Goodbye, Norma Jean

I remember Playboy magazine had a spread with Misty Rowe when this film was made. She recreated Marilyn Monroe's poses for the magazine and I wanted to see the movie because of it. I finally saw it on video. I wish I never did, it ranks as one of the worst films I ever saw. I mean total trash, no wonder it never got theatrical release.

The movie is a retelling of Marilyn Monroe's life, I think it may have been adapted from one of the books that Robert Slatzer's (SLEAZER) published about Miss Monroe. You know him, he's the guy who claimed to have been Marilyn's confidant and husband for about a weekend. All his claims were never proved as a matter of fact his marriage claim was totally disproven when a check dated at the same time of their wedding and signed by Miss Monroe proved that she was in Los Angeles at the time. Even if it weren't based on Slatzer's (SLEAZER) writing it's just plain garbage.

Source material aside it was the whole film was a mess. The editing looked jumpy, the acting terrible, the dialogue lame and it sounds as if everything the actors said reverberated on the wall. The film looked like it was shot with the wost film stock they can find. I think it may have been shot in 8MM, I mean it looked horrible. As for the casting, they casts "Hee Haw" Honey Misty Rowe as Marilyn. I mean I always thought Miss Rowe was a total babe but come on she absolutely look nothing like Marilyn Monroe. Then again Poppy Montgomery, Mira Sorvino, Asley Judd all played Marilyn and they look nothing like her. At least they can act.

Two things that really stuck in my mind is the theme song, a soft rock/folk rock tune that went "Norma Jean wants to be a movie queen" and the other thing is when she finally gets her big break she utters the immortal words "I never have to perform fellatio again", except in a more graphic term.

I disagree strongly with the above review. Sure, this basically a 70's exploitation flick with nudity but I think that GOODBYE NORMA JEAN is an underrated film that holds up quite well and is a better movie than the similar one made for HBO a few years ago with Ashley Judd and Mia Sorvino sharing the title role. Misty Rowe is very good in the title role and the movie is surprising in it's accuracy, not glossing over some of the more sordid details of Ms Monroe's life. Well worth seeking out..

The only thing this film got right was the fact that Norma Jeane disliked sex, a problem that most people who were molested and/or raped in childhood have in common. Although, such things can be overcome for short periods of time ... the person tends to slip back into their norm.

Misty Rowe ... what can I say about her performance that would not be cruel? Can't! Anyone taking on this role, as written in the script, had to be 100% STOOPID! The script turned Marilyn into a vulgar brainless twit, and no real fan of this Iconic Star would have accepted this role, as written! It amazes me that this trash is out on DVD, while Catherine Hicks' "Marilyn: The Untold Story" has never been released on DVD. The latter being thee best film on Marilyn ever created .... SO FAR! LadyShalene

Rather surprised not to see "Goodnight, Sweet Marilyn" listed as a Larry Buchanan movie, or mentioned here. "GSM" is the sequel Buchanan mainly edited together in 1989. Two actresses are credited for the title role, Misty Rowe as "Norma Jean Baker", and Paula Lane as "Marilyn Munroe". The big problem is that all Misty's scenes are from the first film, (I vaguely recall some possible redubbing of scenes, but it has been years), and there isn't a whole lot of credible resemblance between the actresses. While "Goodbye, Norma Jean" showed a bit of flair, reminiscent of Buchanan's "Art" film, "Strawberries Need Rain", I'm afraid that this overblown cut-and-paste job, is definitely the work of the man who gave us "Zontar, The Thing From Venus". It kind of started the whole trend of "sequels that use as little new footage as possible", later a hallmark of the dreadful "Silent Night, Deadly Night" series. Over half of "Goodbye, Norma Jean" gets repeated here, and not even the filmstocks match. As often happens with his work, Buchanan was both ahead, and behind, the times simultaneously.

--Judex.1--

The Intro. reads "not as others told it; not as she told it; but as it really was". WRONG! It doesn't even get her early hair color right.

It depicts Marilyn as a complete naive airhead, who did not enjoy sex, and whose life (other than her eventual success in movies) was one of neverending abuse. She is depicted as really the same as the studio-pushed persona she later often had to use - a dumb blonde with that airhead voice. There is something of the Cinderella story here, as her early life was rough. The real basis of the film is the "revenge" theme. There is quite a man-hating aspect to it. It is not graphic, but the heroine endures repeated abuse, including rapes, forced lesbian sex and oral sex (in this movie it might be called "the casting floor"), but gets her revenge by eventually becoming a success as Marilyn. Some poor films and most soaps are watchable because of an attractive cast; this one lacks even that, other than Preston Hanson and Patch Mackenzie.