Marilyn et "Niagara" : naissance d’un personnage, esquisse d’une star (Marilyn in "Niagara" : Birth of a Character, Blueprint of a Star)
Résumé
Scholarly work about Marilyn Monroe is not easy: it is difficult to be faced with such a huge collection of information, documents, and interpretations, and one does not know where to start. Must we look for hidden moments in Marilyn’s life, for little-known pictures or texts? Everything about this ‘intimate stranger’ (to pick up on Richard Schikel’s way of referring to the stars), seems common currency today, even the most private parts. Therefore we must simply pay greater attention to what is already in the spotlight.
As Richard Dyer writes in "Heavenly Bodies - Film Stars and Society", 1953 is indeed a year of light for Marilyn: the first three films in which she had the starring role were released ("Niagara", "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes", "How to Marry a Millionaire"). It is on the first one that I will focus in this paper. It is true that "Niagara" was not particularly admired upon release. But we need time to understand that some films, which did not make a mark in their time, may later reveal a remarkable degree of understanding and intuition regarding the personality of an actor. In retrospect, these films constitute a framework or a blueprint from which the star’s character and image will bloom.
"Niagara" theorises the character of Marilyn Monroe as it has been constructed over the previous roles and it christens the star by drawing her image, her repertoire, her path, with an authority and precision which none of her other films ever achieved.
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