LOS ANGELES, CA.- In 1953, when high fashion lens-man Milton H. Greene first photographed Marilyn Monroe for a layout in Look magazine, the blond bombshell was one of Hollywood’s most bankable stars. However, she had yet to ascend the dizzying heights of her 1959 career milestone, Some Like It Hot. For a period of four formative years, Greene and Monroe were sympathetic souls and embarked on a journey together as deep friends and intuitive professional collaborators.
On July 15th,
Morrison Hotel Gallery at the Sunset Marquis Hotel presented: Some Like It Hot – a photographic exhibition that also features never-before-seen, behind-the-scenes video footage of Marilyn Monroe shot by legendary photographer Milton H. Greene. The images will be on display thru July 24th.
Morrison Hotel Gallery has curated an immersive night around the exhibit Some Like It Hot. Legendary actress Diahann Carroll hosted the July 15th opening night. Carroll was a photographic subject for Greene, and his images of her also are on display along with other classic celebrity photographs.
This special night is part of a series Morrison Hotel Gallery will be hosting every month. In this series, the gallery will be spotlighting a body of work with an exhibit, and a poolside movie screening with a DJ set. The Some Like It Hot exhibit includes Milton H. Greene’s epiphanic collection, and poolside screening of the never-before-seen home movies of Monroe filmed by Milton H. Greene.
Long before the current craze of iPhone videos, Greene was exploring a warm documentary approach with 16mm film. These revelatory movies feature behind-the-scenes footage, including shots of Monroe on the sets of Bus Stop, Prince of the Showgirl and her wedding with Arthur Miller.
From 1953 to 1957 Monroe and Greene were inseparable. She would escape to his home in Connecticut and spend time with his family and babysit Greene’s kids, where they filmed Person to Person with Edward R. Murrow. As a testament to their relationship, Greene was also featured in the movie, My Week with Marilyn, and he collaborated with her on her autobiography, My Story. The pair also established Marilyn Monroe Productions, worked on major motion pictures, and collaborated on 53 photo sessions. Some of these sessions yielded era-defining images, such as a photo of Marilyn in a tutu which Time Life named one of the three most popular photographs of the 20th Century. The Some Like It Hot exhibit offers a rare glimpse into the Marilyn Monroe myth as seen through the eyes of a confidant and an iconic photographer.
For over four decades, Milton H. Greene made his mark as one of the most celebrated photographers in the world. The majority of Milton´s work in the fifties and sixties appeared in major national publications including Life, Look, Harper’s Bazaar, Town & Country and Vogue.
After helping usher in the epoch of fine art fashion photography, Milton became heralded for his remarkable portraits of our most beloved artists, musicians, film, television, and theatrical celebrities. The range of Milton H. Greene´s subjects include such people as Marilyn Monroe, Frank Sinatra, Grace Kelly, Marlene Dietrich, Sammy Davis, Jr., Elizabeth Taylor, Cary Grant, Sophia Loren, Groucho Marx, Audrey Hepburn, Andy Warhol, Judy Garland, Giacometti, Lauren Hutton, Alfred Hitchcock, Romy Schneider, Sir Lawrence Olivier, Ava Gardner, Steve McQueen, Claudia Cardinale, Paul Newman, Lauren Bacall, Dizzy Gillespie, Catherine Deneuve, and Norman Mailer, as well as many others.
Milton’s photography won him many national and international honors, medals and awards; among them the American Institute of Graphic Arts and the Art Director´s Club of New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Detroit. One of his last awards was from the Art Director´s Club of New York for his work in Harper´s Bazaar.
