[MONROE, Marilyn.] POWOLNY, Frank.
Signed glamour shot of Marilyn Monroe.
C. 1953.
Gelatin silver print portrait of Marilyn Monroe, 10 x 8” (c. 201 x 250 mm); excellently preserved; signed in blue in a secretarial hand ‘Love & Kisses Marilyn Monroe’; from the estate of Sir Laurence Olivier.
Signed photograph of Marilyn Monroe, given to Laurence Olivier around the time of their filming The Prince and the Showgirl.
This is one of a group of four photographs inscribed of Marilyn Monroe given to Laurence Olivier during their time working together on the 1957 film The Prince and the Showgirl. Their first meeting in New York, to discuss the project, was a great success, Olivier writing afterwards ‘She was so adorable, so witty, such incredible fun and more physically attractive than anyone I could have imagined’ (quoted by Philip Ziegler, Olivier, 2013, p.209). Monroe’s time in England for the filming was famously documented in Colin Clark’s memoir My Week With Marilyn (2000) and the 2011 film of the same name, which revealed the tense and unhappy atmosphere around the set and the difficulties in reconciling the wildly-differing working styles of Olivier and Monroe. Nonetheless the film was a success, particularly in the UK, and achieved several BAFTA nominations, including for Best British Actor for Olivier, and Best Foreign Actress for Monroe, in 1958. It is not clear for what purpose these photographs were intended but they were perhaps surplus promotional materials given that they are not inscribed to any particular individuals. The image, by Frank Powolny who took many of the most iconic photographs of Monroe in the early 1950s, captures the remarkable charisma with which she charmed her audiences. Looking back on the film some years later, Olivier, who had been infuriated by the experience of working with Monroe, had to admit that her performance was ‘wonderful’.
