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Marilyn Monroe/Jean Peters

posted 17 years ago by vonhangman
19 replies | jump to latest

They were in a couple of films together. "Niagara" is probably Marilyn Monroe's single sexiest performance. But, boy, Jean Peters gives her a run for her money, even without smouldering the way she would in "Pick Up on South Street".

You could buy the Loomis's (Joseph Cotten + MM) as a couple of lost souls who thought at one time that they had found one another.

But even in the early 1950s you have to wonder about how a woman like Jean Peters' character felt about being married to Don Knott's dumber kid-brother.

[–] Agr0 17 years ago

I originally saw Niagra on black and white Australian TV in the 1960s when I was a kid and it left an impression on me. I watched it today in colour on DVD and was knocked out by rhe performances of Marilyn Monroe and Jean Peters. I didn't realise what a good actor Marilyn monroe was and how sexy she was for 1953. I thought Jean Peters was incredibly hot and beautiful. I must agree I wondered if Jean Peter's character could stay married to "Don Knott's dumber kid brother"

[–] AlanSquier 17 years ago

I imagine most of those who rent this movie do so to see Marilyn and of course, they're going to be rewarded, but it's Jean Peters who excels and really owns the movie, IMHO. Such a neglected actress and yet one who gave us two of noir's best performances.

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[–] backofthevan 17 years ago

Jean Peters was terrific, but once she married Howard Hughes, that was the end of her career!

[–] HarlowMGM 17 years ago

Jean Peters and Casey Adams characters were meant to be an average, ordinary middle class American couple. They were perfect in their roles. Perhaps Jean is a little more beautiful than the screenwriters envisioned for the character but surely everyone knows some good looking women who are married to slightly nerdy guys. The husband is a "salesman" type but he is a good soul and that is obviously what Jean's character responded to. Kudos to Jean though because she agreed to play second fiddle to newcomer Marilyn when she had been fairly well established in pictures for several years. A lot of actresses would have gone on suspension to avoid playing support to another woman.

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[–] xylonian-1 16 years ago

Good points, IMO Casey Adams played the perfect husband for the times. He got stuck IMO with the "anchor" roll, as all the other characters are a bit over the top as they are supposed to be....

To do 'better' as suggested in another thread, IMO he would have had to have asked to have the script re-written. Despite the exposure in this part, it probably was a roll a lot of other better known actors would have rejected....no one wants to be 'the straight guy' when the other is getting all the laughs and attention....:)

Not at all to bash the OP, as I don't like some movies very much if the "romantic rolls" or couples seem unconvincing, but IMO should we wish to pick apart who doesn't look quite right with whom as far as movie character couples might go, I would start somewhere else :)

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[–] pelscc2000 13 years ago

Marilyn comes out of the shower with perfectly applied red lipstick!!!???

[–] sjankis630 10 years ago

Ha. I just got back from seeing this in a theater that screens do movies on the weekends. Two women in front of me said the same thing right after the movie ended.

[–] Echo_in_big_sky 15 years ago

Ms. Peters was perfectly cast as an attractive, wholesome wife to contrast with Ms. Monroe's character, but to say she gave Monroe a run for her money as far as sex appeal goes, is an overstatement. I mean, seriously, there's no contest.

"First I dream my painting and then I paint my dream."--Vincent van Gogh

[–] hillfox20 15 years ago

Jean Peters was really very beautiful. I don't think she can be compared to Marilyn Monroe in the acting stakes - Peters acts Monroe off the screen. However, I certainly liked Marilyn Monroe, she was funny, sexy and very very attractive but apart from one or two movies, such as Some Like it Hot, Marilyn was no great shakes as an actress. Had she not retired, I think Jean Peters might have gone on to be a major star, she was talented and beautiful and certainly memorable in the few films she did make.

[–] joeparkson 15 years ago

I thought Marilyn was beautiful, but her acting in this movie was not good. There was something slightly unintentionally comical about the way she delivered her lines.

It would have been better if her part had been played by someone who understood the 'femme fatale'. Gloria Grahame comes to mind.

[–] pauline49 15 years ago

Jean Peters role in the movie was just the kind of wholesome, loyal friend Marilyn needed in real life, but never seemed to have. We have all read of how demanding she could be, but the Peters character was the perfect complement and support to Rose, which sadly Marilyn lacked.

[–] Loincloth 14 years ago

You're right, no contest. Jean Peters easy!

[–] Echo_in_big_sky 14 years ago

Lol,

I think if I were a man I'd definitely prefer Ms. Monroe for sex appeal. But what do I know? I'm more a Jean Peters girl myself.

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[–] jdown-1 13 years ago

MM is the kind of woman every man wishes he could marry. Jean Peters is the kind that a few lucky men do marry - and soon realize how lucky they are.

[–] jennylynmasters 10 years ago

Jean Peters was just a beautiful as Marilyn, but she was the girl-next-door, "good-girl" type. I agree that the character that Casey Adams played was passionless and dull, but at least those types don't stray and he seemed devoted to his wife, unlike the mismatched characters played by Marilyn Monroe and Joseph Cotten.

[–] krieg8814254 10 years ago

Jean Peters knew she could hang with the best of them and actually outact Marilyn.

Some minds are like concrete. Thoroughly mixed up and permanently set.

[–] 10 years ago

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[–] Jessica_Rabbit69 10 years ago

Jean Peters was easily as sexy as MM, it's just that in this movie she's not supposed to be sexy but girl-next-door wholesome.

You have to watch Jean in Pickup on South Street to see her in full vamp mode. She is smoldering.

Jessica Rabbit
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[–] eddie-fendel 9 years ago

This is my favourite M M film. She does what she does best, pouts and wiggles which Hathaway makes the most of. She was a stunner but it's Jean Peters whose the girl for me and a better actress.