and in the end

i just watched a very patched up version of the last film marilyn monroe made. 1962's unfinished remake 'something's gotta give' also starred dean martin and the luminous cyd charisse. i know patience is a virtue but 40 years? that is how long it took for people to share the assemblage of scenes meant to construct the zany tale of a wife who's been stranded on a desert island for four years only to return home to find her spouse remarried.
the moment where monroe sneaks into her old backyard and watches her kids is hard to believe and it doesn't get any more believable. the sweetest fact is that dean martin refused to finish the picture if marilyn was replaced. indeed she was fired before being rehired. she died before the film was completed and we are able to see that marilyn was astonishingly beautiful just days before her death. the toll the pills were taking upon her were not apparent. her radiant smile as she tussles with a dog knocks you for a loop.
film aside, there are rare test takes of her turning it on for the camera. it is a privilege to see her outshine all others.