ATOMIC BLONDE
The images are striking: Marilyn Monroe reclining in a red bathing suit on a lounge chair next to a swimming pool, a drink in her hand, her trademark platinum blonde hair perfectly coifed. She was at the dawn of her run as America’s favorite sex symbol; just a few weeks before, her hip-swaying performance in the Technicolor film noir “Niagara” had drawn protests from women’s clubs that thought it immoral.
The color photographs taken that spring day in 1953 provide a glimpse of an idyllic time and place. Monroe, in her mid-20s, was filming “How to Marry a Millionaire” when she arrived at Harold Lloyd’s 16-acre Beverly Hills estate, Greenacres. Lloyd, about to turn 60, was the comedic genius who rivaled Chaplin and Keaton. Even if people don’t know his name today, they recognize him immediately as the silent film star wearing glasses and hanging from clock hands.
Monroe had recently turned heads in films such as “All About Eve” and “Monkey Business,” and her latest starring roles, in “Niagara” and the soon-to-be-premiered “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes,” would showcase a depth to her talent and skyrocket her into a new level of fame.
For his part, Lloyd had made more than 200 films, most of which he had the foresight to own. With his great wealth, he became a philanthropist and an avid photographer. He was an early proponent of Technicolor and 3-D photography; in 1923, Lloyd predicted that 3-D would be “the ultimate” in cinema, more so than
