Fragments: Poems, Intimate Notes, Letters (15 page)

make map tonight

take my time to think—

Note:
The Sleeping Prince
was the first title for
The Prince and the Showgirl
, which was filmed in London in 1956. This note must have been written the same year.

He said that

I’ve become so deified

as a sex symbol

that public never
accept
me as

a virgin and as a nineteen/twenty year old

he wants to

feel he discovers reality

and he alone is is better

responsible

Eli

g—his lose

tennesse
e
—wants me

tells Eli—

new ending

I don’t want anybody else

Note: Marilyn wanted to play the title role in Elia Kazan’s 1956 film
Baby Doll
, written by Tennessee Williams and starring Eli Wallach. However, Carroll Baker got the part.

I feel the cam
e
ra has got

to look through Gay
’
s

eyes whenever he is in a

scene and even when he is

not there still has to be a sense of

him

He is the center and the

rest move
around
him

but I guess Houston will

see to that

He is both subtle and

overt in his leading them

and in his cruelty and his tenderness

(when he reaches out of himself

for her—R.)

Notes:

John Huston’s (here spelled “Houston”) film
The Misfits
was shot in Nevada, in the summer of 1960. Arthur Miller adapted the script from his own short story, the role of Roslyn having been inspired by his wife. The atmosphere was extremely tense, especially between the couple, whose marriage was foundering. Marilyn, a perfectionist, was frequently late—very late—frightened of not being ready for the challenge, and often groggy from the barbiturates she had begun to depend on. She was awestruck to be acting with Clark Gable, who was a lifelong idol and whom she had sometimes thought of, or dreamed of, as her own father. Marilyn had already been directed by John Huston in
The Asphalt Jungle
, the film that, in spite of a minor role, had put her name in lights. In a sense, in
The Misfits
she acted out her own life with a disquieting and magnificent closeness that must have been enormously tormenting.

It is likely that this note was written during the first half of the shooting, in July. Gay (Langland) is the name of the character played by Clark Gable. The final “R” refers to Roslyn (Taber), Marilyn’s character.

Marilyn at Costello’s restaurant, New York, 1955

KITCHEN NOTES

1955 or 1956

Contrary to the image we may have of Marilyn as often disorderly and chaotic, she attended to some aspects of daily life with care and even meticulousness. When she had to decorate an apartment or house she made notes, took measurements, collected samples or patterns, and decided on color schemes and the arrangement of furniture. Similarly, when she organized a dinner for Helen Schneider’s birthday, very likely at the end of 1955 in New York, she wrote a long, exacting list of everything she had to prepare or check out. Each detail was planned, down to the table decorations and bathroom requisites. This party may have taken place when Marilyn moved into an apartment on the corner of Sutton Place and 57th Street after her long stay in a suite at the Waldorf-Astoria, which had turned out to be too costly for Marilyn Monroe Productions. Incidentally, Marilyn sometimes enjoyed cooking, and when she did she noted recipes down to the last ingredient, step by step, including the quality of produce needed.

ask for Kitty & or Clyde

my white dishes—all of them from Westport

my old silver candle holders

my
paintings
two—dutch woman big one and drunken angels

get firewood—what about silverware

buy—white toilet seat

buy—hamper & or gold thing for bathroom & or thing for back of door for towels, bottles, etc

buy—lamps for bedroom—also shades take Kirt with me

buy foot stool & coffee table (ask M. Moumulion)

buy bar buy mirror at L. & Taylors

buy two chairs—classic—for in front of piano, also serves for extra guest chairs

buy brass ash trays one for M. one for L. one for me

buy chandeliers—one for hall—one for dining area—take back the two glass silver things

buy twelve linen napkins—silverware—for 12

buy birthday present for Helen—

have Kirt paint places for chandeliers also where railing broke

have Milton & Kirt put pictures in hallway—help me arrange room & place

have Kirt saw off legs of brass candle holders

dry clean comforter

have wash—bathroom rugs

send out laundry

call Moumulion

guest towels

paintings 2

coffee table

[indecipherable] glass bar

Notes:

Kitty and Clyde may have provided Marilyn with occasional help.

Kirt seems to have been a man who did odd jobs for Marilyn.

M. Moumulion: unidentified.

The reference to Milton Greene would mean this birthday dinner took place between 1955 and 1956. Marilyn stayed at Milton and Amy Greene’s property in Westport, Connecticut, when she first arrived on the East Coast and often visited them in subsequent months.

champagne? at least some kind of wine with dinner

buy—liquor—scotch—gin—vermouth—

hors d’œuvres
—cavi
a
r—others?

two roasts—1—prime ribs of beef 1—turkey

have Hedda make dressing

large mixed green salad with endive hearts—avocado? (Also aspic?)

vegetables—frozen peas or in pod?—not done too well—Kitty’s squash? or something

Potatoes—of some kind—? ask Kitty

Celery hearts—olives—scallions?—Radishes

ask Hedda about fruit & ice cream for dessert—choc & vanilla

Coffee & cookies & danish pastry for later

Birthday cake for Helen—

Geo. Leslie & me 2

Hedda & Norman 2

Ettore & Jessie 2

Helen & Isadore 2

George Brusilla
[Braziller]
& wife 2

Guy & friend with guitar 2

Bloomingdales?

Wine glasses 12

linen napkins

6 or more guest towels

Murray Hill—25400

french prov. white

marble top 2 sizes

coffee table

buy for less than he says

Lloyds 116 E 60th

Ivory. Flakes or snow

Rinso Blue or detergent

Notes:

Geo. Leslie: unidentified.

Isadore Schneider (1896–1976) was born in the Ukraine and emigrated with his family to the United States in 1904. A novelist and critic, he was a friend of Norman Rosten’s, knew Arthur Miller, and worked as a reader for George Braziller at Grove Press. Helene Berlin Schneider was his wife.

Ettore Rella (1907–1988) was a poet and playwright. His wife was named Jessie.

George Braziller was born in 1916 and founded his own publishing house in 1955. His wife was Marsha.

Guy: unidentified.