Jane Fonda- Personal Life

There have been ten biographies written about Jane. Jane stated that the first nine books were written by men who were threatened by her. The tenth biography was a way for Jane to tell her story her way. The biography titled, “The Private Life of a Public Woman” the biography is said to explain Jane’s struggles with self-doubt, vanity, and her “sacrificing everything for the men she loved.”  Jane had three marriages, first Roger Vadim 1965–1973, Tom Hayden 1973–1989, and lastly Ted Turner 1991–2001. She has two children, Vanessa Vadim and Troy Garity. Jane is an actress, model, dance and work-out instructor, and activist.

Jane Fonda was born “Lady Jayne Seymour Fonda” in New York in 1937 to actor Henry Fonda and New York socialite and widow of a wealthy industrialist, Frances Ford Seymour Brokaw. Jayne was originally named after the third wife of the English King Henry VIII to whom she is distantly related to on her mother’s side. Jane is of Dutch and English decent. Jane’s mother wanted her to be a boy, since she had a daughter before Jane, who she named Frances. Jane’s mother finally had a son when Peter Fonda was born. Peter and his daughter Bridget Fonda are actors. Frances died in 2008.

Jane’s mother suffered from postpartum depression and was in the hospital for several weeks following Peter’s birth. Her depression turned to manic mood swings and got even worse when Henry Fonda enlisted in the Army. Henry was enlisted for two years. Jane’s mother spent these two years either in a state of “frenzied activity” or in her bedroom which she kept completely dark and would only allow Peter inside. Jane stated that she would sneak into her mother’s room on occasion and find her staring “wildly at her reflection in the mirror.” Jane said that her mother would catch her and say. “Lady, if I gain any extra weight I’m going to cut it off with a knife!”When Henry Fonda returned from the Army, he announced that he wanted a divorce from Frances and that he was in love with another woman. In an autobiography by Peter, Henry was described as a cold, narcissistic man who never gave love or approval to his many wives or children.

In 1950 Frances Ford Seymour was suffering again from mental illness and was committed to the Craig House Sanitarium for the Insane in Beacon, New York. Jane and Peter remember their mother brining a porcelain box with her as a keepsake. It was later learned that this box held a razor blade when Frances committed suicide by cutting her throat with a razor from ear to ear on her 42nd birthday while in the Sanitarium. Jane was twelve at this time.  Later that year, Henry married Susan Blanchard, another socialite. There married would end in 1956.

Jane remembers a better time in 1956 when her family spent the summer in a large rental house in Cape Cod. This is when Jane began to explore with acting during the summer with her father. She and Henry acted together in a community production at the Dennis Playhouse. Unfortunately for Jane, Henry married a 23 year old countess the year after, in 1957. Jane was 19 years old at the time and was studying at Vassar. Due to her father’s marriage, Jane wanted to escape so she dropped out of Vassar to move to Paris to study painting. It was in Paris that she began modeling for Vogue. It is said that her father was very proud of her modeling career and as he was working on Broadway, he would bring the magazine, showing it to everyone and saying, “Look at how beautiful my daughter is!” This was the time when her career really began. Her biography states the tragedies Jane endured enabled her to channel her emotions into acting and made her incredible career.  Henry divorced the countess in 1961 and married Shirlee Mae Adams who he stayed married to until his death in 1982.

Marilyn Monroe: Life & Acting Career

Marilyn Monroe was born in 1926 in LA as Norma Jean Mortenson to a life as an orphan.

At the age of 7, she met and lived with her mother for nearly a year until her mother was admitted into a mental hospital.

A good friend of her mother's, known to Norma Jean as Aunt Grace, adopted her. But not long after due to financial trouble, had to send her to the Orphan Asylum - the Los Angeles Children's Home Society.

Over the course of her life as an orphan, she lived with 9 different families, most in which were poverty stricken. In one home, she was sexually molested by an older man.

When Norma was 13, she was mistaken for an 18 year old due to her womanly figure. One day, a 21 year old boy asked her to the beach for a date. With no swimsuit, she decided to barrow her little "sister's" swimsuit. It was too small on her, but Norma had no other options. Once she got to the beach, all the boys stared and whistled at her. It was then that she realized that she was not the ugly orphan girl that nobody wanted.

However, her new-found beauty got her too much attention for her liking.  Her Aunt Grace suggested that she get married to fix the problem.  Since her 9th orphan family was about to move away, Norma took this opportunity to take Aunt Grace's advice to get married to Jim Daugherty at age 16. The most significant portion of this marriage was that it ended her orphan status forever. Although there were no problem in the relationship, they decided to get a divorce because of the lack of love a marriage should have (Norma was 19).

After the divorce, Norma decided to pursue a modeling career.  During this time, Norma also paid to take as many acting classes that she could. Acting was her dream.

In 1946, she signed her first contract with 20th Century Fox. The studio man suggested that Norma Jean get a name change. He suggested "Marilyn." She went to ask Aunt Grace for advice, and she suggested she use her mother's maiden name "Monroe." And Marilyn Monroe it was!

Her first films were very small roles in The Shocking Miss Pilgrim and Dangerous Years in 1947. After these films, Fox decided not to renew her contract saying that she was "unphotogenic."

Columbia Pictures picked her up for a small role in Ladies of Chorus in 1948 where she sang two numbers. Columbia Picture dropped her as well.

After being dropped as an actress, she went back to modeling to make a living for herself. In need of $50 to pay for bills, she agreed to pose for a nude photo for a calender - which eventually became a Play Boy centerfold.

John Hyde, and important talent scout from William Morris Agency, picked her up. He got her a role in MGM's The Asphalt Jungle in 1950. However, MGM dropped her after this role because they said she was unphotogenic and had no star potential - something she had heard before.

John Hyde did not give up on her and found her a part in 20th Century Fox's All About Eve which eventually resulted in a 7 year contract for Marilyn.

Both The Asphalt Jungle and All About Eve were both small roles, but fans remebered Marilyn as the "ditzy but very sexy blonde."

Marilyn landed a larger role in Love Nest (1951). After this film, the public started to get to know Marilyn as an actress and life what they saw.  As Denny Jackson stated in one of her biographies, she had an "intoxicating quality of volcanic sexuality wrapped in an aura of almost childlike innocence" that the audience liked.

Don't Bother to Knock (1952)
Monkey Business (1952) where her platinum blonde hair became her trademark.
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953) & Niagara (1953) launched her as a sex symbol superstar and became an instrument to draw people to the box office.
How To Marry a Millionaire (1953)
There's No Business Like Show Business (1954)

In 1954, Monroe married professional baseball player for the Yankees, Joe DiMaggio. Although they fell in love, they divorced 274 days later.

The Seven Year Itch (1955) which showcased her comedic talent and contained one of the most memorable film moments when the wind from a subway below blew up her white dress.

After this role, Monroe decided to broaden her range as an actress and take serious roles, not just "sexy dumb blonde" roles. Therefore, she started taking acting classed at the Actor's Studio in NY.

Her performance in Bus Stop (1956) showcased her ability to act in a dramatic role and lead her to her first Golden Globe nomination.

Her performance in the smash hit, Some Like it Hot (1959) led to a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Comedy.

In 1959, Monroe married the playwrite Arthur Miller, and unlikely marriage that ended in 1960.

The Misfits (1961) was Monroe's last completed film.

Monroe also had a part in Somethings Got to Give in 1962 by 20th Century Fox. But because of her absences which led to delays in production, she was fired. Although rehired, the film was never completed due to her death in 1962. She died to an overdose of sleeping pills at the age of 36.

Altogether, Monroe's 30 films made more than $200 million.

Marilyn Monroe is number 6 on the American Film Institute's List of 50 Greatest American Screen Legends for females. This list of 25 males and 25 females is chosen by 1800 leaders across the film community out of 500 actors.

"Not men, not money, not love, but the ability to act." -Marilyn Monroe

Works Cited

Monroe, Marilyn. My Story. New York: Cooper Square Press, 2000. Print.

The Internet Movie Database. Amazon, 1990. Web. 14 June 2012.

Character Arcs

Klute presents a complicated character arc, from numb professionalism to feeling person, though one that could be compared to Jan Morrow's in Pillow Talk, who must also allure a reluctant male into a relationship/sex (only implied of course in the latter film).  Jan isn't suffering from the same numbness that Bree is, but both are prefer their single state.  Somewhat counter to expectations, Jan seems perfectly happy alone, while Bree seems alienated and lonely.  Further, both conclusions are implied rather than explicitly shown.  With Pillow Talk, the conclusion is unmistakable for the time since we hear Brad (Hudson) is "pregnant";  with Klute we're left to decide for ourselves if Bree can control her self-destructive nature and Klute can be flexible enough to accommodate her.     The key is that both films present the growing strains of changing gender roles/rules for both men and women.  It's also significant that it begins much earlier than many might assume--not in the seventies, but by at least the late fifties, if not earlier (women had been working in significant numbers ever since WWII).
   As I mentioned, some categorize this as a film noir (if we assume noir can be considered a genre outside of a particular historical period).  I think it's more accurate to consider a noir woman's film (an oxymoron perhaps but it's not without precedence, as Mildred Pierce demonstrates)--or at least that's what it became when Bree Daniels became the focus of the film.  

Klute

Released in 1971

Directed by Alan Pakula

Starring Jane Fonda, Donald Sutherland and Charles Cioffo

Co-starring Roy Scheider and Jean Stapleton

Unknown, uncredited: Veronica Hamel and Sylvester Stallone

Released Jan. 1 with box office receipts of $8 million, total domestic box office of $12.5 million compared to the Avengers which has made $552 million.

The movie received 11 awards nominations including an Acadamy award nomination for Best Writing and Best Actress nomination and win for Jane Fonda. Fonda also won 4 other awards for her Best Actress performance.

Some other movies released that year include: A Clockwork Orange, Willie Wonka & The Chocolate Factory, Dirty Harry, Diamonds are Forever, The French Connection, Carnal Knowledge, Shaft

John Klute is the title character, a small town policeman who comes to New York City to find his best friend. He naturally seeks out a hooker to help him with his search. The hooker, Bree Daniels, played by Jane Fonda is trying to get out of the business and go straight.

Roger Ebert said the movie should have been named Bree, for Jane Fonda’s character, because that character is at the center. The film examines the relationship between Klute and Bree, but Ebert also considered it an awkward thriller. He felt that Pakula was overly concerned with plot and thought the movie was too schizophrenic to scare anyone very much. Ebert said the scenes between Fonda and Sutherland are very good and says Fonda has a nervous intensity that makes you want to watch her. He says “Intelligence. I suppose that’s the word. In “Klute” you don’t have two attractive acting vacuums reciting speeches at each other. With Fonda and Sutherland, you have actors who understand and sympathize with their characters, and you have a vehicle worthy of that sort of intelligence. So the fact that the thriller stuff doesn’t always work isn’t so important.”

Roger Greenspun of the New York Times agreed in part with Ebert saying the movie should have been titled Bree. However, he does disagree saying the effect of the subjective camera and despite the sharp edges and dramatic spaces and cinema presence somewhat like Citizen Kane, the film “suggests a tepid, rather tasteless mush.” Greenspun said the acting was semi-improvisitory and that Jane Fonda was successful in this. He felt that everyone else just talked a lot. He said Sutherland, who barely talked, was given the latitude to be a romantic figure, but had all the “mysterious intensity of a youthful Calvin Coolidge.”

The movie was described by Variety as a “suspenser without much suspense” and claims that Klute was notable for presenting Jane Fonda as a much-matured actress in a role demanding that she make an emotionally-unstable professional prostitute interesting. Variety said Fonda’s performance was the only rewarding element.

From the feminist viewpoint, Bree is going from self-sufficiency to dependency on a man. She is struggling with the emotional tug of war between giving and loving and the fear of loss of self, which is a common female conflict. This film is about the duality of Bree – the loving and vulnerable Bree vs the manipulative and defensive Bree. She is torn between her need for independence and her want of love.

For Bree, the closer she gets to losing control emotionally, the closer she gets to losing her life. For her losing control is losing her life. She sees giving love as giving up her control.

References

Ebert, Roger. “Klute.” n.p. Web. 5/18/12

Giddis, Diane. “The Divided Woman: Bree Daniels in Klute.” Women of the Cinema. Eds. Karyn Kay and Gerald Peary. New York City: E.P. Dutton, 1977. 26-36. Print

Greenspun, Roger. “Klute.” The New York Times. n.p. Web. 5/18/12

The Internet Movie Database. n.p. Web. 6/5/12

The Numbers. n.p. Web. 6/5/12

Variety Staff. “Klute.” Variety. n.p. Web. 5/18/12

Written by Andy Lewis and David P. Lewis

Film Director Alan J. Pakula

Mr. Pakula was born in the Bronx on April 7, 1928. His father was the co-owner of a printing business. He was expected to take over the business, but he convinced his Dad into becoming a screen writer. He attended Yale University and majored in drama. He worked at the Leland Hayward Theatrical Agency and fell in love with show business. His first job in Hollywood was at Warner Brothers in the cartoon department. In 1950, he became an apprentice to Don Hartman at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), and the next year moved with Hartman to Paramount, as a production assistant. He moved on to producing and only began directing in 1969.

Mr. Pakula made different kinds of movies with a style that emphasized and explored the psychology and motivations of his characters.  He had great interest in psychology, particularly how men deal with their fears, ''A man who is in control, and inside there is a frightened child,'' he said in an interview several years ago with The New York Times. ''That interests me. Why? You can draw your own conclusions.''

Mr. Pakula directed 16, produced 18, in his career. In 1957 his first film, ''Fear Strikes Out,'' starring Anthony Perkins, a study of the talented but troubled baseball star Jimmy Piersall, whose career was hindered by his mental illness. In 1962 To Kill A Mockingbird (producer): it won Oscars for Gregory Peck and the screenwriter, Horton Foote. In 1963 film he helped produce, ''Love With the Proper Stranger,'' which won several Academy Award nominations.  In 1965, “Baby the Rain Must Fall” (producer) and “Inside Daisy Clover” (producer). In 1967, "Up the Down Staircase" (producer), and in 1968 “The Stalking Moon” (producer). In 1969 his first picture directed, “The Sterile Cuckoo (director/producer): Liza Minnelli won an Oscar nomination for her role.

The following is a list of his other works:

1971 Klute (director/producer): Jane Fonda won an Oscar for her starring role.

1973 Love and Pain and the Whole Damn Thing (director)

1974 The Parallax View (director/producer)

1976 All the President's Men (director)

1978 Comes a Horseman (director)

1979 Starting Over (director/producer)

1981 Rollover (director)

In 1982, “Sophie's Choice” (director/producer/screenplay): Meryl Streep won one of her Oscars for her role as Sophie, a tormented Nazi concentration camp survivor, The film was also ranked #1 in the Roger Ebert's Top Ten List for 1982 and was listed on AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies (10th Anniversary Edition).

Then he moved on with more incredible titles:

1986 Dream Lover (director/producer)

1987 Orphans (director/producer)

1989 See You in the Morning (director/producer/written by)

1990 Presumed Innocent (screenplay)

1992 Consenting Adults (director/producer)

1993 The Pelican Brief (director/producer/screenplay)

1997 The Devil's Own

Mr. Pakula was nominated for an Oscar for “All the President's Men” (1976) and for his screenplay for “Sophie's Choice,” (1982) but he never won.

He was always highly supportive of his cast, he had a reputation as an 'actor's director'. Pakula planned and talked through scenes thoroughly before shooting, and made a large number of takes. He was always highly supportive of his cast, he had a reputation as an'actor's director'.

He directed 8 different actors in Oscar-nominated performances: Jane Fonda, Liza Minnelli, Jason Robards, Jane Alexander, Richard Farnsworth,Jill Clayburgh, Candice Bergen and Meryl Streep.Fonda, Robards  in “All the President’s Men” (1976) and Streep won Oscars for their performances in Pakula's movies. He was also the President of jury at the Cannes Film Festival in 1978.

The most autobiographical film he made was ''See You in the Morning,'' which was about a divorced man like himself, and his marriage to a widow with several children. Mr. Pakula's first marriage, to the actress Hope Lange, ended in divorce.  He was married to his second wife, Hannah Cohn Boorstin, from 1973 until his death in 1998.

Mr. Pakula was 70. He was killed instantly after his car swerved to a fence after a metal pipe came flying through the windshield from another driver that brought the pipe toward the windshield had struck his head. The police do not know where the long pipe came from. He is survived by his second wife, Hannah Pakula, three stepchildren and five grandchildren.

When he worked with Liza Minnelli on"The Sterile Cuckoo" (1969), he said, “One of the happiest times inmy life was during "The Sterile Cuckoo," mostly because of Liza. I'venever seen anybody get more joy out of working and it's contagious,” andanother one was, “I am oblique, I think that has to do with my own nature. Ilike trying to do things which work on many levels, because I think it isterribly important to give an audience a lot of things they might not get aswell as those they will, so that finally the film does take on a texture and isnot just simplistic communication.”

Taken from iMDB, Harrison Ford, who had starred in Mr. Pakula's last movie, ''The Devil's Own,'' (1997) called Mr. Pakula ''a natural guide to inner realms. As a writer and a director, he was always concerned with evolving emotionally. He was an elegant man.'' Also Julia Roberts, who appeared in his movie ''The Pelican Brief,'' (1993) said: ''He would allow you your time and the freedom to find things in the material. He knew when to give me my space or when to squeeze my hand. He was a psychiatrist and a director.''

Works Cited:

iMDB.com (2012). The Internet Movie Database: Alan J. Pakula. Taken from http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001587/bio

New York Times (2012). Movies: Alan J. Pakula Film Director, Dies at 70, taken from http://www.nytimes.com/1998/11/20/movies/alan-j-pakula-film-director-dies-at-70.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm

The Telegraph (2012). Alan J Pakula, taken from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/7624467/Alan-J-Pakula.html

Unreal Woman

Basinger places Monroe, along with Greta Garbo and Hedy Lamar, in the category of Unreal woman, a category that represented what men wanted.  The Real woman category, on the other hand, represented what society wanted and was played by actresses such as Ginger Rogers, Myrna Loy, and Jean Arthur.  Most of our other women (Hepburn, Davis, Stanwyck) fit in Basinger's Exaggerated Woman category, which is a mixture of the real and unreal--women who, in Basinger's view, were women who women need.  

  In hearing Monroe's story, we realize the dangers of being an Unreal woman, that Monroe wanted to exceed the roles she's most remembered for, but had difficulty convincing producers and the public that she should.  In a sense her life fit into the pattern we've seen with the pattern of our earlier characters who finally learn to choose their proper role.  In Some Like It Hot, it's Joe (Tony Curtis) who finally learns to be human as he watches Sugar (Marilyn Monroe) sing she's "through with love."

Marilyn Monroe's birthday was June 1.  We've celebrated many more of her birthdays since her death (Fifty now) than she ever had in the thirty-six she celebrated.  Doris Day, who we watched in Pillow Talk, was born two years before Marilyn, but still continues to celebrate her own birthdays (April 3).  In the popular imagination they fit in opposite places, yet in the films we watched both Monroe and Day played women who must coax apparently "reluctant" men into sex (though we never actually see such happen of course).  We could conclude both were "safely" sexual, Marilyn only barely so and Doris very so.  Both are icons, yet both suffered in different ways for being so.  As we know, but rarely admit, it's much better to worship icons than to be one.

Reviews of "Some Like it Hot"

I will be discussing how the film Some Like it Hot was received by the public.  The film opened on March 29, 1959, but even before the opening of the film, people were skeptical of the movie.  It was said that David Selznick did not think the combination of gangsters and drag queens would play to audiences (Gehring).  In fact, during the showing of the first preview, most of the audience got up and left (IMDB).  Afterwards, many of Billy Wilder’s friends and peers gave him suggestions of what to keep and what to cut (IMDB).  When asked what he would add or cut, Mr. Wilder said: "Why, nothing. This is a very funny movie and I believe in it just as it is. Maybe this is the wrong neighborhood in which to have shown it. At any rate, I don't panic over one preview. It's a hell of a movie" (IMDB).  In fact, the second preview was shown at Loew’s Theatre and the audience gave a standing ovation (IMDB).  The film opened to rave reviews, but many complained that the film was too long (Variety, NY Times) and it was nothing but one joke being “milked like a dairy” (Variety).  In fact, the movie was banned in Kansas because the cross-dressing was “too disturbing for Kansas” (IMDB).  This movie is also one of the few to be censored by the Roman Catholic Church (IMDB).  In today’s society, however, the film is considered a classic, and the American Film Institute has listed it as its number one comedy of all time (Gehring).  It has also been said to be Monroe’s greatest film (IMDB).