Reviewed by Glenn Gaslin
(Moving Pictures Icons issue, June/July 2006)

Starring Marilyn Monroe. Directed by Billy Wilder, Howard Hawks, Henry Hathaway, Otto Preminger, George Cukor and Patty Ivins Specht. Released by 20th Century Fox.

They tried to cram her onto six DVDs and into a slickly packaged boxed set, and you know what? She almost fits. On the event of what would have been Monroe's 80th birthday, this collection comes close to a complete portrait of a complex, hilarious and highly professional actress. The five films from five different directors provide plenty of the bombshell's funniest and sexiest roles - the nameless object of desire from The Seven Year Itch, the loveable gold-digger in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and her sultry prowling villain from underrated noir thriller Niagara.

Marilyn may have made her first impressions by redefining the dumb blonde, but through these looks at the frontier badass and, sadly, the troubled dead girl, we get a healthy dose of her dark side, too. Capped by the sobering documentary Marilyn Monroe: The Final Days, the collection curves with an eerie perspective. And after the 40-minute reconstruction of the scenes Monroe shot for her unfinished last film, Something's Got to Give, you'll really feel like you knew the girl.