Rare photos of Marilyn Monroe surface

Rare photos of Marilyn Monroe surface

What does it take to become a star? In the fall of 1948, Marilyn Monroe had just a few roles in box office flops on her resume -- but LIFE photographer J. R. Eyerman apparently saw enough of a glimmer in the 22-year-old starlet to follow her through the showbiz training that promised to make her big. The incredible -- and seldom seen -- images in this gallery are the first a LIFE photographer ever took of Monroe, though the magazine did not publish them at the time.

(In fact, she wouldn't show up in LIFE's pages until October 1949, along with seven other then-unfamiliar Hollywood "girls"). But now, in celebration of what would have been Monroe's 85th birthday (June 1, 2011), LIFE.com presents these rare gems, restored to their original glory and showing early-career Monroe in the dance, acting, and voice classes that helped make her an icon for the ages. 

Dancer in Training
Of this photograph McKinney wrote, "She assumes the classic, much-painted posture of ballet girls adjusting their shoes." Around the time of Eyerman's shoot, Monroe was signed with Columbia Pictures, after a brief and unsuccessful six months at 20th Century Fox, and could be seen on screen as a dancer in Ladies of the Chorus. Ultimately, that movie tanked, and Monroe was once again dumped by a major studio -- but she would continue undeterred in her quest for fame.

 'Bosom to All the World'
"Marilyn strains, back against the mirror, bosom to all the world, in an attempt to get a mood of elation."

 Oh, the Drama!
"We start the scene, student outdoing teacher in the clasped hands department and vice versa."

 At the Mike
Moore urged Monroe to get the most out of every line. "Get it in your head and sing it out. Believe it!" he told her, according to LIFE's notes.

 'Her Own Little Voice'
"Another phase of Moore's coaching: play-back recordings, to test the actual vocal technique. Marilyn seems fairly pleased by her own little voice; Moore is a little more dubious."

Source: Yahoo

Blake Lively Nude Pics

 Blake Lively Nude Pics Are Fake

Blake Lively is threatening to sue any publication which reprints fake photos that claim to be the actress, 23, in the nude.

The shots were distributed across various websites on Tuesday evening.

In the pictures, a blonde woman is seen taking snaps of herself without any clothes on. But Lively's rep tells Us Weekly they are a complete hoax.

"The photos of Blake Lively which have just surfaced on various websites including Perez Hilton and Zap2it are 100 percent fake," her rep says.

"Blake has never taken nude photos of herself. Blake will pursue legal action against the publication which initially published these photographs and any other outlets that republish them in any manner."

Source: US Magazine

Coyle calls off engagement

Coyle calls off engagement

The leggy 25-year-old announced her engagement to American footballer Bell in September last year, admitting how happy she was about a summer wedding.
In an interview with Metro.co.uk at the time, she said their relationship had a 'great influence' on her music as well.

However, last night Coyle took to Twitter to reveal her love split - but moved to assure her fans it was an amicable break-up.
'A few weeks ago Jason and i broke up. We are great friends and decided we are better this way. Im in NYC working & I love all your support,' she wrote.
'Aside from that, I am having a wonderful time with friends here. Check out some of our adventures xx NC.'
It's probably a good job Nadine and Jason have called off their engagement, though, seeing as their nuptials were set to clash with former Girls Aloud member Sarah Harding's marriage to DJ Tom Crane.
Nadine's new-found single status comes as it is reported her band are set to bury the hatchet and reform for a tour next year.

Read more: Metro

Dan Aykroyd Says Ghostbusters 3 Is Down To Bill Murray

Dan Aykroyd Says Ghostbusters 3 Is Down To Bill Murray

Dan Aykroyd has admitted that Ghostbusters 3 can only happen if Bill Murray comes on board.
Murray has been in possession of the script to the long-awaited threequel for some time now, but nobody knows if he's read it or not.
Sony Pictures are adamant that the movie will only be made with Murray.
Aykroyd told Access Hollywood: "We hope to make the movie with Bill Murray. That's where we're standing… I'm in.

"There's a great story to be told. The promise of the new movie is handing the torch to the young because, you know, [the original Ghostbusters] Ray and Winston and Egon and Peter Venkman, we're a little taxed physically now. We can't be frontline operators anymore so we need the youth!"

Fellow Ghostbuster star Ernie Hudson has recently admitted that he's also keen on crossing the streams for a third time, saying: "I'm not waiting for it, but I'd love to see it happen. I think it's great."
Ghostbusters III could be released as soon as 2012.

Read More: Gigwise

Greatest films that flopped on release

Greatest films that flopped on release

 The Shawshank Redemption (1994)

 
The archetypal sleeper hit, 'The Shawshank Redemption' was buried by the competition on its release in September 1994. Though critically acclaimed, it opened across the US on the same weekend as 'Pulp Fiction', and also took a beating from money-spinners 'Forrest Gump' and 'Stargate' in following weekends. It took just £9.7 million for the year, not even making the box office top 50. Though it scored a little more cash when re-released during Oscar season in 1995, making just over £17 million in total, it only recouped its budget plus £1.8 million.
Raging Bull (1980)

 Though it's considered by many as Martin Scorcese's magnum opus, 'Raging Bull' gave the director more than a few sleepless nights. Both the film's violence and the lack of a decent advertising campaign meant that it took some time to recoup its £10.9 million budget. Coupled with decidedly mixed reviews, Scorcese feared that it could have spelled the end for his career, particularly after its predecessor 'New York, New York' lost money. It eventually made £14 million theatrically, not a percentage that would impress today's studio money men.


Vertigo (1958)

 Vertigo is often cited as being one of the greatest films of all time, but its opening in 1958 was far from celebratory. The box office takings were average and the reviews were, at best, mixed. Fans of Alfred Hitchcock were said to be disappointed at the director's departure from his previous 'romantic thrillers', and Hitchcock himself later blamed the film's failure on the fact that his lead man Jimmy Stewart, who was 50 at the time, looked unconvincingly old to be 25-year-old Kim Novak's love interest. Its acclaim only arrived after it was re-issued in the early 80s.

Blade Runner (1982)

 Ridley Scott's film may have become hugely influential, but the 'Blade Runner' story couldn't have got off to a worse start. It grossed a bitterly disappointing £3.9 million on its opening weekend (considering its $28 million budget), primarily because its release coincided with sci-fi hits 'The Thing', 'Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan' and 'E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial' which were also released in the summer of 1982. It also split critics who thought that its flashy special effects stood in place of a discernable plot, with the Los Angeles Times famously dubbing it 'Blade Crawler'.

Citizen Kane (1942)

 Orson Welles's 1942 masterpiece Citizen Kane became a cinematic benchmark, but it also enraged the powerful media mogul it based itself upon. William Randolph Hearst used his influence to cut it from a chain of 500 cinemas in the US, and even offered the studio behind it, RKO, £490,000 to destroy the negative. He also banned any mention of it from any of his publications. As such, and despite critical applause, it became a relative failure, losing £91,000 on its first run. It wouldn't receive its proper due until its revival in the 50s. It eventually only made double its budget.

The Big Lebowski (1998)

 
The Coen Brothers' follow-up to the dark and brooding 'Fargo' proved to be a bit of a dog at the box office (it eventually made just £1.2 million in profit), and there were reportedly even walk-outs during its first showing at the 1998 Sundance Film Festival. Early reviews were also lukewarm. Since then, it has become a bona fide cult classic, spawning various dedicated festivals across the world, and even The Church of the Latter-Day Dude, an online religion preaching the gospel of the film's lead character The Dude, played to the hilt by Jeff Bridges.

Harold & Maude (1971)

 Hal Ashby's bitter-sweet odd couple comedy about the relationship between a young man obsessed with death and a 79-year-old holocaust survivor was never going to be a hit from the outset. And true to form, it flopped at the box office thanks to the peculiarity of the relationship at its core, the subsequent bewilderment of a studio who had no idea how to market it and some scathing reviews. It has since, of course, become a cult hit, initially with the US college crowd and then the world over.

Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World (2010)

 Though it is yet to become a classic, Edgar Wright's Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World is an example of how everything can go right, until you reach the box office. Though it was hyped to the max and critically acclaimed, the likes of Kevin Smith and Quentin Tarantino declaring themselves fans before its release, it made an eye-watering loss of £7.9 million. Some critics noted the 'Comic-Con' effect as the issue, with the studios taking too much risk on the opinion of a marginal group of tastemakers unrepresentive of the US film-going public. Others, including some of its stars, said it was marketed poorly.

Source: Yahoo

Bikinis banned in Barcelona streets

Tourists face paying fines of up to £260 if they are caught wearing a bikini in the streets of Barcelona. 

The Catalan capital has introduced regulations making it illegal to expose too much skin in public, as part of an attempt to clean up the city's image.

Under the new law, anyone caught wearing a bikini or swimming trunks in the streets of Barcelona faces fines of between €120 (£105) and €300 (£262). People caught nude will have to pay between €300 (£262) and €500 (£437).

The local police force will be allowed to give fines on the spot to those unwilling to cover up. Wearing beachwear is, however, still allowed on the beach itself, its promenade and nearby streets.
The new rules follow a campaign from local residents who disapprove of tourists baring flesh on the streets of the city.
Assumpta Escarp, a Barcelona councillor who defended the ban, told The Times: "Some people who live here are bothered by tourists who go about wearing just a bikini in the street, or men with their shirts off. We have to maintain standards."
A report suggests the city also wants to change its reputation as a hotspot for stag and hen parties. According to The Telegraph, about half a million British visitors flew to the Spanish city last year, with many taking part in stag or hen dos.
The new measure follows another recent ban on the city's streets; it is now forbidden to drink from bottles or cans on the streets of the Catalan capital.

Source: Yahoo

Previously unseen photographs of Marilyn Monroe released 

A series of previously unseen photographs of Marilyn Monroe have been published after being bought for $2 (£1.20) at a garage sale. 

 The pictures were picked up by photographer Anton Fury at a sale in New Jersey in 1980 and he kept them for three decades before making them public.

They show the young actress doing a photo shoot before she was widely famous. In some of the pictures she is in a bathing suit by a swimming pool, and one shows her lying in a bed.

Mr Fury found the negatives in an envelope inside a folder at the garage sale. A second envelope contained dozens of photographs of the actress Jayne Mansfield.

He said it was unclear where the photographs of Monroe were taken, adding: "We don't know why, we don't know when, we don't know who shot them. But we do know it is Marilyn." David W Streets, a Beverly Hills art dealer and expert appraiser of Monroe photographs, said the pictures were probably taken in Los Angeles in 1950.

At that time the actress was aged 24 and about to become known for minor roles in "The Asphalt Jungle" and "All About Eve."

Source: Telegraph