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A Look At The Top 10 Iconic Retro Actresses In Hollywood ( Photo Credit – Facebook )

No matter how much modern Hollywood dazzles us with its stars, especially the actresses, there’s hardly any doubt about the undeniable magic in the allure of its past. The iconic golden era blessed us with belles whose beauty wasn’t just admired but also became iconic. Even decades later, their effortless, natural elegance and screen presence have remained engraved in our memory, timeless in a way that transcends fashion or fame.

With all being said, this list celebrates ten of the most beautiful retro Hollywood actresses (both inside and out), whose undeniable legacy continues to enthrall viewers. From Audrey Hepburn’s graceful elegance to Marilyn Monroe’s sultry allure, these actresses remain eternal muses in the world of film and fashion alike.

1. Audrey Hepburn (1929-1993)

Audrey Hepburn 1950s pic.twitter.com/baWVQ24LIl

— Modern History...

It’s a Broadway smash!

It, of course, refers to “Bombshell,” the fictional musical-within-a-musical at the center of “Smash,” a new stage adaptation of the beloved cult favorite, much hate-watched TV series that ran for two seasons on NBC from 2012-2013. Variety has an exclusive preview of the meta backstage comedy, which begins preview performances on March 11 ahead of opening night on April 10 at the Imperial Theatre.

Like the television series, created by Theresa Rebeck and described by Vulture as “one of the messiest shows to air on network television,” the stage version follows the process of mounting “Bombshell,” a jaunty musical about the life of Marilyn Monroe. In the first-look image, set outside the fictional show’s Broadway house, a brightly lit marquee boasts such raves as “Amazing!” “Stunning” “Amazingly Stunning!” At the center of it all is Marilyn, wearing the iconic white dress from “The Seven Year Itch,...

One of just four remaining pairs of original ruby slippers worn by Judy Garland in the 1939 classic film The Wizard of Oz was sold at a Sotheby’s auction for $32.5 million on Dec. 7. Per TMZ, the winning bidder, a private collector, remains anonymous. At $32.5 million, the slippers broke the record for the sale of a piece of Hollywood memorabilia.

The ruby slippers sold at auction were previously stolen in 2005 from the Judy Garland Museum in Grand Rapids, Minnesota, and were missing for more than 10 years. The sequined shoes were later recovered by the FBI in a 2018 undercover operation.

Of the four pairs of remaining slippers, one is in the Smithsonian Museum in Washington, D.C. and the other three, including the $32.5 million pair, are owned by private collectors.

A Record-Breaking Price

The $32.5 million price fetched by the ruby slippers smashed the record for the highest-priced piece of Hollywood history. The...

A pair of the famous ruby slippers that Judy Garland wore during the filming of 1939’s The Wizard of Oz sold for a whopping $28 million in auction on Saturday.

It was the largest amount garnered at an auction for entertainment memorabilia, auction house Heritage Auctions London told The New York Times. The pair, auctioned on behalf of collector Michael Shaw, are one of only four known surviving pairs the actress wore while working on the movie. The buyer was not publicly identified.

The $28 million bid exceeds the price of Marilyn Monroe...

A pair of the ruby slippers worn by Judy Garland in 1939’s The Wizard of Oz fetched an all-time auction record for entertainment memorabilia when they sold on Saturday afternoon for $28 million. The sale was handled by Dallas-based Heritage Auctions. With the buyer’s premium, the total is $32.5 million, and the buyer currently remains anonymous.

Auctioneer Mike Sadler announced at the podium at the conclusion of the lot’s bidding that the slippers had far surpassed the previous auction record of $5.52 million for the white halter dress designed by William Travilla and worn by Marilyn Monroe in 1955’s The Seven Year Itch. That costume also was sold at Heritage in 2011 and was part of the famed collection of Debbie Reynolds.

“There is simply no comparison between Judy Garland’s ruby slippers and any other piece of Hollywood memorabilia,” said Joe Maddalena, executive vice president of Heritage Auctions, in a statement released following the sale.

We know that people like to collect things. Sometimes, it’s not that expensive if your appetites aren’t that big, but at times, being a proper collector can be a real strain on your budget. This is why there are various types of collectors and various types of collectibles to enjoy in that aspect.

We have recently reported about an original Stormtrooper costume set being sold out in an auction, but this time, we while staying on the same topic, we have decided to give you a slightly different perspective on the topic of movie memorabilia, and one that is more luxurious.

Thanks to our friends at Public Desire, whom we can thank for the information provided, we have decided to provide you with a list of the nine most expensive movie memorabilia of all time, starting with 9th place and finishing with the 1st, which is also going...

The Venom trilogy has a self-awareness which marks it out from its Sony stablemates, thanks to the pairing of Tom Hardy and screenwriter/director Kelly Marcel.

As far as cinematic universes go, the one once inexplicably known as ‘Spumc’ (the Sony Pictures Universe of Marvel Characters) hasn’t exactly gone down easy.

Sadly re-named Sony’s Spider-Man Universe (Ssu) in 2021, two of the studio’s five live-action flicks have independently become go-to examples for critical and commercial failure. Were it not for a certain mouthy bit of black goo, Sony would have spent $160m on two good memes and a chance to hold onto the Spider-Man rights.

That bit of goo, of course, is Venom – the only big-screen superhero to repeatedly call his alter-ego a pussy. Far-removed from the symbiote’s straightforwardly sinister first outing in 2007’s Spider-Man 3, Tom Hardy’s interpretation of the character across his wildly successful...

Ana de Armas played the fictionalized version of Marilyn Monroe in Andrew Dominik’s psychological biopic, Blonde. The film received praise for de Armas’ performance and the visuals, while the screenplay polarized critics. Interestingly, de Armas had to sit through two and a half hours on the makeup chair to transform into the leading lady during each shoot day.

Ana de Armas as Marilyn Monroe in Blonde (2022) | Credits: Netflix

The film shifted between color and black and white, which significantly impacted how the makeup was applied to de Armas. The Ballerina actress’ efforts were recognized with nominations for the Academy Award, Golden Globe, BAFTA, and SAG Award. Meanwhile, the film received Golden Raspberry Awards for Worst Picture and Worst Screenplay.

Ana de Armas’ Makeup For Blonde Took 2.5 Hours Each Day Ana de Armas as Marilyn Monroe in Blonde | Credits: Netflix

It took some heavy lifting on the parts of Ana...

Leonard Asper’s Anthem Sports and Entertainment has acquired Hollywood Suite, an indie Canadian broadcaster of four HD movie channels.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but, pending regulatory approvals, Anthem will pick up the commercial-free movie channels with mostly Hollywood titles themed from the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s and 2000s, and distributed into 10 million homes across Canada.

Classic Hollywood movies on the Hollywood Suite menu include Tom Cruise’s Cocktail, The Abyss, the Tom Hanks comedy Turner & Hooch and Billy Wilder’s The Seven Year Itch, starring Marilyn Monroe.

Led by longtime Canwest TV head Asper, Anthem Sports & Entertainment is a holding company that owns Gravitas Ventures, Axs TV, HDNet Movies, Impact Wrestling, Fight Network, Tna Wrestling and GameTV, among other assets.

Asper aims to combine indie distributor Gravitas Ventures, acquired in 2021, and HDnet movies, home to blockbuster epics and vintage films, with Hollywood Suite as a...

Quick Links What Is the Western Musical About & Who Stars In It? Fox Forces Monroe to Headline the Picture Chaos & Filming Challenges Plague Production A Certified Box Office Knockout

Undeniably one of the world's most beloved pop culture icons is none other than Marilyn Monroe, with the blonde bombshell dominating the silver screen in the '50s and '60s and taking Hollywood by storm with her magnetic presence and allure. Monroe was famous for starring in a slew of unforgettable classics like Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, The Seven Year Itch, and Some Like It Hot, dazzling the masses with her beauty, quick wit, and endearing vulnerability that swiftly established her as a bona fide leading lady.

Over sixty years after her untimely passing, Monroe continues to captivate and inspire fans both old and new, and in 1999 she was ranked as the sixth-greatest female screen legend from the Golden Age of...

Actress Gena Rowlands, winner of three Emmy Awards and an Honorary Academy Award in addition to two nominations, died on Wednesday as confirmed by the office of her son, filmmaker Nick Cassavetes. She had been living with Alzheimer’s Disease for five years and was 94 years old.

Rowlands began her career on Broadway in the 1950s, appearing in productions of “The Seven Year Itch” and “Middle of the Night.” She worked in early television, including revered anthology programs like “Studio One” and “The United States Steel Hour.” She also appeared on the jazzy detective program “Johnny Staccato” opposite her husband John Cassavetes.

It was with Cassavetes and his troupe, including Peter Falk, Ben Gazzara, and Seymour Cassel, that pretty much invented the prestige American independent film, with groundbreaking collaborations like “Faces,” “Minnie and Moskowitz,” and “Opening Night.” This led to Oscar nominations for her leading roles in “A Woman Under The Influence...

Sad news in the land of Hollywood, as TMZ is reporting that Gena Rowlands, who played ‘Allie’ in The Notebook died the afternoon of Wednesday, August 14 at her Indian Wells, CA home. She was 94 years old.

As per reports, she was surrounded by family, including her husband Robert Forrest and daughter Alexandra Cassavetes. Reports also reveal that her director son, Nick Cassavetes, had been at the house quite frequently the week leading up to her passing.

Gena Rowlands, “The Notebook” Star – Cause Of Death

As of this writing, no official cause of death has been listed for the actress; however, she had been fighting Alzheimer’s.

Nick announced his mother’s condition on the 20th anniversary milestone of The Notebook, a movie he directed. Rowland’s character Allie in the film also battled the same illness.

Gena’s mother, actress Lady Rowlands, was also diagnosed with Alzheimer’s before her passing.

Whenever an actor passes away, the expression "greatest to ever do it" is often tossed around. In the case of four-time Emmy and two-time Golden Globe winner Gena Rowlands, the legendary star of the stage, television, and film with a career spanning nearly seven decades, the expression feels somewhat inadequate. Her presence on screen was unwavering and incomparable, a captivating presence who could express a character's entire life story with the lift of an eyebrow or the lighting of a cigarette. She was the type of performer that actors aspired to be more like, and displayed an authentic sense of vulnerability that few have come close to matching. Her passing was first reported by TMZ. She was 94.

Rowlands was graced with an honorary Oscar in 2015, a year after her final on-screen performance. She had been nominated twice before, and one could easily argue that she should have taken home the statue both times.

Gena Rowlands, the award-winning actress known for her roles in films such as A Woman Under the Influence, Gloria, and The Notebook, has died at the age of 94.

Rowlands died Wednesday, August 14th, at her home in Indian Wells, California, according to TMZ. She had been battling Alzheimer’s disease.

Hailing from Cambria, Wisconsin, Rowlands originally got her start in theater, studying drama at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City. Upon graduating, she starred in several repertory productions before making her Broadway debut in The Seven Year Itch. She later starred in the Broadway play Middle of the Night.

Beginning in the mid-1950s, Rowlands transitioned to a career in television. She starred in the syndicated television series Top Secret and made guest appearances on shows including Laramie, Riverboat, 77 Sunset Strip, and Dr. Kildare. She also appeared on several episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents.

However,...

Gena Rowlands, a multiple Emmy winner whose captivating work in A Woman Under the Influence and as the elder and dementia-ridden Allie in The Notebook also moved moviegoers, died Wednesday surrounded by family at her home in Indian Wells, CA. She was 94.

No cause of death was given, but the retired actress had been battling Alzheimer’s disease, ironic in light of her famous film role.

She retired from Hollywood in 2015 after earning four Emmy Awards, two Golden Globes and two Oscar nominations. Her Oscar noms included A Woman Under the Influence and Gloria, both borne of collaborations with her late husband, John Cassavetes. The duo made an indelible mark on American independent film, not just for the often revelatory end product, but also for the DIY way they made their movies.

A Woman Under the Influence was prompted by Rowlands, who wanted to delve into the difficulties faced by...

Gena Rowlands, the two-time Oscar-nominated star of Gloria and A Woman Under The Influence as well as The Notebook, has died. She was 94.

Rowlands earned widespread renown for her performance as a mother wrestling with mental illness in husband John Cassavetes’ 1974 drama A Woman Under The Influence, for which she won a Golden Globe.

She received her second lead actress Academy Award nomination in 1981 as a tough woman who protects her neighbour from The Mob in Cassavetes’ Gloria.

Rowlands had met Cassavetes in her early television days. They were married in 1954 and went on to make 10 films together.

In 2004 Rowlands...

Gena Rowlands, the two-time Oscar-nominated star of Gloria and A Woman Under The Influence, has died. She was 94.

Rowlands earned widespread renown for her performance as a mother wrestling with mental illness in husband John Cassavetes’ 1974 drama A Woman Under The Influence, for which she won a Golden Globe.

She received her second lead actress Academy Award nomination in 1981 as a tough woman who protects her neighbour from The Mob in Cassavetes’ Gloria.

Rowlands had met Cassavetes in her early television days. They were married in 1954 and went on to make 10 films together.

In 2004 Rowlands starred in her son Nick...

Billy Wilder was the six-time Oscar winner who left behind a series of classically quotable features from Hollywood’s Golden Age, crafting sharp witted and darkly cynical stories that blended comedy and pathos in equal measure. Let’s take a look back at 25 of his greatest films, ranked worst to best.

Wilder was born to a family of Austrian Jews in 1906. After working as a journalist, he developed an interest in filmmaking and collaborated on the silent feature “People on Sunday” (1929) with fellow rookies Fred Zinnemann, Robert Siodmak and Edgar G. Ulmer. With the rise of Adolph Hitler, Wilder fled to Paris, where he co-directed the feature “Mauvaise Graine” (1934). Tragically, his mother, stepfather and grandmother all died in the Holocaust.

After moving to Hollywood, Wilder enjoyed a successful career as a screenwriter, earning Oscar nominations for penning 1939’s “Ninotchka” and 1941’s “Hold Back the Dawn” and “Ball of Fire.” He...

Marilyn Monroe‘s star burned brightly and briefly before her untimely death in 1962 at age 36. Yet she managed to enter the pop culture lexicon with just a handful of films, becoming Hollywood’s most memorable sex symbol. In honor of her birthday, let’s take a look back at 15 of her greatest films, ranked worst to best.

Born in 1926, Monroe started off as a model before moving into acting with a series of bit parts, most notably in “All About Eve” and “The Asphalt Jungle,” both released in 1950. She became a leading lady with a trio of 1953 titles: the noir “Niagara,” the musical “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes” and the romantic comedy “How to Marry a Millionaire.”

She became iconic thanks to Billy Wilder‘s “The Seven Year Itch” (1955), in which she played a young woman tantalizing her married neighbor (Tom Ewell). Her image was forever burned into our memories thanks to...

Superstar Marilyn Monroe passed away in 1962, but her legacy lives on in the form of several classic movies that still hold up today. The actor and model appeared in plenty of great films across her lifetime, including several that have only grown in public estimation since their release. Among the best: crowd pleasers like "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes," "The Seven Year Itch," and "How To Marry A Millionaire," plus stone-cold classics "Some Like It Hot" and "All About Eve."

Surprisingly, though, Monroe's most popular and obviously beloved movies aren't actually her most acclaimed –- at least according to one major metric. Only one of the films she appeared in during her too-short lifetime has a perfect critical score on review aggregate site Rotten Tomatoes, and it's not any of the titles listed above. Instead, that coveted 100% score goes to "Don't Bother To Knock," a comparatively underseen thriller Monroe starred in...

Roxanne Rosedale, the glamorous model and actress who assisted host Bud Collyer on the 1950s game show Beat the Clock and appeared in the Marilyn Monroe-starring The Seven Year Itch, has died. She was 95.

Known professionally as Roxanne, she died May 2 in an assisted care facility in her birthplace of Minneapolis, her daughter Ann Roddy told The Hollywood Reporter.

Roxanne became a hugely popular TV star after she joined CBS’ Beat the Clock, from Mark Goodson-Bill Todman Productions, in 1950. She would introduce the contestants — who were tasked with completing complicated, outrageous stunts in an allotted time — snapped photos with a Sylvania camera and posed alongside the winners’ prizes. (Watch an episode here.)

While on the show, she made the covers of such magazines as Life, Look and (with Collyer) TV Guide and even had a doll named for her. The blue-eyed Roxanne Dolls featured a Beat the Clock...

The theme of the 2024 Met Gala was “The Garden of Time” — based on a story by J.G. Ballard – but, really, the theme of all Met Galas always has been: Go big or stay home!

While there have been myriad gorgeous gowns, jewels and natty tuxes over many Met Gala years, what do the most dress-obsessed actually remember? Cher half-naked. Lady Gaga’s change of dress performance art. Billy Porter’s royal entrance in Egyptian armor and entourage. Katy Perry as a chandelier. They all proved: It doesn’t pay to stay staid — even if staid means gorgeous.

So the question comes down to: Does one do good outrageous? Or outrageously bad? Both the bad and the beautiful always get the most ink — sometimes, you can’t tell the difference. With such risky looks, it’s a toss of the coin. If you’re Cher, you can pull off anything. Everyone...

Cancel humanity, folks. You can all go home. The tech firm Soul Machines is resurrecting screen legend Marilyn Monroe as a “hyper-real” AI-generated digital Chatbot that lets you engage in conversations with the blonde bombshell in real-time. John Connor is seething somewhere, and Skynet is laughing at the thought of not lifting a finger to doom the human race through smart-learning technology. In addition to participating in conversations, the Marilyn Monroe avatar can answer questions “in Marilyn’s signature voice and style.” Look out, Alexa, the late star of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and The Seven Year Itch, is gunning for your job!

The company behind the Digital Marilyn interactive experience says the AI-generated icon “shares anecdotes and even delivers personalized greetings, creating an unforgettable experience for Marilyn fans.” Do you want Marilyn to sing “Happy Birthday” to you like she did for John F. Kennedy? You can make that happen with Digital Marilyn!

World-renowned director Steven Spielberg was at the height of his career when he made the Oscar-winning film "Schindler's List," but he wasn't the only filmmaker who was interested in adapting the novel of the same name for the silver screen. The acclaimed director Billy Wilder, an auteur of classic Hollywood cinema who penned and directed such renowned films as "The Apartment" and "Sunset Boulevard," was also vying for the rights to turn this story into a movie. However, by the time Thomas Keneally's evocative historical novel was published in 1993, Wilder's career was already winding down.

For a long time, Wilder enjoyed one of the most prosperous careers in Hollywood. His Oscar-nominated 1944 film "Double Indemnity" is considered the signal film of noir cinema and the model of the femme fatale trope. After Wilder's smashing success "Sunset Boulevard" earned three Oscars in 1951, he quickly went on to release several star vehicles...

Actress and singer Jennifer Lopez, who rocked the 2000 Grammy Awards in an iconic green Versace gown, shared why her stylist begged her not to wear it. Lopez’s then-stylist, Andrea Lieberman, asked her not to wear that dress as other celebrities had been photographed in it.

“It was a dress that other people had worn already. My stylist was like, ‘Please don’t wear it. Somebody else has worn it.’ I was like, ‘Well, you bought it, and it looks the best, so I’m going to wear it.’ And so I did. And it caused quite a stir,” said Lopez, on 17 of her biggest fashion moments during an interview with Vogue.

“I think it’s always been a collaboration with all the stylists that I’ve worked with. I worked with Andrea Lieberman for many years, and then I worked with Rob (Zangardi) and Mariel (Haenn) up until the present,...

James Sanders with Matt Ducharme (of Woods Bagot) at the Rizzoli book launch in New York of Renewing The Dream: The Mobility Revolution And The Future Of Los Angeles Photo: Anne Katrin Titze

In the second instalment with architect, author, filmmaker James Sanders (co-writer with Ric Burns on the PBS series New York: A Documentary Film), we discuss the Billy Wilder connection to producer Jeremy Thomas and Jonathan Coe’s Mr. Wilder And Me; Wilder’s The Seven Year Itch and The Apartment (co-written with I.A.L. Diamond and starring Jack Lemmon); Woody Allen’s Manhattan, Mariel Hemingway, and apartment sounds; Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing and the stoop; the office building and Jean Negulesco’s The Best of Everything; Daniel Mann’s Butterfield 8 and and the canopy; Blake Edwards’s Breakfast At Tiffany’s, and how certain stories can...

Unnamed characters can add mystery and depth to a story, especially when they represent ideas or groups of people. Villains are often left unnamed or given nicknames to dehumanize them and enhance their threatening presence. Using pseudonyms can reveal a lot more about a character than a name ever could.

Some great characters are never named, even though they can be iconic figures in film history. There are many different reasons why a character might not have a name. Most often, it makes them immediately seem more mysterious. If a character's past is so uncertain that even their name is unknown, it means they are probably carrying some dark secrets. Writers might leave villains unnamed, or known only by a nickname, for this exact reason. It helps to dehumanize them slightly, and it can make them seem even more threatening, as if they are immune to human weaknesses.

Not all...

Harley Quinn gets a stunning new femme fatale look, inspired by Marilyn Monroe, in the cover art for Harley Quinn: Black + White + Redder #6. The cover art beautifully captures Harley's deadly and gorgeous nature, showcasing her as one of DC's most prominent, most captivating femme fatale character. It remains to be seen whether Harley's new look is only featured on the cover, or will appear within one of the three stories contained in the final issue, all of which promise exciting adventures for Harley Quinn fans.

This Harley Quinn redesign has turned her into a jaw-dropping femme fatale, inspired by Marilyn Monroe. When it comes to DC's redesigns, Harley Quinn continues to reign supreme, with some of the best new looks of any hero or villain. Now, she has received her most stunning look yet, in an incredible artistic homage to Hollywood legend Marilyn Monroe.

As previewed by League of Comic Geeks,...

Fame can have a dark side, as portrayed in movies like Blonde, Sunset Boulevard, and The Wrestler, highlighting the negative effects on physical and emotional health. Hollywood films reveal the obsession, corruption, and greed that often accompany fame, exposing the high price that comes with being in the spotlight. Movies like Spree and Ingrid Goes West shed light on the dangers of pursuing online fame and the toxic aspects of influencer culture, cautioning against the pursuit of validation through social media.

Many people desire to be famous, but as some movies show, fame does have a dark side. At first glance, it's easy to believe that those in the spotlight have it all. But behind the prestige and the high status that comes with it, the concept of fame is shown to have a negative aspect in one's life in a number of Hollywood films.

Movies have shined a light...

It’s been a long, sexless decade or two for American cinema, but this summer, we’re finally getting films about laughs and lust again.

The 2023 Summer film season has been bookended by two comedies about women desperate for sex, albeit for very different reasons. “No Hard Feelings,” starring Jennifer Lawrence as a woman who reluctantly accepts a Craigslist job to “date” the son of a rich couple in exchange for a car, arrived in June. Closing out August comes the theatrical release of South by Southwest premiere “Bottoms,” directed by “Shiva Baby” filmmaker Emma Seligman and starring Rachel Sennott and Ayo Edebiri as two horny, unpopular lesbian teenagers who start a “female self-defense program” (read: fight club) in a bid to impress their cheerleader crushes.

Both films have been well-received by critics and audiences alike; “No Hard Feelings” made a healthy amount of money with $86.7 million at the global box office,...

Mr. Wilder And Me author Jonathan Coe with Anne-Katrin Titze: “I love Powell and Pressburger, so I was very happy to get in a reference to them.”

With Film Forum’s Written and Directed By Billy Wilder tribute, programmed by Bruce Goldstein, starting next week in New York, Jonathan Coe’s Mr. Wilder And Me is the perfect summer read.

Jonathan Coe on Fedora: “The imagery always reminds me of that Georges Franju film Eyes Without A Face.”

In the first instalment with the author we discuss Christoph Waltz as Billy Wilder in Stephen Frears’ yet-to-be-filmed adaptation of Jonathan’s novel; meeting Volker Schlöndorff just before the Covid lockdown; the images of Nicolas Roeg’s Don’t Look Now staying with him; a connection between Georges Franju’s [film id=13604]Eyes Without A...

Just in time for Succession‘s end, let’s look at method acting. The Criterion Channel are highlighting the controversial practice in a 27-film series centered on Brando, Newman, Nicholson, and many other’s embodiment of “an intensely personal, internalized, and naturalistic approach to performance.” That series makes mention of Marilyn Monroe, who gets her own, 11-title highlight––the iconic commingling with deeper cuts.

Pride Month offers “Masc,” a consideration of “trans men, butch lesbians, and gender-nonconforming heroes” onscreen; the Michael Koresky-curated Queersighted returning with a study of the gay best friend; and the 20-film “LGBTQ+ Favorites.” Louis Garrel’s delightful The Innocent (about which I talked to him here), the director’s cut of Gregg Araki’s The Doom Generation, and Stanley Kwan’s hugely underseen Lan Yu make streaming premieres, while Araki’s Totally F***ed Up and Mysterious Skin also get a run. Criterion Editions include Five Easy Pieces,...

Clockwise from Upper Left: Jennifer Lopez in Hustlers (Screenshot: STX Films/YouTube), Idris Elba in Beasts of No Nation (Screenshot: Netflix/YouTube), Marilyn Monroe in The Seven Year Itch (20th Century Fox), Nathan Lane in The Birdcage (Screenshot: MGM/YouTube), Hugh Grant in Four Weddings and a Funeral (Screenshot: MGM...

Blonde is a fictionalized depiction of Marilyn Monroe's life as one of the mid-20th century's biggest celebrities and film stars, whose famous roles include Some Like It Hot and The Seven Year Itch. Inspired by a Joyce Carol Oates novel, the movie stars Oscar nominee Ana de Armas as Marilyn Monroe. Both the film and the book it is based on are steeped in controversy, with Blonde receiving the infamous Nc-17 rating for "some sexual content" - a first for not only a Netflix original movie but for any streaming service exclusive film. Netflix's Blonde tells a fictionalized account of Marilyn Monroe's life as she rises to become one of the most famous celebrities ever. It focuses on her Hollywood stardom and addresses some of the legendary conspiracy theories surrounding Marilyn Monroe, such as an alleged affair with The President (Caspar Phillipson), based on John F. Kennedy, and...

"Christ, what an ugly dream." — Ana de Armas as Marilyn Monroe, "Blonde"

Weeping, near sobbing, near hysterics, in the noir-like shadows of her dressing room, Norma Jeane sits in front of her brightly-lit mirror, desperate and coming completely undone. Her hands clasped in prayer, she begs, "Please come." Whitey, her personal makeup artist, continues to apply color and powder and blush and lipstick to the weeping, drowning woman, assuring her that yes, she's coming. She. The proverbial she.

They're talking about Marilyn Monroe, of course. And sure enough, in like a cursed wind, like the Angel of Death swooping down like the last plague sent by God, something comes into this small dressing room and grabs hold of Norma Jeane's body. And she's no longer Norma Jeane. The tears dry up, and a big, bright, terrifying smile like a death rictus spreads across her gorgeous face. She utters a small,...

Few stars have cemented themselves as deeply in movie history as Marilyn Monroe. The actress wasn't just a movie star: she was hailed as an all-American sex symbol, and her legacy is still going strong to this day, 60 years after her passing. Few stars, male or female, can claim the same degree of popularity.

Yet for all her lasting success, Monroe had a rocky start to her career. Early on, the actress managed to nab a few roles here and there, but was generally ignored by film studios — Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer even complained that she lacked "the sort of looks that made a movie star." It's hardly a surprise that Monroe had to bounce back and forth between acting and modeling until her film career made it big. But while her patience eventually paid off, the star was aware that her career wouldn't have become such a hit without others' support (and...

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For BAFTA-nominated costume designer Jennifer Johnson (I, Tonya), working on Blonde was all about authenticity. Armed with a directive from writer-director Andrew Dominik — who would not approve a creation unless it was a perfect match — everything from the shades of Marilyn Monroe’s pink opera gloves to the placement of a pocket needed to be exact. Archival photos and films proved invaluable for the design of 100-plus costumes for Monroe along with those for 1,800 extras and supporting characters (including Joe Dimaggio, John F. Kennedy and Arthur Miller), which were a mixture of vintage and made-from-scratch items.

For an offscreen Monroe look, Jennifer Johnson remade capri pants found at L.A.’s Palace Costume.

Taking her cues from Joyce Carol Oates’ novel of the same name and Dominik’s script, Johnson’s goal was to convey the inner workings of the iconic screen siren...

Director Andrew Dominik has some unflattering things to say about the filmography of Marilyn Monroe, despite making a movie about the actress’ life, Blonde.

In a new interview with Sight & Sound, Andrew Dominik gave his perspective on one of the late Monroe’s most famous films, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, tying it in with the actress. “She had to be a little baby. So, when she sings ‘Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend’ – it’s like, is that sisterly advice, ‘If you’re gonna fuck, make sure you get paid’? Or is it just romanticised whoredom?”

Dropping the term “whore” as it relates to one of the most famous actresses to ever live seems like a risky move, especially considering he is trying to promote Blonde. And then Andrew Dominik doubled down, as shown in outtakes revealed by the interviewer, Christina Newland:

My interview with Andrew Dominik about Blonde...

In the end, an old-fashioned filmmaking trick involving heated cardboard helped costume designers re-create Marilyn Monroe’s famous pleated halter dress from “The Seven Year Itch” for Andrew Dominik’s “Blonde.”

“On paper, it looks easy,” says “Blonde” costume designer Jennifer Johnson, who worked on many of Monroe’s looks — including that one — for the movie, which is now streaming on Netflix.

She started by outfitting the film’s star, Ana de Armas, with a facsimile of the dress from a costume house.

“It looked cute,” but it wasn’t right, says Johnson.

The designer, who calls William Travilla’s original “a beast of a dress,” attempted to make her own version, going through at least 50 yards of fabric and various pleating techniques. But she still wasn’t satisfied with the resulting outfit.

“At the eleventh hour, a tailor from Western Costume figured it out,” says Johnson, who also designed period looks for “I,...

A photo shoot for the stills of Marilyn Monroe that would feature throughout Andrew Dominik’s “Blonde,” coming to Netflix Thursday, was essential to the hair and makeup team in transforming Ana de Armas into the celebrated icon.

Jaime Leigh McIntosh, hair department head and makeup department head Tina Roesler Kerwin spent two and a half hours each morning applying hair and makeup to de Armas.

“That photo shoot for stills gave us a chance to try out a lot of different colors and figure out what worked. It gave us a chance to figure out what worked better in black and white as opposed to color,” explains Kerwin.

The mandate was “to find our Marilyn in Ana and not put Marilyn’s hair and makeup on Ana, but to define our Marilyn and define her as best as we could.”

It all began with a silicone cap, as opposed to a regular bald cap.

If someone told me a decade ago that the woman who would play Marilyn Monroe in a fictionalized biopic of her life would have the best chance of being the one Latina woman nominated at this year’s Oscars for best actress, I would have asked, “where is Ashton Kutcher? Because clearly, I’m on ‘Punk’d’?”

But what could have seemed like a fever dream may soon become reality, Ana de Armas has done the impossible with her intoxicating portrayal of the classic starlet in Andrew Dominik’s “Blonde,” and the Academy Awards may fall under her spell.

If she is nominated for best actress, she would be only the fifth Latina ever to be nominated in the category in 95 years. She would follow Brazilian Fernanda Montenegro for “Central Station” (1998), Mexican Salma Hayek for “Frida” (2002), Colombian Catalina Sandino Moreno for “Maria Full of Grace” (2004) and Mexican Yalitza Aparicio for...

"Blonde," the new movie starring Ana de Armas as Marilyn Monroe, is more inspired by the legendary actor's story than it is a retelling of her life. However, there are parts that stick pretty close to the facts we know about her.

The film is an adaptation of Joyce Carol Oates's novel of the same name, and director Andrew Dominik told BFI in an interview published Sept. 27 that the decision to adapt the novel is why there are so many factual changes to the story he tells. He explained, "I've read everything there is to read about Marilyn Monroe. I've met people that knew her. I've done an enormous amount of research. But in the end, it's about the book. And adapting the book is really about adapting the feelings that the book gave me. I see the film, in some ways, as Joyce's vision of Marilyn, which is also really Joyce.

From being born Norma Jean on the east side of Los Angeles to dying as Marilyn Monroe alone in her bedroom at Fifth Helena Drive in Brentwood, the screen siren lived a lot of life. But she was also much more than the studio pin-up Hollywood pegged her to be. Andrew Dominik’s “Blonde” doesn’t exactly make the case for her radiance and wit so much as it suggests she was an actress who was relentlessly exploited by her peers, by her partners, and by her audience.

We at IndieWire all have wildly varied takes on “Blonde,” whether as a “miserable portrait that only further tarnishes the star” to a hijacking of Marilyn Monroe’s legacy to make an “anti-choice statement.” But one point we can all agree on: Monroe was both a star and a serious actress, and we want to make the case for 10 of her finest...

1953 was an important year for Marilyn Monroe. She'd been appearing in films since 1947, but '53 is when she became a star. That year, she appeared in three films for 20th Century Fox and one of them stands tall as defining her legendary screen persona: director Howard Hawks' "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes."

Monroe plays Lorelei Lee, the titular blonde and one of the film's two co-leads; the other is her brunette best friend Dorothy Shaw (Jane Russell). Lorelei is a bit ditzy and not shy about her expensive tastes (in men and otherwise), but there's no more loyal friend around.

Earlier that year, Monroe starred in the technicolor thriller "Niagara" as the murderous Rose Loomis, who conspires with her lover (Richard Allen) to murder her husband (Joseph Cotton). Hawks' film, though, was a musical comedy. Since she was playing a totally different type of character, Monroe needed to show a different side of herself.

Kate Beckinsale wows in white for a breezy outdoor photo. Pic credit: @katebeckinsale/Instagram

Kate Beckinsale accentuated her legs in an iconic Marilyn Monroe pose.

Katie appeared to be somewhere tropical in her latest post.

The English actress rocked high heels and a flowy dress for her sizzling social media share.

Kate currently has 5.5 million Instagram followers, and she keeps them updated with her many fun and fashionable outings.

Kate’s recent photo received over 35k likes on Instagram.

The post also received loads of comments from fans praising her beauty.

Kate Beckinsale strikes Marilyn Monroe pose in ‘Oh No’ dress

Kate Beckinsale’s breezy photo featured her standing on a dark wood platform with plants, architecture, and a cloudy sky visible behind her.

She wore a white mini dress that blew upward, similar to Marilyn Monroe and her iconic white dress in the 1955 film The Seven Year Itch.

Kate...

Ana de Armas plays Norma Jeane/Marilyn Monroe in Andrew Dominik’s Blonde. Photo: Netflix Based on Joyce Carol Oates’ Pulitzer Prize finalist novel of the same name, Blonde uses a work of biographical fiction to presumably seek deeper truths about the life of Marilyn Monroe. Unfortunately, director Andrew Dominik...

Ana de Armas knows that some like it hot! The Blonde actress, who will portray Marilyn Monroe in the upcoming Netflix film, channeled the Hollywood icon at the 2022 Venice Film Festival on Sept. 8. While attending the movie premiere, Ana slipped into a pretty in pink Louis Vuitton gown. Ana's stunning design featured a plunging halter neckline and billowing pleated fabric that wrapped all over, which was reminiscent of Marilyn's iconic white halter dress from The Seven Year Itch. You know, the 1955 film where Marilyn infamously pulled down her pleated skirt as the subway vent fanned it up. In addition, Ana's vibrant choice of pink and massive...

Forget Seberg, forget Mank, forget Judy — Andrew Dominik’s Venice Film Festival competition entry Blonde takes a blowtorch to the entire concept of the Hollywood biopic and arrives at something almost without precedent.

Gus Van Sant, at the height of his Béla Tarr period, achieved something remarkable and kind of similar with 2005’s Last Days, an immersive but fictional rumination on the events preceding rock star Kurt Cobain’s suicide in 1994. But then, Blonde’s closest antecedents are all in fiction — anyone expecting an idiot’s guide to Marilyn Monroe will be surprised or even appalled to see the late star’s life presented as a horror movie in the surreal, nightmarish style of David Lynch’s Mulholland Drive, another film about a blonde actress struggling with the boundaries between fantasy and fiction and whose star, Naomi Watts, was attached to this movie way back in the day.

‘Blonde’ Venice...

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You might feel like you need a shower after Blonde, but hey, at least it’s not bland. In his first narrative feature in 10 years, Andrew Dominik brings intoxicating visual style and a voyeuristic leer to Joyce Carol Oates’ 700-plus page biographical fiction novel of the same name. A mythic fable about Marilyn Monroe as an unwanted child desired by millions, passed around by men as she desperately searched for someone to call “Daddy” on her path to self-destruction, this is a treatise on celebrity and the sex symbol that blurs not only reality with fantasy but also empathy with exploitation. Either despite or because of all that, it’s a must-see.

There’s a lot of great stuff here, particularly a raw performance from Ana de Armas that strips the most examined woman in pop-culture history bare, literally and metaphorically. But as...

Ahead of Netflix’s biopic of the Hollywood star, what better time to catch up on her deft, joyous screen performances, from Some Like It Hot to The Misfits

No one has seen the film yet, but the internet is already awash with opinions about Blonde, Netflix’s forthcoming fictionalised biopic of Marilyn Monroe: about everything from Cuban star Ana de Armas’s suitability in the lead to the potential offensiveness of the film’s reportedly explicit sexual content. Sixty years on from her death at 36, Monroe still inspires a kind of protective instinct in the public, even among generations who missed her lifetime by several decades. Yet such discussions tend to frame Monroe only as tragic icon, rather than a blithe, sly and continually underestimated actor. There could hardly be a better time to catch up on her abbreviated but frequently joyous filmography, nearly all of it available...