On Friday, I saw My Week with Marilyn, starring Michelle Williams as Marilyn Monore.  She was nominated for an Oscar for this performance.

The movie was based upon a book written by Colin Clark, entitled The Prince, the Showgirl and Me (St. Martins Press, 1996).  The script included additional material from his follow-up book, My Week With Marilyn (Weinstein Books, 2011).  That book contains gossipy, tell-all material, that was heavily relied upon in the movie.

Controversy exists about whether any of the juicy bits are even true.   For example, here are two quotes that I obtained from the Los Angeles Times on December 10, 2011, in an article written by Amy Kaufman.  You can read the entire article here.

“I was there every day, and I knew what was happening. [Clark] was on the set, and he was a gofer — ‘Hey, I need a cup of coffee,’ or whatever. No one regarded him as anything but a gofer,” said Amy Greene, the widow of Milton Greene, a photographer who was vice president of Monroe’s production company.

“It’s a complete lie. It’s a fantasy. He was a fourth-rate water boy,” agreed Greene’s son, Joshua, who handles his father’s archives. He said he contacted BBC Films, the production company, to offer up his father’s documents and photographs before production on “My Week With Marilyn” began, but his inquiry was ignored.

I didn’t think the movie was that great.  And, honestly, I don’t really care if it was true.  How many more revelations will we find about a woman who died in 1962?  And about JFK, who died in 1963?  It seems to me that the number of Monroe and JFK accounts must run neck-in-neck, and some people claim that they did more than necking.  It all depends on who you read.

But, I thought that Williams was great.  She was nominated last year for Blue Valentine, and before that, was wonderful in Incendiary, which was just another average movie.

Perhaps in the future she will find a script that matches her talent, and she will receive recognition as the quality actress that she is.

What did you think?  Do you care that this account is true?

Let’s talk about it really soon!