Hyman Engelberg, General Practitioner in Beverly Hills.
Monday, January 25 : Marilyn was on the set n° 14 and shot a part of the scene "My Heart Belongs to Daddy"
(
,
,
,
,
).
Tuesday, January 26 : again she was on the set and worked alone, another time (
,
;
,
,
).
Wednesday, January 27 : she had to shoot her first scene with Yves Montand. She was on the set from 7.00 AM, but at around 9.00 AM, when she arrived after the make-up , she announced that she had to immediately go back home.
Meanwhile, the MCA had informed the Fox that Marilyn had to start the shooting of "The Misfits" between April 1st and 14.
Paula Strasberg was still with Marilyn and earned 2 000$ a week (
,
);
but during the shooting, Marilyn more easily turned to Montand
(who wanted to improve his English language) than to Paula.
) on the set and Agnes Flanagan
of her hairstyle (
,
).
Friday, January 29 : Marilyn was at the studio, once again, at 10.00 AM and got ready to shoot with Montand
(
,
,
).
Despite Marilyn's repeated lateness, the movie progressed.
Arthur got away for a short time to New York City, for quietly working on the cuts in "The Misfits".
Clark Gable signed his contract for the shooting of "The Misfits" for the amount of 750 000 $ plus a commission on the film takings.
During the shooting, her friend and reporter Sidney
Skolsky visited her (
), as well as reporter Louella
Parsons
(
,
).
Marilyn received an invitation (
) to the 30th gala of the French Artists Union on March 4, 1960, signed by the gala's president, Josephine Baker. But being in the middle of a shooting, Marilyn couldn't attend it.
FEBRUARY
Thursday, February 4 : Miller was back in Los Angeles.
Marilyn was assiduous at work.
The Fox estimated that Cukor would have finished the shooting for April 6. Considering the post-production, the shooting of "The Misfits" should be postponed.
Wednesday, February 10 : Miller flew to Ireland, to join John Huston (
), in order to work again in the screenplay of "The Misfits".
This day Marilyn wasn't present at the studio : it was obvious that this stoppage of work was linked to Arthur's leaving.
Thursday, February 11 : Marilyn was present at the studio, but she was soon sent back home, because, visibly, she wasn't in good condition to shoot.
The Fox indicated she needed more time to end "Let's Make Love". The Fox lawyer attached the daily count of the time Marilyn had made the production lost, adding that he couldn't precisely estimate the necessary time to end everything.
Thursday, February 18 : she worsened her situation by omitting to tell about her absence.
No matter the Fox called several times her bungalow, Marilyn didn't answer. At the hotel desk, the studio was informed that she had made a long-distance call, which at least, proved that she was alive.
At the Beverly Hills Hotel, Montand, furious, sent Simone Signoret to see what was going on. She knocked at Marilyn's door, but didn't obtain any answer.
Later, Montand slid a note under her door :
"You can do whatever you want to Spyros Skouras, to the Fox, to every producer of this city, if you 're upset. But when you hang around at night, listening to what my wife is saying instead of going to bed, because yoy have decided not to wake up the next day to go to the studio, tell it to me! Don't leave me working for hours a scene you have decided not to shoot the next day. I'm not your enemy, but your friend. And the capricious girls have never distracted me".
In the evening, on Marilyn's request, Arthur Miller called them from Ireland : Marilyn blamed herself a lot and wanted Montand and Simone Signoret to visit her. When they did it, she welcomed them in tears, begging forgiveness.
Miller still worked one more week in Ireland with John Huston on the screenplay of "The Misfits".Monday, February 22 : Marilyn was on the set at 10.30 AM.
Marilyn wasn't nominated for the Best Actress which was, for many people, an injustice.
On the other hand, Simone Signoret was nominated for her role in "Room at the Top".
Apparently, Marilyn took quite well this affront.
She conscientiously came to work each day, and viewed the rushes with interest.
This Monday, Cukor had a 7 days delay on his schedule.
Friday, February 26 : the delay of the shooting reached 10 days. The Fox wanted Cukor to speed the shooting up.
Saturday, February 27 : Arthur Miller came back from Ireland.
MARCH :
Friday, March 4 : last shots of "Let's Make Love", but the shooting was stopped because of an actors and writers strike, who asked for their arrears.
The Writers Guild expressed its solidariry but Miller, too busy with the revision of the screenplay of "The Misfits" couldn't take part of it.
Monday, March 7 : the Actors Union joined the Authors Union, already on strike against the studios and the producers, stopping like this the whole production in Hollywood. For the unions, the stake was the payment of an additional salary to the actors and the writers whose movies were broadcasted on TV, so bringing in huge profits to the studios.
So
it was impossible to find a screenwriter or a playwright ready to
reject the strike to work on the problematic sequences of "Let's Make
Love".
So the production of the movie was officially suspended until the end of the strike.
Jerry Wald, the producer of the movie, had hoped to see the movie finally finished for April 13, but if the strike went on, nobody could predict the future of the situation.
Yves Montand insisted to, at all costs, honor his commitment in Japan , where he had to start a tour from May on.
Miller needed Marilyn to finish the movie to begin the shooting of "The Misfits".
Cukor was fearfully stressed because he had only shot 74 pages of a 150 pages screenplay.
Tuesday, March 8 : Marilyn was nomminated (
) and received the Golden Globe Award for the "Best Actress, Comedy or Musical in 1959" (
) in "Some Like it Hot", awarded by the Foreign Press Association.The ceremony took place at the Cocoanut Grove of the Los Angeles Ambassador Hotel (
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
).
Her friend, actress Shelley Winters attended this party (
,
,
).
Marilyn felt quite a satisfaction but wasn't much self-confident.
The Montands stayed in Los Angeles, and the Millers decided to go back to New York, waiting for the end of the strike.
In Hollywood, Marilyn regularly saw Dr Greenson, and in New York, she could go back to her sessions with Dr Marfianne Kris.
As for Arthur, he had to finish the third version of "The Misfits", which still had to be subjected to United Artists for the final approval.
In Los Angeles, the couple Montand-Signoret spent many evenings at the producer and agent Charles
Feldman's place. During the strike, the Fox paid them their expenses.
Marilyn agreed the position (mainly honorific) of substitute of the Connecticut 5th district of the Democratic Party during John Fitzgerald Kennedy presidential campaign.
When she came back to Hollywood, she was the first on a list of celebrities calling to John Kennedy's candidacy.
This support commitee had been organized by Frank Sinatra, with the help of Pat Newcomb.
With Frank Taylor and Steven Grimes, his art director, Miller left to Nevada to visit Reno and the places where he intended to shoot "The Misfits".
APRIL:
Monday, April 4 : during the 32nd ceremony of the Academy Awards at the Pantages Theater,
Simone Signoret received the Best Actress award, before Elizabeth Taylor,
Katharine Hepburn, Audrey Hepburn and Doris Day, for her part of Alice
Aisgill in "Room at the Top".
During the ceremony, Yves Montand sang.
Friday, April 8 : the strike of the actors and writers ended, so allowing to start again the shooting of "Let's Make Love".
Saturday, April 9 : Simone Signoret went back to France before going to Roma, Italy, for a new shooting.
Monday, April 11 : Marilyn went back to Los Angeles with Arthur and the couple settled again at the Beverly Hills Hotel.
During her stay, she had some hair care by the Elizabeth Arden salon (
,
).
Tuesday, April 12 : Marilyn was on the set of "Let's Make Love" (
).
Wednesday, April 13 : she was present on the set, but the rhythm of the shooting slowed down quite fast.
Yves
Montand tried to postpone his tour scheduled in Japan for May,
but the organizers refused.
Montand
quite quickly realized that he had to be a foil for Marilyn, but the
satisfaction to start his debut in Hollywood helped him to overcome his
disappointment. Because of his thankless role, he was much more
concerned about the English dialogue, Cukor had to completely
re-record. Each day he confided to Marilyn his fear of not properly
acting or having a bad diction.
He dreaded appearing as awkward as his character, and his confession
created a link between them. Probably for the first time in her career
Marilyn heard someone expressing the same concerns as hers. They talked
together about their anxiety concerning the fact their colleagues
laughed at them or would despise them : both had asserted
themselves in few good parts and had got married to particularly famous
artists. A real connection linked them whitout anything to do with a
youthful explosion of passion.
Still, the whole success of the movie relied on Marilyn's shoulders. She had well understood it but also knew her limits. Worried and always afraid of not being up to the task, she was always late and often absent during the musical scenes which represented half of the time of the shooting.
This difficult shooting increased her feeling of insecurity, because she had no support neither in Cukor's loose direction, nor in Miller's condescending behavior.
The doors slammed shut in the Millers bungalow : obviously, the couple tore each other apart.
The shooting became a real nightmare : Miller could hardly work a whole day and Cukor didn't have more than 4 hours a day to shoot Marilyn.
Arthur only spent few days in Los Angeles. He settled many details about "The Misfits", then went back to New York to finish his screenplay.
Marilyn managed to show the less possible her grief. She became friend with Evelyn Moriarty, a young woman who was her stand-in; this one had to shoot the scene before Marilyn's arrival, replacing her for the lighting tests and rehearsing with the other actors.
(
).
Saturday, April 16, with Yves Montand, she attended Josephine Baker's follies at the Hollywood Hartford Theater (
,
).
End of April : Marilyn came back from the studio with a cold and a slight temperature. Montand went to her bungalow to suggest her a beverage or a light meal. It was at that moment their love affair started, which would enf at the end of June.
The press learned about it through the usual methods : reporters prowled in the Beverly Hills Hotel bushes and bribed with no shame the chambermaids in order to obtain some revelations about the lovers doings.
Realistic, she didn't expect anything more.
Arthur Miller, still in New York, didn't suspect anything. He saw that Marilyn seemed to be in stunning shape, but didn't wonder why, while formerly his wife hardly managed to drag herself on the set. In his blindness, he didn't give credit to Montand for this positive progress, but Cukor.
Saturday, April 30 : Miller wrote to Cukor to thank him for everything he had done for Marilyn. Marilyn had never been so happy in her work. She was full of hope, thanks to the director's patience and talent.
Then, he wrote, Cukor surely understood why Marilyn was so precious to him; he added that he still had some work to end in the East Coast, but that he couldn't remain alone for a long time. The irony of the situation surely didn't escape to Cukor, one of the first people to be aware of Marilyn and Montand's love affair.
She kept on seeing Dr Greenson.
MAY:
Beginning of the month : Arthur Miller arrived in Los Angeles. He was surely the last one to be aware of his misfortune.
And
even when he discovered the love affair of his wife with Montand, he
hid his anger and kept on making his projects progress (
, 
).
He went back to New York. Meanwhile, Marilyn appeared everywhere with Montand.
Cheryl Crawford (co-founder of the Actors Studio) wanted to see Montand play in a Broadway musical; she took Marilyn and Montand to a party at David Selznick's place (independent producer), where attended about forty people.
The
party was a disaster : in Hollywood, everyone had appreciated
Simone Signoret; by betraying her, Montand saw his own popularity
falling.
JUNE :
Wednesday, June 1st : Marilyn appreciated the fact the crew of the movie celebrated her 34th birthday (
,
,
,
,
).
In the evening, Rupert Allan,
her press agent, gave a dinner in her honor at his home, at Seabright
Place, in the heights of Beverly Hills. She talked for a long time
about the American theater with the author Tennessee Williams.
Mdi-June : the columnists spread the rumor about a divorce and a remarriage between Marilyn and Montand.
Tuesday, June 14, she received a thank-you letter from reporter Sammy Cahn (
), thanking her of having been invited to her birthday party of June 1st.
Thursday, June 16 : Marilyn and Montand shot their last scene together.
Friday, June 17 : Montand played witout Mariilyn : he made the post-synchronization.
Monday, June 20 : Marilyn shot her last sequence of "Let's Make Love". The movie had a 28 days delay.
Buddy Adler (producer at the Fox) could be appalled with Marilyn's physical appearance, it had been decided not to take the shots again, which was revealing of the negative opinion the Fox had on this movie, and of the haste everyone had to end it.
It remained Marilyn only 2 or 3 days of post-synchronization to do.
Only the way she had sung "
John
Huston arrived in New York; he met Miller several times and had to leave on June 24 or 25 to Reno (Nevada) in order to inspect the outdoors. He wanted to start the shooting of "The Misfits" on July 18.
Tuesday, June 21
: Marilyn had a laryngitis and couldn't make the post-synchronization.
But with Yves Montand, she attended
the premiere of the movie of
Billy Wilder, "The Apartment" (
,
) then the following party at Romanoff’s.
Wednesday, June 22 : she wasn't present at the studio and refused to answer the phone calls.
Thursday, June 23 : the heads of the Fox, once again unable to join her, sent her a telegram at the Beverly Hills Hotel, begging her to come on the set before leaving Los Angeles.
Friday, June 24
: she arrived at the studio and viewed the movie with Montand. When she
left the screening room, she declared that she might stay few days more
in Los Angeles to have rest. She planned to do the post-synchronization
on Thursday, June 30.
Thursday, June 30 : Marilyn arrived in New York.
She had to make the fitting of the costumes of "The Misfits", the production had to start in July.
Montand remained in Hollywood to negotiate her contracts.
JULY :
The
Fox refused that Marilyn makes the post-synchronization of
"Let's Make Love" in New York. Arthur Miller suggested Marilyn
that she would stop in Los
Angeles (on July 14), on her way to Nevada, to start the shooting of "The Misfits". For the Fox, July 14th would be too late, but
Lew Schreiber (producer at the Fox) ended up agreeing reluctantly.
Friday, July 8 :
fitting of the costumes of "The Misfits" (
,
,
,
;
,
).
Sunday, July 10 : a dinner was organized at the Beverly Hilton Hotel of Los Angeles, the day before the opening of the
Democratic Convention (
).
The place setting cost 100$; there were many guests, including Milton
Berle, Janet Leigh, Tony Curtis, Judy Garland and the "Jack's group",
John Kennedy's friends. Jackie Kennedy, 6 months pregnant, didn't
attend.
Monday, July 11 : Miller warned the MCA that Marilyn was once again unwell.
Between Tuesday, July 12 and Wednesday 20 :
John Kennedy made a speech at the Los Angeles Coliseum ("The New
Frontier")
to end the Democratic Convention. After his speech, a dinner was
organized at Peter Lawford's place (John Kennedy's brother-in-law)
in his beach house of Santa Monica. Marilyn attended the party,
accompanied with Sammy Davis
Jr.
Monday, July 18 :
Marilyn was back in Los Angeles, on her way to Nevada (
,
).
Arthur was already in Reno (Nevada), the shooting had to start this day.
Marilyn's arrival in Reno was scheduled on Wednesday, July 20.
By mutual agreement, Miller and Huston decided to pull Paula Strasberg aside, who had to attend the shooting.
In Los Angeles, Marilyn had a session with Dr Greenson and also saw Dr
Engelberg.
Wednesday, July 20 : she arrived in Reno (Nevada)
at 2.45 PM, in a DC-7, to start the shooting of the outdoors of "The Misfits". Arthur Miller
was waiting for her at the airport.
She wore a white silk blouse and a white skirt whose zipper stuck out on her back, and had a blonde wig on her head she
intended to wear in the
movie (
,
,
,,
,
,
,
).
When she arrived, she suffered from abdominal pain and vomiting; she was physically and psychologically exhausted (she only had 2 weeks of rest between the 2 shootings).
Marilyn and Miller's relations had reached their breaking point.
In his autobiography, Miller wrote : "Since the beginning of "The Misfits" it was impossible to me to deny that, if there was a key for Marilyn's despair, I didn't own it".
Thursday, July 21 : first day of shooting; the scene was shot in a cramped room of a Reno family hotel (and corresponded to
one of the first scene of the
movie) (
).
The first days of shooting calmly took place (
,
;
,
;
,
,
,
,
,
).
Sunday, July 24, the Taylors organized a dinner for the beginning of the shooting, in the house they rented in the area of
Reno, to which attended Marilyn
and Arthur Miller and also the whole of the crew and the actors.
At the beginning of the shooting, the screenplay wasn't finished despite 3 years of work, several successive drafts and a detailed project.
The movie relied on Miller's experience when he had come in Nevada, to carry out his residence necessity, in order to divorce from his first wife, in 1956. During this time, he had met a cow-boys group who captured mustangs (wild horses).
The screenplay forged page after page by Miller and Huston, abounded with long tirades on individualism excess, lack of privacy and communication, in the modern world, the West decline and the nature of the American soul. But the screenplay mostly lacked action.
What's more, Miller had started to write "The Misfits", he was a man in love : he had felt touched by his wife's relation with nature, her love for children and animals, her liking for flowers and gardening, lastly her sensibility to the life she embodied in fullness. But in 1960, his point of view had completely changed. Then the movie appeared to him as a black and white topic, which fully reflected his biterness and disappointment.
Marilyn's whole "family" was present : her coach Paula Strasberg, her masseur Ralph Roberts
(
;
,
,
), her secretary May
Reis (
,
), her personal make-up man Allan Snyder (
,
,
,
,
), her hairstylist Agnes Flanagan
(
,
,
,
,
), her stand-in Evelyn
Moriarty (
), an expert in body make-up Bunny
Gardel (
,
), her dresser Sherlee Strahm and her chauffeur Rudy Kautzky (from the Carey Limousine Company).
The shooting was very demanding (6 hours of shots under an oppressive sun) and became unbearable with the tension reigning between Marilyn and Miller, each of them having its own camp; Frank Taylor (publisher and Miller's friend), Huston and Miller developped a strategy to drive Paula apart from the set.
When Marilyn realized it, she called Lee Strasberg who arrived right away.
Under Lee Strasberg's threat, Miller's clan (Angela Allen (Huston's scriptgirl (
,
)), Eli Wallach (
)
and Doc Erickson, head of the production) mellowed; Marilyn's
clan (Ralph Roberts (who played an ambulance driver in the movie,
Paula Strasberg, Agnes Flanagan, May Reis, Whitey Snyder, Montgomery
Clift and
Frank LaRue his companion) drank some champagne.
Only Clark Gable and John Huston tried not to take a stand for any of the clans.
Miller criticized Strasberg's behavior on the set ; although Marilyn completely depended on Strasberg to gather the whole self-confidence she needed, Strasberg only attended the outdoor shoting when things threatened to completely detriorate.
The
atmosphere was full of Marilyn's hostility toward Miller, arguments
between Paula Strasberg and John Huston, an many other anger
expressions.
Marilyn and Miller had argument in public and in private during the first half of the shooting (
,
,
).
Marilyn reproached him for having required an insufficient salary (the
Millers earned 500 000$ together, while Clark Gable earned 750 000$).
Miller constantly rewrote the dialogues and stayed up late at night. The next day, he reviewed the text with John Huston at the hotel of on the set. Marilyn found hard to remember her lines and the constant changings made things much more difficult. She didn't consider the movie anymore as a gift.
Marilyn's lack of punctuality, her illnesses, her wooly condition due to the barbiturates massive doses to sleep, her arguments with Miller made the shooting long and difficult.
As time goes back, she was more and more late and when she finally arrived, she didn't listen to neither Huston, nor Miller, not
only
Paula Strasberg (
,,,,,
).
Wednesday, July 27 : John Huston and the whole crew went to the Styx ranch, at Quail Canyon, a place surrounded by hills
covered of mugwort and wild rye, 45
minutes by car from Reno 
,,
,
,
,
,
).
The cow-boys who had been used a model for Miller for his short story, had lived in this ranch. Miller realized that many things had changed since his visit and made some changings in the screenplay.
AUGUST :
Monday, August 1st : Marilyn didn't appear on the set.
Friday, August 5 : double birthday party for both John Huston and Clark Gable's wife, at the Mapes Hotel
(
) : 
,
,
,
.
Saturday, August 13 : Sinatra invited Marilyn, Miller and the main actors of "The Misfits" at the premiere of his show at the Cal
Neva Lodge (
) near the LakeTahoe (
,
,
,
,
).
Sinatra was buying the Cal Neva Lodge with Sam Giancana (head of the Mafia) and Milton Rudin (his lawyer).
The manager was Paul Skinny D’Amato, who, for Giancana, had ran the "Thunderbird" in Havana.
Dr
Greenson had prescribed her 300mg of Nembutal each evening (the usual
dose prescribed was 100mg for maximum a couple of week). Marilyn's
depression got worse, her confusion increased; she often expressed
herself in an incoherent way, walking in a non-firm step. At night, she
was haunted by nightmares, her mood was surprisingly unstable and
sometimes she had hysterics; but she kept in working every afternoons,
despite a dreadful heat.
Tuesday, August 16 : John Huston used to play dice for nights on end, losing huge amount of money and challenging himself
to win back (
,
,
,
,
).
This evening, he lost 16 000$, playing dice. The total of his loss reached 50 000$, much more than the credit (for the casino) granted to the whole crew by the production company. The shooting had imposed huge expenses, and when Max Youngstein, the United Artists vice president (the company which produced the movie) came on the set, it clearly appeared that Huston had gone too far. The Mapes Hotel casino and the Harrah’s Club asked for being repaid.
So Huston had to find as soon as possible the necessary fund. Otherwise, the production might be suspended for an undetermined length, the weekly wages couldn't be anymore paid.
Saturday, August 20 : Marilyn flew to Los Angeles, as she used to do it when she had 2 days of rest. During those visits, she consulted Greenson and Engelberg, and obtained some prescriptions for drugs.
This
week-end, Marilyn purchased a dress for the premiere of "Let's Make
Love", which had to take place in Reno, the following evening. She
spent the night at the Beverly Hills Hotel and got back to Nevada
on Sunday morning, with Ralph Roberts and May Reis.
Sunday, August 21
: the night before, a fire devastated the sierras and on Sunday, it
ravaged the power lines which served Reno and plunged the town in a
total darkness.
So the premiere of "Let's Make Love" was cancelled.
Monday, August 22 : Marilyn went back to work on the set (
,
,
,
,
,
;
,
;
,
). Apparently relieved by her 2 peaceful sleep nights, she was in the humor of joking with her colleagues.
It was the Magnum agency which had obtained the world exclulsive to make the pictures of the shooting.
,
,
,
,
,
) and Henri Cartier-Bresson (
,
, 
).
Several other photographers of this agency took over from each other on the set, including Eve Arnold (
,
,
,
), Elliott Erwitt (
,
), Bruce Davidson (
,
,
), Cornell Capa (
,
,
) and Ernst
Haas (,).
On Wednesday, August 24, Thursday 25 and Friday 26 : Marilyn appeared in difficult sequences (at the rodeo in the middle of the crowd and in scenes with Gable) which demanded many takes.
The shooting was very tense and soon the situation deteriorated.
Marilyn had at that time such an addiction to barbiturates she could
take up to 20 capsules of Nembutal a day, she stung with a pin so that
the capsule faster took effect. When she found an understanding doctor,
she had some Amytal injections.
Clark Gable didn't really put up with the long waiting hours Marilyn imposed, all the more so as he wasn't himself in very good health.
When the week ended, Huston despaired of being able to continue with Marilyn. The doctor linked to the shooting refused to give her other drugs, but Marilyn obtained them somewhere else.
Thursday, August 25 : Max Youngstein, producer of United Artists, announced to John Huston that the bank account of "The Misfits" in Nevada had no more money. Huston hadn't find enough money to pay his debts off and the shooting would be interrupted for a week, until new funds would be voted by United Artists in New York and in Los Angeles.
He obtained a 25 000$ advance on "Freud", which allowed him to pay his debts off.
Huston asked that the actors wouldn't be immediately warned, except for Miller and Marilyn who had invested in the production. He let Marilyn know not to come to work the following day, under the pretext of she needed some rest.
At the hospital, Dr Greenson and Engelberg took care of her, informing her of the temporary break of the movie and recommended her a week of rest. The United Artists insurance company took in charge the expenses in a private hospital.
John Huston and Frank Taylor accompanied the crew of the movie, who temporarily went back to Los Angeles
(
).
The following Monday, August 29, after having received a call from Marilyn who felt a little lonely, Ralph Roberts arrived in Los
Angeles by car, with Lee and Susan Strasberg (
). May Reis and Rupert Allan were already at her bedside.
The
Strasbergs stayed in another hotel than the Mapes. It wasn't for
Marilyn that Lee Strasberg had come on the set, but for Paula. He was
indeed indignant of not being taken seriously, and furious that John
Huston refused to discuss with her.
He intended to take her back
to New York. And it didn't matter if it meant the end of the
shooting, because Marilyn wouldn't certainly agree to make the
movie without her coach. However the threat remained a dead-letter,
considering Paula's weekly salary (3 000$).
Monday, August 29, in the morning, the crew of the movie was called to a meeting during which the producer (and Miller's friend) Frank Taylor, announced that Marilyn suffered from a nervous breakdown and that the shooting would be interrupted for a week. Miller, who hadn't heard from Marilyn, was furious to see that she was used as a scapegoat to the problems bred by John Huston's gambling passion.
Miller arrived right away in Los Angeles and watched over her until September 4.
Marlon Brando, Frank Sinatra and Joe DiMaggio visited her.
Tuesady, August 30 : Hedda
Hopper (reporter specialized in the Hollywood gossips) interviewed Yves Montand, in his bungalow of the Beverly Hills Hotel.
SEPTEMBER :
Thursday, September 1st : publication of the Yves Montand interview by Hedda Hopper in which Montand considered that "Marilyn is a charming child, a simple girl, without any maliciousness", which upset Marilyn.
Monday, September 5 : Marilyn went back to Reno, with
Arthur Miller (
,
,
,
,
,
,
). Frank and Nan Taylor came to welcome them (
).
The Millers stayed at the Holiday Hotel in Reno, suites 846 and 850.
Tuesday, September 6 : back on the set, Marilyn went back to work.
She remained in Nevada until October 18, to complete the outdoors.
Thursday, September 8 : release of "Let's Make Love" (
;
,
,
,
).
The movie was a flop : the critics were very hard, the public sulked
the movie and in Hollywood, there was a rumor that Marilyn was from
then on the decline.
Friday, September 23 : shooting of a scene with Marilyn
and Montgomery Clift, who were brilliant (
,
).
Huston, delighted, declared that Marilyn had achieved her movie best performance.
So he suggested her the feminine part in "Freud", the one of Cecily, a patient of the psychoanalyst, which would be played by Montgomery Clift. Marilyn was delighted with this project.
But she still wasn't able to go without drugs, despite her recent withdrawal treatment.
Monday, October 10 :
Marilyn and her clan organized a party for Frank LaRue birthday,
make-up man of the shooting and Montgomery Clift companion, at the Edith Palmer's Country Inn
Restaurant, near Dayton (Nevada). Clark Gable drove Marilyn there in his Mercedes.
They were 18 guests.
Monday, October 17 : a suprised birthday party organized in the honor of Miller and Montgomery Clift. Marilyn and her chauffeur, Rudy Kautzsky, were invited. Marilyn attended there; it was the last occasion where she was Mrs Miller.
Sunday, Octiber 16 : Marilyn and Montgomery Clift had dinner at the North Beach restaurant in San Francisco : 
.
Tuesday, October 18 : the shooting of the outdoor shooting ended.
The crew went back to Los Angeles, where the shooting in studio started the following week.
Marilyn, in a dreadful condition, went back to her sessions with Dr Greenson.
From Monday, October 24 to Friday, November 4, the crew finished the shots and the PA system in Hollywood, set 2 of the Paramount studios and shot the last scene of the movie, with Marilyn and Clark Gable.
The executives of United Artists, demanded the rerun of several scenes they didn't like; an appointment was scheduled to gather the actors and the technical crew, but Clark Gable (whose contract specified his right of inspection on the screenplay) refused to take part in .
The
shooting ended and with it, the Miller's wedding torment. Arthur Miller
left the Beverly Hills Hotel and settled, with the help of his
friend Frank
Taylor, at the Sunset Towers Hotel, before leaving back to the East
Coast.
Her press agent at the Arthur Jacobs agency, Rupert Allan, left to Monte Carlo to be Grace Kelly's press agent; Arthur Jacobs suggested Pat Newcomb to stand in for him, to Marilyn.
She still consulted Dr Greenson at his home, 7 days a week.
Saturday, October 29 : picture session with Eve Arnold in Los Angeles (
,
,
,
).
Her hairstylist Agnes
Flanagan and her make-up man Whitey Snyder attended this session(
,
).
NOVEMBER :
Saturday, November 5 : Marilyn learned that Clark Gable had been hospitalized, suffering a heart attack, aged 59.
Tuesday, November 8 : depressed by the end of her wedding, Marilyn didn't vote for the presidential election.
Thursday, November 10 : John Kennedy was elected President of the United Stated; he announced the maintaining of J.Edgar Hoover , leader of the FBI, and named his brother Robert Kennedy as General Attorney.
Friday, November 11 : Marilyn was back in New York with May Reis and Pat Newcomb.
She stayed alone in her apartment of 444 East 57th Street.
Arthur
Miller stayed at the Adams Hotel (86th East Street), under a pseudonym.
May Reis helped Arthur Miller to pack his stuff, papers, books and other manuscripts, while Marilyn remained shut away in her bedroom. He took all his stuff and left, in the workroom, hung on the wall, his favourite picture of Marilyn which had been taken
by Jack Cardiff (
).
They decided Miller would keep their basset hound Hugo, thinking he would be more happy to live in Roxbury, Connecticut, and Marilyn would keep the New York apartment.
l
The break-up was announced by Pat Newcomb in the lobby of
Marilyn's New York apartment. She explained to the reporters that
Marilyn hadn't hire a lwayer and didn't plan to. She also declared
there weren't any immediate plan of divorce.
Marilyn posed for pictures for the promotion of "The Misfits".
Pat
Newcomb suggested to set the divorce date on Friday, January 20th, 1961,
because on this day should take place John Kennedy's investiture
ceremony to presidency; so the media would be monopolized with this
event.
Again, she was tracked down by photographers, notably when she left her apartment to go to Dr Kris's place :
,
,
,
.
Wednesday, November 16 : Clark Gable died.
United Artists, distributor of "The Misfits", decided to postpone the date of the movie premiere.
The post-production work of the movie had been sped up so that the movie was ready for the Academy Awards nomination, but it didn't obtain any, even posthumous for Clark Gable.
It was a big shock for Marilyn. She called Rupert Allan, her ex-press agent, to be consoled. She also called Joe DiMaggio who was in New York, and he came to comfort her.
This day, she received a letter from reporter Earl Wilson (
), congratulating her for the shooting of "The Misfits", seeking for an interview.
DECEMBER:
In
New York, Marilyn kept on her daily psychoanalysis sessions with
Marianne Kris and called for a long time Dr Greenson.
She didn't see
much the Strasbergs, but kept on following the lessons at
the Actors Studio, to which she donated 1 000$.
Indeed, she had just received a remainder of 50 000$ for "Some Like it
Hot" and an advance on her contract for "The Misfits" of 300 000$ (the
sum included her actress fee plus her co-producer one).
Marilyn had to meet Grorge Cukor on April 14 1961 for the shooting of "Good Bye Charlie".
Tuesday, December 13 : Marilyn informed the Fox she wouldn't shoot "Good Bye Charlie".
The Fox answered her that, through her contract, she had to make this movie. In the event that this would be directed by George Cukor, one of the directors on her list, she couldn't legally refused.
Christmas :
DiMaggio made deliver a huge basket of poinsettias to Marilyn and spent Christmas with her; he stayed several days in New York before going to Florida.
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