Part Three

It would take almost five years from the first mention till the fruition of negotiations began in earnest. In between, Marilyn's issues with The Prince and the Showgirl, Some Like It Hot, her miscarriages, and then her very public affair with Yves Montand kept Monroe's name before the press. Marilyn finished Let's Make Love in June 1960 and immediately relocated to Reno, Nevada, to begin filming The Misfits, written by Monroe's husband, Arthur Miller.

Marlowe reached out to her by telegram in September. "Had splendid meeting with Lee Strasberg about Rain project. We agreed it would be best for me to fly to Reno to discuss it with you...I could stay about a week if necessary." Filming was rough in the desert heat; her marriage to Miller had fallen apart, and they slept in separate suites. Marlowe's trip would have been wasted—something she realized from the gossip columns. John Huston, the film's director, had this to say to Ward Morehouse on October 4 about his star's talent, "She has no devices to fall back on. She has no technique whatsoever. She has to go down into her soul and come up with everything she does. A remarkable person and great star." When asked the same question about Jeanne Eagels, Huston replied, "Jeanne Eagels had tremendous talent...and pipe stem legs."

Marlowe reached out again by Western Union on October 10. "Mailed you a letter yesterday before receiving your wire this afternoon. When you return I will be here in New York. Look forward with great anticipation to discuss plans with you at that time." According to Marlowe, Marilyn called her up and said, "Let's talk about this."

Jamaican actor Jeffery Holder, guesting for vacationing columnist Dorothy Kilgallen, wrote, "I ran into a man in the street one day who wanted me to play Reverend Davidson in a revival of Rain. He said he was thinking of Marilyn Monroe to play Sadie Thompson. When I called the man back, they had him Bellevue." While it would've been exciting casting, the still segregated sections of America would not accept the actor in a sexually based storyline with a white actress. The six-foot-five-inch Holder would tower over Monroe, who stood just over five feet five inches in stockings and five feet eight inches in heels. Gable dies on November 16 from a heart attack. Monroe's antics during filming were to blame, though it was his health and strenuous stunts. Kay Gable blamed Monroe's delays on stressing her husband out.

On November 30, Walter Hawver wrote "Marilyn Monroe and Frederic (sic) March, reportedly being paged by N.B.C. for its biggest 1961-2 special, a 90-minute adaptation of W. Somerset Maugham's Rain. The network has asked Vincent J. Donehue to stage the production, but he hasn't committed himself." Donehue was mainly a theatrical director who had worked with everyone from Lillian Gish to Kim Stanley, Maureen Stapleton to Mary Martin in 1959's Sound of Music, and her 1960 television telecast of Peter Pan. His film credits include Lonelyhearts with Montgomery Clift and Sunrise at Campobello with Greer Garson. It was a wise choice on N.B.C.'s part as he completely understood directing all aspects of film, T.V., and stage, and his experience could quell any uneasiness for Marilyn's dramatic television debut.

March was best known to audiences from his stage and screen performances stretching over a forty-year career –  Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1937), A Star is Born, The Best Years of Our Lives, and Inherit the Wind. He was the perfect choice for several reasons. March appeared with Jeanne Eagels in her final film, Jealousy. He and his wife, actress Florence Elridge, lived in New Milford, Connecticut, where Marilyn and Arthur Miller were married in 1956. Miller had wanted March for the stage play Death of a Salesman, but the actor turned him down, regretting his decision and grabbing the chance to star in the film version. Monroe also had a white baby grand piano in their 57th Street apartment that initially belonged to March and had been in Marilyn's family since childhood.

Negotiations began earnestly with Burton Hanft, one of many Vice Presidents at N.B.C. and M.C.A.'s legal team headed by Marilyn's agent, George Chasin. Aside from Rain, Chasin was fielding offers, including one from Universal Studios regarding Stanley Shapiro's A Touch of Mink and a remake of Warner's A Lost Lady, based upon the Willa Cather novel. Chasin closed his January 3 letter with, "I enjoyed talking with you, Marilyn, and again wish you a happy New Year. I will do my best to help make it so."

March and his wife were officially offered the roles of Reverend and Mrs Davidson on January 5 by Marlowe, who then made the official announcement in the New York Times on January 6, 1961. In New York City filming The Young Doctors, March commented, "They would have to see a script before deciding to accept or not." Monroe's press agent, John Springer, commented, "It is not firm yet, but the deal is pretty sure."

Three days later, Earl Wilson tipped his readers with what seemed inside information. "Lee Strasberg'll direct" in one column and "Paddy Chayefsky has been mentioned as a writer for the project" in another. Strasberg would have been an exciting choice as director and, as Marlowe's telegram revealed, had been involved for months. Dorothy Kilgallen reported numerous lunches and dinners between student and teacher at Sardi's, Lindy's, and Le Pavillon as 1960 faded into 1961 before columnist Mike Connolly reported on January 4 that Marilyn and the Strasbergs had incorporated as partners to produce television films.

Marilyn met the Strasbergs shortly after moving to New York in 1955 when she became an observer at the Actor's Studio. Strasberg was its Artistic Director, founded in New York by Elia Kazan, Cheryl Crawford, and Robert Lewis in 1947. Classes were held in the former Theatre District church where such students as Marlon Brando, Maureen Stapleton, Eli Wallach, and others honed their craft. "Method acting" is where one reaches deep inside and uses personal experiences to bring forth the proper emotion for whichever character they portray. Many Actor's Studio students would find work on early television dramatic anthology series, for which Marilyn was now considering her debut. She successfully portrayed Anna Christie in a scene with Maureen Stapleton, drawing applause from her classmates.

It is almost certain that after Marilyn began her private lessons with Strasberg, both the subjects of Sadie Thompson and Jeanne Eagels arose more than once. He told Helen Bolstad in April 1961, "Miss Monroe has always been intrigued by my stories about that show. Most people see only the toughness of Sadie, but Miss Eagels gave her a luminous quality, too―that of a lost soul grouping for a new life and, for a time, transformed and washed clean. When the missionary she trusted fails her, it is no wonder that she turns back with fury to her old life."

But Strasberg would never compare Monroe to Eagels herself, telling the story in his book The Lee Strasberg Notes. "I remember an actress whose career was ruined by being compared favorably to a successful and very fine American actress. After a production, critics said, 'She's just like a young Jeanne Eagels.' When this kind of comparison is made and similar comments about actors, it can kill their career rather than help them. As a result, this actress was cast in another play but said to herself, 'Well, I'm a young Jeanne Eagels, so I'm as good as she is, and I don't have to study with anybody.'

"Her first mistake was that when Jeanne Eagels was 'young,' she was not famous. Nobody cared about her or knew who she was. She was just a young actress working to establish a career. When this actress appeared in the new show and received terrible notices, she was shocked. Since they raved about her and drew comparisons to Jeanne Eagels previously, how could she be bad in this part?" Strasberg added, "She wandered around after that. If she'd worked with me, it would've been difficult for her, but I think we could've helped her. She had talent, but little by little, she dropped out of the theatre. She wasn't a young Jeanne Eagels. She was a young actress who could have worked and gone wherever her talent took her."

Marilyn's mentor knew Eagels talents well. Strasberg arrived in New York in 1909, a year before the actress arrived as a chorus girl in Jumping Jupiter to begin her career. Strasberg saw Jeanne's star rise in shows such as The Outcast, Hamilton, Daddies, The Wonderful Thing, and Into the Night Watch before her iconic creation of Sadie Thompson.

Strasberg's desire for Marilyn to play Sadie dispels the rumor that the reason Monroe didn't take the role of Holly Golightly in Breakfast at Tiffany's was that Strasberg felt the role of an escort/party girl wouldn't be an asset in her desire to be taken as a dramatic actress. George Axelrod had written the script with Monroe in mind, and she was author Truman Capote's first choice for the part. But much of the "meat" of the book had been carved away, and with a new ending, Strasberg probably felt that the particular role that was written wouldn't have been a wise choice. Dorothy Kilgallen, Earl Wilson, and Vernon Scott kept tabs on Marilyn and Joe DiMaggio's sightings, which included dinners at Le Pavillon and attending the closing of The Hostage sitting in Row B at the Eugene O'Neill Theater on January 7. NBC worked quickly with Hanft, sending a letter to MCA outlining contract points the same day Earl Wilson's January 9 column reported Monroe had called the box office for the tickets herself. "No comment." was Marilyn's only response to the question of dating her ex.

Marilyn's devotion to whom she considered her surrogate parents was apparent when she met with her lawyers and changed her will on January 14. She replaced Miller with the Strasbergs as the primary beneficiaries, with smaller amounts for her mother, sister, niece, and Doctor Kris, her therapist, plus a small stipend for Patricia Rosten, the daughter of close friends.