Marilyn Monroe‘s star burned brightly and briefly before her untimely death in 1962 at age 36. Yet she managed to enter the pop culture lexicon with just a handful of films, becoming Hollywood’s most memorable sex symbol. In honor of her birthday, let’s take a look back at 15 of her greatest films, ranked worst to best.
Born in 1926, Monroe started off as a model before moving into acting with a series of bit parts, most notably in “All About Eve” and “The Asphalt Jungle,” both released in 1950. She became a leading lady with a trio of 1953 titles: the noir “Niagara,” the musical “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes” and the romantic comedy “How to Marry a Millionaire.”
She became iconic thanks to Billy Wilder‘s “The Seven Year Itch” (1955), in which she played a young woman tantalizing her married neighbor (Tom Ewell). Her image was forever burned into our memories thanks to the scene where she stands over a subway grate and a passing train blows her billowing white dress upwards.
Tired of being cast as the blonde bombshell, Monroe decided to take classes from Lee Strasberg at the Actor’s Studio. She stretched herself in the cinematic adaptation of William Inge‘s play “Bus Stop” (1956), which earned her a Golden Globe nomination as Best Comedy/Musical Actress. Three years later, she won that category for Wilder’s “Some Like It Hot” (1959), which cast her as a sultry singer who runs into two crossdressing musicians (Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis) evading the mob. Despite her box office prowess and Globes success, Monroe never earned an Oscar nomination, and sadly, the Academy never got a chance to recognize her.
Monroe’s bubbly onscreen persona masked a troubled offscreen life marked by depression, drug addition, and rocky marriages, including to baseball player Joe DiMaggio and playwright Arthur Miller. After appearing in John Huston‘s moody 1961 drama “The Misfits” (written by Miller), she died from a drug overdose that was ruled a probable suicide.
Tour our photo gallery of Monroe’s 15 greatest films, including the titles listed above, as well as “Clash by Night,” “River of No Return,” “The Prince and the Showgirl” and more.
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15. THERE’S NO BUSINESS LIKE SHOW BUSINESS (1954)
Image Credit: 20th Century Fox/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock Directed by Walter Lang. Screenplay by Phoebe Ephron and Henry Ephron, story by Lamar Trotti. Starring Ethel Merman, Donald O’Connor, Marilyn Monroe, Dan Dailey, Johnnie Ray, Mitzi Gaynor.
Monroe was well on her way to becoming a major star by the time she took a supporting role in this high-gloss musical comedy. “There’s No Business Like Show Business” casts Ethel Merman and Dan Dailey as a husband and wife song-and-dance team who, along with their three kids (Donald O’Connor, Johnnie Ray, Mitzi Gaynor), are known as the The Five Donahues. When O’Connor falls in love with a gorgeous hat-check girl (Monroe), the family starts to fall apart. It’s not hard to understand why to boy would fall for Marilyn, especially when she croons some of her numbers, including the steamy “Heat Wave.” An Oscar nominee for its writing, costumes, and music.
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14. THE PRINCE AND THE SHOWGIRL (1957)
Image Credit: Snap/REX/Shutterstock Directed by Laurence Olivier. Screenplay by Terence Rattigan, based on his play ‘The Sleeping Prince.’ Starring Marilyn Monroe, Laurence Olivier, Sybil Thorndike, Richard Wattis.
“The Prince and the Showgirl” found a second life with the biographical drama “My Week with Marilyn” (2011), which depicts the relationship Monroe (played by Michelle Williams) sparked with a young assistant (Eddie Redmayne) during the filming of Laurence Olivier’s lavish romance. The film itself is a pretty typical Cinderella tale about an American showgirl (Monroe) who is seduced by the Prince Regent of a foreign country (Olivier), causing international intrigue. While there’s not much originality here, there’s an undeniable chemistry between the two leads that crackles whenever they’re onscreen together. Monroe competed at the BAFTAs for the role, but was overlooked at the Academy.
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13. CLASH BY NIGHT (1952)
Image Credit: Rko/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock Directed by Fritz Lang. Screenplay by Alfred Hayes, based on the play by Clifford Odets. Starring Barbara Stanwyck, Paul Douglas, Robert Ryan, Marilyn Monroe, Keith Andes, Silvio Minciotti, J. Carrol Naish.
Although she was fourth billed, Monroe had her juiciest supporting role yet in this hard-edged noir from German master Fritz Lang. Based on the play by Clifford Odets, “Clash by Night” centers on a cynical city woman (Barbara Stanwyck) who returns to her hometown, a fishing village in Monterey, CA. She starts dating a sweet-natured, working class fisherman (Paul Douglas), but an equally bitter projectionist (Robert Ryan) seduces her. Monroe costars as Peggy, the long-suffering girlfriend of Stanwyck’s abusive brother, Joe (Keith Anders). In a handful of scenes, the young ingenue holds her own against the film’s veteran cast.
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12. MONKEY BUSINESS (1952)
Image Credit: 20th Century Fox/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock Directed by Howard Hawks. Screenplay by Ben Hecht, Charles Lederer, and I.A.L. Diamond, story by Harry Siegel. Starring Cary Grant, Ginger Rogers, Marilyn Monroe, Charles Coburn, Hugh Marlowe, Henri Letondal, Robert Cornthwaite, Larry Keating, Douglas Spencer, Esther Dale, George Winslow.
“Monkey Business” was Howard Hawks’s attempt to recapture the madcap madness of his classic “Bringing Up Baby,” with Cary Grant once again playing a befuddled professor dealing with professional and romantic mishaps. While it can’t hold a candle to that screwball masterpiece, it’s still uproariously funny and wonderfully entertaining in its own right. Grant plays Dr. Barnaby Fulton, a chemist whose lab chimp discovers a youth potion, causing complications for himself, his wife (Ginger Rogers), his secretary (Monroe), and his boss (Charles Coburn). Listen up for Hawks’s voice off-camera during the opening credits.
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11. RIVER OF NO RETURN (1954)
Image Credit: 20th Century Fox/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock Directed by Otto Preminger. Screenplay by Frank Fenton, story by Louis Lantz. Starring Robert Mitchum, Marilyn Monroe, Tommy Rettig, Rory Calhoun, Douglas Spencer, Murvyn Vye.
“River of No Return” is a typically odd, glossy melodrama from Otto Preminger, that most flamboyant of envelope-pushing filmmakers. Set in the American Northwest during the gold rush, it centers on a farmer (Robert Mitchum) who rescues a gambler (Rory Calhoun) and his saloon girl wife (Monroe) from a leaky raft. To return the favor, Calhoun steals Mitchum’s only rifle and horse and leaves his bride behind. With Indians on the warpath, Mitchum, Monroe, and his young son (Tommy Rettig) set sail down the treacherous river to safety. The gorgeous Cinemascope cinematography beautifully captures the landscape, providing Monroe with a giant landscape on which to appear gorgeous.
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10. THE ASPHALT JUNGLE (1950)
Image Credit: Mgm/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock Directed by John Huston. Screenplay by Ben Maddow and John Huston, based on the novel by W.R. Burnett. Starring Sterling Hayden, Louis Calhern, Jean Hagen, James Whitmore, Sam Jaffe, John McIntire, Anthony Caruso, Marilyn Monroe.
John Huston’s noir classic provided Monroe with her big breakout role, which, coupled with “All About Eve” that same year, turned her into a bonafide movie star. “The Asphalt Jungle” centers on an aging criminal (Sam Jaffe) who decides to pull off one more heist with the help of a seedy lawyer (Louis Calhern) and three other felons (Sterling Hayden, James Whitmore, Anthony Caruso). Monroe steals the show with a brief appearance as the lawyer’s sexy mistress. Huston shoots in a gritty naturalism that influenced countless crime movies to come. The film earned four Oscar nominations, including Best Director, Best Supporting Actor (Jaffe), and Best Screenplay (Huston and Ben Maddow).
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9. DON’T BOTHER TO KNOCK (1952)
Image Credit: 20th Century Fox/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock Directed by Roy Ward Baker. Screenplay by Daniel Taradash, based on the novel ‘Mischief’ by Charlotte Armstrong. Starring Richard Widmark, Marilyn Monroe, Anne Bancroft, Donna Corcoran, Jeanne Cagney, Lurene Tuttle, Elisha Cook Jr., Jim Backus, Verna Felton, Willis Bouchey, Don Beddoe.
“Don’t Bother to Knock” would be yet another largely forgotten noir cheapie were it not for Monroe’s electrifying performance as a deeply disturbed woman given the absolute worst job imaginable. She plays Nell Forbes, a suicidal babysitter recently released from a mental institution. When a jet pilot (Richard Widmark) who’s reeling from a recent breakup falls in love with her, he soon realizes that she might be a little unstable. Though the melodramatic material could provide an invitation for overacting, Monroe makes Nell more sad than scary, breaking our hearts while causing us to bite our fingernails. Notable for being Anne Bancroft’s film debut.
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8. NIAGARA (1953)
Image Credit: 20th Century Fox/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock Directed by Henry Hathaway. Written by Charles Brackett, Richard L. Breen, and Walter Reisch. Starring Marilyn Monroe, Joseph Cotten, Jean Peters, Max Showalter, Dennis O’Dea, Don Wilson, Lurene Tuttle, Russell Collins, Will Wright.
This pitch-black film noir helped put Monroe on the map, although it’s antithetical to everything she’d become famous for thereafter. It casts her as a dissatisfied housewife vacationing with her husband, a traumatized war veteran (Joseph Cotten), in Niagara Falls. A newlywed couple (Jean Peters and Max Showalter) staying nearby become entangled in Monroe’s plot to have Cotten murdered. The blonde bombshell proves a perfect femme fatale with her smoldering sexuality tinged with a hint of virtuous innocence, which, when twisted just the right way, makes for an alluring bad girl.
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7. ALL ABOUT EVE (1950)
Image Credit: 20th Century Fox/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock Written and directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, based on the short story ‘The Wisdom of Eve’ by Mary Orr. Starring Bette Davis, Anne Baxter, George Sanders, Celeste Holm, Gary Merrill, Hugh Marlowe, Thelma Ritter, Gregory Ratoff, Marilyn Monroe.
With “All About Eve” and “The Asphalt Jungle” earlier that same year, Marilyn Monroe gained the notice of movie audiences everywhere. Although she has only a brief role in Joseph L. Mankiewicz’s Oscar-winning diva fest, you can’t take your eyes off of her, and she almost manages to steal the show from Bette Davis (and that’s saying something). The film centers on up-and-coming actress Eve Harrington (Anne Baxter), who ingratiates herself into the inner circle of aging Broadway star Margo Channing (Davis), hoping to climb her way to the top. Monroe shows up at a party thrown in Margo’s home as the date of acid-tongued drama critic Addison DeWitt (George Sanders), and when he encourages her to cozy up with a prominent producer (Gregory Ratoff), she famously remarks, “Why do they always looks like unhappy rabbits?” The film earned a record 14 Oscar nominations (tied later by “Titanic” and “La La Land”), winning six prizes including Best Picture.
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6. HOW TO MARRY A MILLIONAIRE (1953)
Image Credit: 20th Century Fox/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock Directed by Jean Negulesco. Screenplay by Nunnally Johnson, based on the plays ‘The Greeks Had a Word for It’ by Zoe Akins and ‘Loco’ by Dale Eunson and Katherine Albert. Starring Marilyn Monroe, Lauren Bacall, Betty Grable, William Powell.
Need tips on how to land a sugar daddy? Look no further than Jean Negulesco’s splashy romantic comedy about three gold diggers (Monroe, Lauren Bacall, and Betty Grable) looking for their perfect millionaire match. Yet wouldn’t you know it, they actually find true love along the way. While Bacall and Grable shine brightly in their respective roles, all eyes are on Monroe as blonde bombshell Pola Debevoise. Interestingly enough, this was the first film shot using CinemaScope, making it both frothy and epic. (Though it was the first one shot using the technology, the Biblical epic “The Robe” beat it to screens earlier in 1953.)
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5. BUS STOP (1956)
Image Credit: Moviestore/REX/Shutterstock Directed by Joshua Logan. Screenplay by George Axelrod and William Inge, based on the play by Inge. Starring Marilyn Monroe, Don Murray, Arthur O’Connell, Betty Field, Eileen Heckart.
After years of musicals and light comedies, Monroe proved herself a capable dramatic actress with this adaptation of William Inge’s Broadway play. In a lot of ways, her performance is better than the film itself, which casts her as a saloon singer who catches the eye of a naive rodeo performer (Don Murray). He pursues her relentlessly, trying to force her to marry him and live on his ranch in Montana. Director Joshua Logan never fully delves into the obsessive and unhealthy behavior driving Murray’s character, causing this once-taboo story to feel terribly dated. But Monroe shows she was more than just a sexpot in a role that brought her a Golden Globe nomination as Best Comedy/Musical Actress (she was snubbed at the Oscars).
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4. GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES (1953)
Image Credit: 20th Century Fox/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock Directed by Howard Hawks. Screenplay by Charles Lederer, based on the stage musical by Anita Loos and Joseph Fields. Starring Jane Russell, Marilyn Monroe, Charles Coburn, Elliott Reid, Tommy Noonan, Taylor Holmes.
There’s perhaps no more tantalizing duo than Monroe and Jane Russell, paired together in Howard Hawks’s delightful adaptation of Anita Loos’s Broadway classic. “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes” centers on two showgirls who set sail for Paris, where Monroe is scheduled to marry a young millionaire (Tommy Noonan). On the way, they encounter a private detective (Elliott Reid) hired to investigate whether or not she’s just another gold digger. Russell, meanwhile, finds herself flirting with a wealthy diamond merchant (Charles Coburn). Perhaps best known for Monroe’s signature number, “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend,” in which she breathily explains why it’s important to find a man of means.
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3. THE SEVEN YEAR ITCH (1955)
Image Credit: 20th Century Fox/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock Directed by Billy Wilder. Screenplay by George Axelrod and Billy Wilder, based on the play by Axelrod. Starring Marilyn Monroe, Tom Ewell, Sonny Tufts, Robert Strauss.
Billy Wilder’s “The Seven Year Itch” might not be a great movie, but it did provide Monroe with the image that would come to define her: as a subway passes underground, the gust from the sidewalk gate blows her white dress upward, creating an iconic bombshell sex symbol for the ages. A heavily-censored version of George Axelrod’s hit play, the film centers on a faithful husband (Tom Ewell) whose eye starts to wander towards his smoking hot upstairs neighbor (Monroe) when his wife and kids are out of town. Wilder makes up for what he can’t explicitly say with innuendo, allowing Monroe to help fill in the gaps in our dirty minds. The role brought her a BAFTA nomination, though the Academy ignored her.
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2. THE MISFITS (1961)
Image Credit: United Artists/Seven Arts/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock Directed by John Huston. Written by Arthur Miller. Starring Clark Gable, Marilyn Monroe, Montgomery Clift, Thelma Ritter, Eli Wallach.
John Huston’s “The Misfits” occupies a sad place in cinema history due to the fate of its three stars: Clark Gable died before it’s release, Monroe shortly thereafter, while Montgomery Clift would make only three more movies before his own untimely demise in 1966. Written by Monroe’s then-husband, Arthur Miller, it revolves around a beautiful divorcee (Monroe) in love with a past-his-prime cowboy (Gable) who, along with his partners (Clift and Eli Wallach), grinds up “misfit” horses into dog food. A flop in its time, the film has found a second life as a minor masterpiece, thanks in large part to its tragic significance. Monroe is particularly good in a role that cast her against type, playing a wounded woman who seeks solace in other deeply damaged people. It’s especially hard to watch given her own life’s story, which perhaps gave her something to draw on for the performance.
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1. SOME LIKE IT HOT (1959)
Image Credit: United Artists/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock Directed by Billy Wilder. Screenplay by Billy Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond, based on the story by Robert Thoeren and Michael Logan. Starring Jack Lemmon, Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, George Raft, Joe E. Brown, Pat O’Brien.
Monroe was never more tantalizing than she was in “Some Like It Hot,” which provided her with the perfect role for her unique charm and charisma. The film has a premise of almost Olympian silliness that’s executed with wit, sex, and style by Billy Wilder. Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis star as Chicago musicians who have to go on the run after witnessing a mob hit. Desperate to not draw attention to themselves, they decide to don dresses and join an all-women’s band, led by the alluring Sugar Kane (Monroe). While Curtis tries to romance Monroe by also playing a Cary Grant lookalike, Lemmon finds himself being chased by a wealthy bachelor (Joe E. Brown), leading to one of the all-time greatest final lines (“Well, nobody’s perfect” says Brown when he finds out his beloved is actually a man). Monroe won the Golden Globe as Best Comedy/Musical Actress, but was ignored at the Oscars, despite the film earning nine nominations including Best Director and Best Actor (Lemmon).
