My Week with Marilyn

My Week with Marilyn Quotes

Colin Clark, an employee of Sir Laurence Olivier's, documents the tense interaction between Olivier and Marilyn Monroe during the production of The Prince and the Showgirl (1957).

Marilyn Monroe: Little girls should be told how pretty they are. They should grow up knowing how much their mother loves them.
Lucy: Did she break your heart?
Colin Clark: A little.
Lucy: Good, it needed breaking.
[last lines]
Colin Clark: Here's what I remember most: her embrace. Her belief in me. And the joy she gave. That was her gift. When I think of her now, I think of that time when a dream came true. And my only talent was not to close my eyes.
Sir Laurence Olivier: Remember boy, when it comes to women, you're never too old for humiliation.
Milton Greene: That's what she does, she breaks hearts. She'll break yours.
Colin Clark: I don't want your advice.
Marilyn Monroe: All people ever see is Marilyn Monroe. As soon as they realize I'm not her, they run.
Sir Laurence Olivier: She's quite wonderful. No training, no craft, no guile, just pure instinct. Astonishing.
Colin Clark: You should tell her that.
Sir Laurence Olivier: Oh, I will. But she won't believe me. That's probably what makes her great, yet it's certainly what makes her so profoundly unhappy.
Marilyn Monroe: Do you know I've been married three times already? How did that happen?
Colin Clark: You were just looking for the right man.
Marilyn Monroe: They always look right at the start.
Marilyn Monroe: Don't forget me.
Colin Clark: As if I could.
Sir Laurence Olivier: Marilyn, my darling, you are an angel and I kiss the hem of your garment but why can't you get here on time for the love of FUCK?
Marilyn Monroe: Oh, you have that word in England too, ha?
Sir Laurence Olivier: It's like teaching Urdu to a badger.
Dame Sybil Thorndike: First love is such sweet despair, Colin.
Marilyn Monroe: I want this to be the perfect date. I haven't had a real date since I was 13 years old.
Marilyn Monroe: Why do the people I love always leave me?
Marilyn Monroe: Thank you for being on my side.
[first lines]
Title Card: In 1956, at the height of her career, Marilyn Monroe went to England to make a film with Sir Laurence Olivier. While there she met a young man named Colin Clark, who wrote a diary about the making of the film. This is their true story.
Dame Sybil Thorndike: She should use more mascara. When one is young, one should use a lot of mascara. When one is old, they should use much more.
Marilyn Monroe: Shall I be her?
Colin Clark: Everyone remembers their first job. This is the story of mine. I was the youngest in a family of overachievers. My father was a world-famous art historian, and my brother was ahead of me in everything. I was always the disappointment.
Marilyn Monroe: Forgive my horrible face.
Colin Clark: It's agony because he's a great actor who wants to be a film star, and you're a film star who wants to be a great actress. This film won't help either of you.
Roger Smith: Looking a couple of inches taller than when I first saw you.
Sir Laurence Olivier: [reciting while images of Marilyn play] You do look, my son, in a moved sort, as if you were dismayed. Be cheerful, sir. Our revels new are ended. We are such stuff as dreams are made on, and our little life is rounded with a sleep.
Colin Clark: Prospero.
Arthur Jacobs: Marilyn, is it true you wear nothing in bed but Perfume?
Marilyn Monroe: Darling, as I'm in England let's say I sleep in nothing but Yardley's lavender.
Sir Laurence Olivier: You in the union?
Colin Clark: No.
Sir Laurence Olivier: Then you can't have a job on the film.
Colin Clark: Well, how do I get into the union?
Sir Laurence Olivier: By getting a job on the film. It's called a closed shop.
Colin Clark: Let me protect you from all this.
Marilyn Monroe: What are you gonna do? Marry me?
Colin Clark: Why not? You could quit this. Forget Marilyn Monroe. Forget Hollywood. Let it all go. Just let it go.
Marilyn Monroe: I couldn't just give it up.
Colin Clark: Why not? Why not when it drives you crazy?
Marilyn Monroe: You think I'm crazy?
Colin Clark: I just meant you could be happy.
Marilyn Monroe: I am happy.
Colin Clark: ...Of course you're happy. You're the biggest star in the world.
Colin Clark: You're right, we have to forget all this. From now on I am just the third assistant director and we will never look at each other again.
Marilyn Monroe: Maybe just a wink... once in a while.
Colin Clark: [He looks at her, smiles a small sad smile and leaves]
Colin Clark: I had everything to prove to my family. But I had more to prove to myself.
Sir Laurence Olivier: I don't know. Pills to wake her up, pills to put her to sleep...
Vivien Leigh: [to Colin] Oh, don't be such a boy, I'm 43 darling. No one will love me for very much longer. Not even you.
Colin Clark: Marilyn, do one thing for me: Come to the set on time tomorrow and show everyone what you can do. Show Larry that you're a great actress.
Lady Jane Clark: We're talking about the difference between the truth and artificial crap.
Sir Laurence Olivier: We're in absolute agreement. Acting is all about truth, and if you can fake that, you'll have a jolly good career.
Colin Clark: I'd do anything to work in films.
Desk Clerk: [She smiles] "Anything"!
Marilyn Monroe: I have something in my eye.
Sir Laurence Olivier: The character is on the page.
Sir Laurence Olivier: I think directing a movie is the best job ever created, but Marilyn has cured me of ever wanting to do it again.

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