Editing Marilyn Monroe (section)

=== 1953: Rising star ===
[[File:Marilyn Monroe Niagara.png |left|thumb|alt= Monroe in ''Niagara''. A close-up of her face and shoulders; she is wearing gold hoop earrings and a shocking pink top|Monroe in ''[[Niagara (1953 film)|Niagara]]'' (1953), which dwelt on her sex appeal]]

Monroe starred in three movies that were released in 1953 and emerged as a major sex symbol and one of Hollywood's most bankable performers.{{sfnm|1a1=Spoto|1y=2001|1p=221|2a1=Churchwell|2y=2004|2pp=61–65|3a1=Lev|3y=2013|3p=168}}<ref name="www.quigleypublishing.com Top10_lists">{{cite web |url=http://www.quigleypublishing.com/MPalmanac/Top10/Top10_lists.html |title=The 2006 Motion Picture Almanac, Top Ten Money Making Stars |publisher=Quigley Publishing Company |access-date=August 25, 2008 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141221063625/http://www.quigleypublishing.com/MPalmanac/Top10/Top10_lists.html |archive-date=December 21, 2014}}</ref> The first was the [[Technicolor]] [[film noir]] ''[[Niagara (1953 film)|Niagara]]'', in which she played a ''[[femme fatale]]'' scheming to murder her husband, played by [[Joseph Cotten]].{{sfn|Churchwell|2004|p=233}} By then, Monroe and her make-up artist [[Allan "Whitey" Snyder]] had developed her "trademark" make-up look: dark arched brows, pale skin, "glistening" red lips and a [[beauty mark]].{{sfn|Churchwell|2004|pp=25, 62}} According to Sarah Churchwell, ''Niagara'' was one of the most overtly sexual films of Monroe's career.{{sfn|Churchwell|2004|p=62}} In some scenes, Monroe's body was covered only by a sheet or a towel, considered shocking by contemporary audiences.{{sfnm|1a1=Churchwell|1y=2004|1p=62|2a1=Banner|2y=2012|2pp=195–196}} ''Niagara''{{Apostrophe}}s most famous scene is a 30-second [[long shot]] behind Monroe where she is seen walking with her hips swaying, which was used heavily in the film's marketing.{{sfnm|1a1=Churchwell|1y=2004|1p=62|2a1=Banner|2y=2012|2pp=195–196}}
[[File:Gentlemen Prefer Blondes Movie Trailer Screenshot (34).jpg|thumb|Monroe performing the song "[[Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend]]" in the trailer for the 1953 film, [[Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953 film)|''Gentlemen Prefer Blondes'']]]]
When ''Niagara'' was released in January 1953, [[women's club (United States)|women's clubs]] protested it as immoral, but it proved popular with audiences.{{sfnm|1a1=Spoto|1y=2001|1p=221|2a1=Banner|2y=2012|2p=205|3a1=Leaming|3y=1998|3p=75 on box office figure}} While ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'' deemed it "clichéd" and "morbid", ''[[The New York Times]]'' commented that "the falls and Miss Monroe are something to see", as although Monroe may not be "the perfect actress at this point ... she can be seductive—even when she walks".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=940DE0DF163FE53ABC4A51DFB7668388649EDE|title=Niagara Falls Vies With Marilyn Monroe|work=The New York Times|date=January 22, 1953|access-date=October 18, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151105231428/http://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=940DE0DF163FE53ABC4A51DFB7668388649EDE|archive-date=November 5, 2015|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://variety.com/1952/film/reviews/niagara-1200417447/|title=Review: 'Niagara'|work=Variety|date=December 31, 1952|access-date=October 18, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151121060822/http://variety.com/1952/film/reviews/niagara-1200417447/|archive-date=November 21, 2015|url-status=live}}</ref>
Monroe continued to attract attention by wearing revealing outfits, most famously at the ''Photoplay'' Awards in January 1953, where she won the "Fastest Rising Star" award.{{sfnm|1a1=Spoto|1y=2001|1pp=236–238|2a1=Churchwell|2y=2004|2p=234|3a1=Banner|3y=2012|3pp=205–206}} A pleated "sunburst" waist-tight, deep décolleté gold [[Lamé (fabric)|lamé]] dress designed by [[William Travilla]] for ''Gentlemen Prefer Blondes'', but barely seen at all in the film, was to become a sensation.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.glamamor.com/2014/05/MarilynMonroe-GentlemenPreferBlondes-Travilla.html|title=Style Essentials--Stardom Strikes Marilyn Monroe as GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES|first=Kimberly|last=Truhler}}</ref> Prompted by such imagery, veteran star [[Joan Crawford]] publicly called the behavior "unbecoming an actress and a lady".{{sfnm|1a1=Spoto|1y=2001|1pp=236–238|2a1=Churchwell|2y=2004|2p=234|3a1=Banner|3y=2012|3pp=205–206}}

While ''Niagara'' made Monroe a sex symbol and established her "look", her second film of 1953, the satirical musical comedy ''[[Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953 film)|Gentlemen Prefer Blondes]]'', cemented her screen persona as a "[[Blonde stereotype#Dumb blonde|dumb blonde]]".{{sfnm|1a1=Spoto|1y=2001|1p=231|2a1=Churchwell|2y=2004|2p=64|3a1=Banner|3y=2012|3p=200|4a1=Leaming|4y=1998|4pp=75–76}} Based on [[Anita Loos]]' [[Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (novel)|novel]] and [[Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (musical)|its Broadway version]], the film focuses on two "gold-digging" [[showgirl]]s played by Monroe and [[Jane Russell]]. Monroe's role was originally intended for [[Betty Grable]], who had been 20th Century-Fox's most popular "[[blonde bombshell (stereotype)|blonde bombshell]]" in the 1940s; Monroe was fast eclipsing her as a star who could appeal to both male and female audiences.{{sfnm|1a1=Spoto|1y=2001|1pp=219–220|2a1=Banner|2y=2012|2p=177}} As part of the film's publicity campaign, she and Russell pressed their hand and footprints in wet concrete outside [[Grauman's Chinese Theatre]] in June.{{sfnm|1a1=Spoto|1y=2001|1p=242|2a1=Banner|2y=2012|2pp=208–209}} ''Gentlemen Prefer Blondes'' was released shortly after and became one of the biggest box office successes of the year.{{sfnm|2a1=Churchwell|2y=2004|2p=63|1a1=Solomon|1y=1988|1p=89}} Crowther of ''[[The New York Times]]'' and William Brogdon of ''Variety'' both commented favorably on Monroe, especially noting her performance of "[[Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend]]"; according to the latter, she demonstrated the "ability to sex a song as well as point up the eye values of a scene by her presence".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://variety.com/1953/film/reviews/gentlemen-prefer-blondes-2-1200417560/|title=Gentlemen Prefer Blondes|work=Variety|date=July 1, 1953|access-date=October 18, 2015|first=William|last=Brogdon|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151121062432/http://variety.com/1953/film/reviews/gentlemen-prefer-blondes-2-1200417560/|archive-date=November 21, 2015|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9B07E0DC173DE23BBC4E52DFB1668388649EDE|title=Gentlemen Prefer Blondes|work=The New York Times|date=July 16, 1953|access-date=October 18, 2015|first=Bosley|last=Crowther|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150926154609/http://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9B07E0DC173DE23BBC4E52DFB1668388649EDE|archive-date=September 26, 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> 
[[File:Marilyn Monroe, Betty Grable and Lauren Bacall in How to Marry a Millionaire trailer.jpg|left|thumb|289x289px|Monroe with [[Betty Grable]] and [[Lauren Bacall]] in the film ''[[How to Marry a Millionaire]]'' (1953)]]
In September, Monroe made her television debut in the ''[[Jack Benny Show]]'', playing Jack's fantasy woman in the episode "Honolulu Trip".{{sfn|Spoto|2001|p=250}} She co-starred with Grable and [[Lauren Bacall]] in her third movie of the year, ''[[How to Marry a Millionaire]]'', released in November. It featured Monroe as a naïve model who teams up with her friends to find rich husbands, repeating the successful formula of ''Gentlemen Prefer Blondes''. It was the second film ever released in [[CinemaScope]], a widescreen format that Fox hoped would draw audiences back to theaters as television was beginning to cause losses to film studios.{{sfnm|1a1=Spoto|1y=2001|1p=238|2a1=Churchwell|2y=2004|2pp=64–65}} Despite mixed reviews, the film was Monroe's biggest box office success at that point in her career.{{sfnm|2a1=Churchwell|2y=2004|2p=65|3a1=Lev|3y=2013|3p=209|1a1=Solomon|1y=1988|1p=89}}

Monroe was listed in the annual [[Top Ten Money Making Stars Poll]] in both 1953 and 1954,<ref name="www.quigleypublishing.com Top10_lists" /> and according to Fox historian Aubrey Solomon became the studio's "greatest asset" alongside CinemaScope.{{sfn|Solomon|1988|p=89}} Monroe's position as a leading sex symbol was confirmed in December 1953, when [[Hugh Hefner]] featured her on the cover and as centerfold in the first issue of ''[[Playboy]]''; Monroe did not consent to the publication.{{sfn|Churchwell|2004|p=217}} The cover image was a photograph taken of her at the [[Miss America Pageant]] parade in 1952, and the centerfold featured one of her 1949 nude photographs.{{sfn|Churchwell|2004|p=217}}