In 1954, frustrated by her pay and the quality of roles she was being offered, Marilyn Monroe went on strike. She was scheduled to play another bombshell in another musical but was refused the right to read the script and discovered that her male co-star would earn 70% more than her.
Instead of giving in to the studio’s demand that she return to work, Monroe courted the mainstream media by honeymooning with a famous baseballer and entertaining troops in Korea. The front-page news made her a superstar, which she used to renegotiate her contract and weaken the studio’s control over her. We are used to seeing Monroe as a pin-up, but in this photo by Milton H Greene she is wearing a power suit and staring directly at the camera, challenging us to underestimate her. When 20th Century Fox backed out of a lucrative bonus, Monroe founded a production company and negotiated new terms that gave her control over a film’s subject, director and cinematographer. This defiant act contributed to the downfall of the studio system gave future stars more creative (and personal) freedom.
When feminist writer Gloria Steinem asked, ‘Who would she be today?’ in Ms magazine, one answer might be ‘A business-savvy actor who becomes an executive producer’.
Uncovering Marilyn
There’s a cheeky, heart-shaped embroidery on the rear of the ensemble worn by Marilyn Monroe in Some Like It Hot (1959) and featured in Goddess. It’s a playful detail in Orry-Kelly’s design, which incorporated skin-toned silk among the sequins to make her look nude. The Australian designer celebrated Monroe’s physicality. This boundary-pushing costume also shows how she took control of her image after renegotiating her studio contract, which led to more daring roles like Sugar Kane in Some Like It Hot. The censors weren’t impressed with the film’s racy costumes and cross-dressing, but it was released without the Hays Code’s approval. The film’s success helped accelerate the abandonment of the code in 1968.
In the video below, Australian director Gillian Armstrong discusses the stories of Orry-Kelly that informed her documentary, Uncovering Orry-Kelly.
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Collection
Not in ACMI's collection
Previously on display
1 October 2023
Australian Centre for the Moving Image
Collection metadata
ACMI Identifier
193580
Curatorial section
Goddess → Crafting the ideal → GPB