Marilyn Monroe’s legend lives on — with fans remaining obsessed over the movie that she never made! The shooting script used by the film legend for “Something’s Got To Give” sold at auction for $25,000. A floral dress she wore in the unfinished film even sold for $358,000. Marilyn’s admirers also carefully collected stills from a skinny-dipping scene locked away after Marilyn’s mysterious death in 1962. But the star’s final movie ended up embroiled in classic Hollywood drama, with a legendary nude scene cut after she was replaced by a far more wholesome star…
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Marilyn had been fired from the troubled comedy in June of 1962, but was rehired her after costar
Dean Martin refused to work with other actresses. Lee Remick had originally been suggested as the replacement for Marilyn, who was playing a presumed-dead wife disrupting her husband's new marriage after she was found on a desert island.
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Marilyn enjoyed some sweet revenge by demanding that director George Cukor be fired before she returned to set. She was also given a raise over her original asking price of $100,000 — but, tragically, she
died on August 5 before any new footage could be filmed.
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The film was meant to be a major comeback for Marilyn, too, after spending a year away from the cameras after gall bladder surgery. She also planned to make a big splash by becoming the first major star to ever do a nude scene!
Photo credit: Getty Images
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The notorious sequence wasn't scripted as a nude shoot — with Marilyn originally signing on to just do a skinny-dipping scene in a pool. Instead, she declined the body stocking that was offered her and doffed her bikini to shoot the scene naked. Only necessary film crew members were allowed on the set, but
the notorious starlet had personally invited some photographers to the shoot.
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Marilyn even agreed to shoot scenes with and without her bikini bottom. That dedication still wasn't appreciated by director Cukor, who had been forced to shoot around Marilyn's continuing health problems.
Photo credit: Getty Images
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Her last day on the set was June 1, with the cast celebrating her birthday with a cake featuring a nude Marilyn covered in a towel, and icing that spelled out "Happy Birthday (Suit)!" The director had her fired three days later.
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Marilyn responded to the devastating news with a series of interviews — telling LIFE magazine's Richard Meryman: "Fame is fickle. I now live in my work and in a few relationships with the few people I can really count on. Fame will go by, and so long. I've had you, fame. If it goes by, I've always known it was fickle."
Photo credit: Getty Images
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LIFE's cover story mourned "The skinny dip you'll never see!" That same skinny-dip was the main reason that 20th Century Fox brought Marilyn back to the film. The studio was desperate for a sure fire money-maker, as executives began to panic over
Elizabeth Taylor continually driving up the costs of shooting "Cleopatra" with
her diva antics.Photo credit: Getty Images
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Before that, 20th Century Fox tried saving the film with a new script and a stunt double for Marilyn — since the few minutes that were filmed included Marilyn's pool footage. The movie was eventually remade as 1963's "Move Over, Darling," starring
Doris Day and
Rock Hudson. Marilyn's wholesome replacement, however, didn't shoot a similar nude scene.
Photo credit: Getty Images
Marilyn had been fired from the troubled comedy in June of 1962, but was rehired her after costar
Dean Martin refused to work with other actresses. Lee Remick had originally been suggested as the replacement for Marilyn, who was playing a presumed-dead wife disrupting her husband's new marriage after she was found on a desert island.
Marilyn enjoyed some sweet revenge by demanding that director George Cukor be fired before she returned to set. She was also given a raise over her original asking price of $100,000 — but, tragically, she
died on August 5 before any new footage could be filmed.
The film was meant to be a major comeback for Marilyn, too, after spending a year away from the cameras after gall bladder surgery. She also planned to make a big splash by becoming the first major star to ever do a nude scene!
Photo credit: Getty Images
The notorious sequence wasn't scripted as a nude shoot — with Marilyn originally signing on to just do a skinny-dipping scene in a pool. Instead, she declined the body stocking that was offered her and doffed her bikini to shoot the scene naked. Only necessary film crew members were allowed on the set, but
the notorious starlet had personally invited some photographers to the shoot.
Marilyn even agreed to shoot scenes with and without her bikini bottom. That dedication still wasn't appreciated by director Cukor, who had been forced to shoot around Marilyn's continuing health problems.
Photo credit: Getty Images
Her last day on the set was June 1, with the cast celebrating her birthday with a cake featuring a nude Marilyn covered in a towel, and icing that spelled out "Happy Birthday (Suit)!" The director had her fired three days later.
Marilyn responded to the devastating news with a series of interviews — telling LIFE magazine's Richard Meryman: "Fame is fickle. I now live in my work and in a few relationships with the few people I can really count on. Fame will go by, and so long. I've had you, fame. If it goes by, I've always known it was fickle."
Photo credit: Getty Images
LIFE's cover story mourned "The skinny dip you'll never see!" That same skinny-dip was the main reason that 20th Century Fox brought Marilyn back to the film. The studio was desperate for a sure fire money-maker, as executives began to panic over
Elizabeth Taylor continually driving up the costs of shooting "Cleopatra" with
her diva antics.Photo credit: Getty Images
Before that, 20th Century Fox tried saving the film with a new script and a stunt double for Marilyn — since the few minutes that were filmed included Marilyn's pool footage. The movie was eventually remade as 1963's "Move Over, Darling," starring
Doris Day and
Rock Hudson. Marilyn's wholesome replacement, however, didn't shoot a similar nude scene.
Photo credit: Getty Images
