Goodbye, Norma Jean (1976)

Aspiring actress Norma Jean Baker lives in squalor in the early '40s as she works at the munitions plant and dreams of being a movie star. Abused as a child and an adult, she lacks ... See full summary »

Director:

Larry Buchanan

Writers:

Larry Buchanan, Lynn Shubert

Stars:

Misty Rowe, Terence Locke, Patch Mackenzie

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Misty Rowe	...	Norma Jean Baker
Terence Locke	...	Ralph Johnson
Patch Mackenzie	...	Ruth Latimer
Preston Hanson	...	Hal James
Marty Zagon	...	Irving Oblach
Andre Philippe	...	Sam Dunn
Adele Claire	...	Beverly
Sal Ponti	...	Randy Palmer
Paula Mitchell	...	Cynthia Palmer
Jean Sarah Frost	...	Ethel
Lilyan McBride	...	House Mother
Burr Middleton	...	Sleasy Photographer
Stuart Lancaster	...	George
Ivy Bethune	...	Ruby Kirshner
Robert Gribbon	...	Terry

Storyline

Aspiring actress Norma Jean Baker lives in squalor in the early '40s as she works at the munitions plant and dreams of being a movie star. Abused as a child and an adult, she lacks self-confidence, but photographer Ralph Johnson takes some publicity shots and convinces her to try for her dream, and supports her as she's bounced from casting couches to sleazy photo shoots. She befriends once-powerful producer Hal James, who tries to steer her toward her dream of stardom, to where she will eventually be known as Marilyn Monroe.

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Plot Keywords:

trash | lesbian | rape | price of fame | sexual assault | 

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Taglines:

They knew her as Norma Jean Baker. The world would soon know her as Marilyn Monroe

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Genres:

Biography | Drama

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

Australia USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

February 1976 (USA)

Also Known As:

Ciao Norma Jean

Company Credits

Production Co:

Austamerican Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

95 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In casting the role of Marilyn Monroe, director Larry Buchanan conducted a "National Marilyn Monroe Lookalike Contest" which was won by unknown 21-year-old Alexis Pederson. After reading the script Pederson turned down the role and instead it was offered to Misty Rowe, who took it.

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Connections

Edited into Goodnight, Sweet Marilyn (1989)

User Reviews

Horrible trash, One of the worst films ever.

I remember Playboy magazine had a spread with Misty Rowe when this film was made. She recreated Marilyn Monroe's poses for the magazine and I wanted to see the movie because of it. I finally saw it on video. I wish I never did, it ranks as one of the worst films I ever saw. I mean total trash, no wonder it never got theatrical release.

The movie is a retelling of Marilyn Monroe's life, I think it may have been adapted from one of the books that Robert Slatzer's (SLEAZER) published about Miss Monroe. You know him, he's the guy who claimed to have been Marilyn's confidant and husband for about a weekend. All his claims were never proved as a matter of fact his marriage claim was totally disproven when a check dated at the same time of their wedding and signed by Miss Monroe proved that she was in Los Angeles at the time. Even if it weren't based on Slatzer's (SLEAZER) writing it's just plain garbage.

Source material aside it was the whole film was a mess. The editing looked jumpy, the acting terrible, the dialogue lame and it sounds as if everything the actors said reverberated on the wall. The film looked like it was shot with the wost film stock they can find. I think it may have been shot in 8MM, I mean it looked horrible. As for the casting, they casts "Hee Haw" Honey Misty Rowe as Marilyn. I mean I always thought Miss Rowe was a total babe but come on she absolutely look nothing like Marilyn Monroe. Then again Poppy Montgomery, Mira Sorvino, Asley Judd all played Marilyn and they look nothing like her. At least they can act.

Two things that really stuck in my mind is the theme song, a soft rock/folk rock tune that went "Norma Jean wants to be a movie queen" and the other thing is when she finally gets her big break she utters the immortal words "I never have to perform fellatio again", except in a more graphic term.