Something's Got to Give (1962) Online
Years after his wife, Ellen, was lost at sea, Nick has her declared legally dead and remarries. That same day, Ellen is rescued from a desert island and returns home. This unfinished remake of "My Favorite Wife" was the last film Marilyn Monroe worked on before her death in 1962. Most of the footage was unseen, until it was restored into a 37-minute short which aired on television on June 1, 2001.
Cast overview: | |||
Marilyn Monroe | - | Ellen Arden | |
Dean Martin | - | Nick Arden | |
Cyd Charisse | - | Bianca Arden | |
Tom Tryon | - | Stephen Burkett | |
Alexandra Heilweil | - | Lita | |
Robert Christopher Morley | - | Timmy | |
Wally Cox | - | Shoe Salesman | |
Phil Silvers | - | Insurance Salesman | |
John McGiver | - | The Judge | |
Grady Sutton | - | Bailiff | |
Eloise Hardt | - | Secretary |
For one sequence in this film, Marilyn Monroe was to wear a flesh-colored bathing suit and appear to be swimming in the nude. When the scene was being filmed, Marilyn doffed the costume and wore only a flesh-colored bikini bottom. During a still photo session after filming the scene, she removed even that. The resulting publicity photos, many with Marilyn's obviously naked back to camera, garnered the film worldwide media coverage.
20th Century Fox's decision to dump Marilyn Monroe was financial. The studio was already in deep financial trouble with Cleopatra (1963), which, at the time, was becoming the most expensive film ever made. They couldn't afford a bomb, so Monroe was jettisoned.
This material eventually became Move Over, Darling (1963) with Doris Day and James Garner replacing Marilyn Monroe and Dean Martin. Many of the sets constructed for this version were used for that one.
Dean Martin refused to finish the film with anyone but Marilyn Monroe as his co-star, so when Monroe died unexpectedly in August 1962; the film was abandoned.
The documentary Marilyn Monroe: The Final Days (2001) includes a 37-minute segment made from the surviving unused footage of what was to have been this film.
Dean Martin reportedly threatened to walk off the set when he heard Marilyn Monroe was out, so she was rehired.
Was an intended remake of My Favorite Wife (1940) with Irene Dunne and Cary Grant.
The cocker spaniel in the script was named Tippi, which was the name of Marilyn Monroe's real pet dog as a child.
It had been erroneously long-claimed that Marilyn Monroe's erratic behavior pushed the film more than $1 million over budget in just a few weeks of filming. While it is true that Mariln's behavior was somewhat 'difficult,' in truth, her behavior was no more 'erratic' than any other actor then, or now. The reason for this false story was that Fox - already in a massive financial debacle to the filming of Cleopatra (it's cost - even today - make it the single most expensive film - in 2016, it's cost would be over $1billiion) was desperately looking to put 'blame' on. The Fox PR department crafted this story, but, when one understands the cost of Cleopatra to the minuscule, by comparison budget of 'Something's Got To Give,' it's very clear that 'Something's' fate, and seemngly the fate of Fox, itself where to be 'blamed' on Marilyn, as she was considered the 'easiest' to blame. This added pressure to Marilyn, who clearly knew what was going on in the studio's offices.
Contrary to legend, the 'hiring' of Lee Remick to replace Monroe after she was fired., was a story planted in the paper. Other than the photo of Ms. Remick, no contract was ever signed, and Ms. Remick didn't even know it had been done.
The instrumental version of "Something's Gotta Give" by Ray Anthony & His Orchestra was originally in Daddy Long Legs (1955) which starred Fred Astaire and Leslie Caron. When the digital restoration and reconstruction was undertaken for the unfinished film, 20th Century-Fox inadvertently mixed in Anthony's instrumental version of the song for Marilyn's famous 'swimming pool' sequence at no cost since Fox also produced the Astaire vehicle. A different instrumental background - originally to be for the film - can be heard in an alternate take of the swimming pool scene that appeared on a Marilyn Monroe CD compilation issued by Hollywood Soundstage; this music was eventually used later on in the film as Monroe's character is encountered by Phil Silvers as she rests nude on the edge of the pool.
Considering the amount of money that Fox were risking on "Cleopatra", while this was also in production, it makes purely financial sense to have tried to salvage what they had already spent on the unavoidably abandoned incomplete film. The Arden home set alone appears to be one huge expensive set, built on a giant soundstage, that was only slightly modified for the Doris Day re-boot. Considering that Fox also had had to write-off the cost of all of the original Cleopatra sets build at Pinewood Studios in the UK, it makes sense that they later decided to re-stage this film to try and cut their losses.
Contrary to popular belief, this picture was not her final film, since it was never completed due to Marilyn's death in August of 1962; since the 1990s, many fans, critics, and historians have declared this film to be her last, due to the surviving production footage that still exists in the film vaults of 20th Century-Fox.
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