A script owned by Marilyn Monroe. This script, bound in red
paper covers, is the First Draft screenplay
for "Horns For The Devil," written by Lou Breslow. The screenplay was
written by Alfred Hayes. This script is an important item from a time in
Marilyn's professional career when she was trying to finally earn her fair share
of income from the Twentieth-Century Fox money making machine.
That
May, just as she finished "How To Marry A Millionaire," Marilyn's weekly
salary escalated to $1,250. It was an insignificant sum in relation
to the box-office success of "Niagara" and, soon, "Gentlemen Prefer
Blondes." There was no question that the terms of Marilyn's contract
had to be completely renegotiated. In 1950, Johnny Hyde had made a deal on
behalf of a starlet in whom he alone believed. By the summer of
1953, it was obvious that Marilyn was about to be a very major star.
From the moment Feldman had seen the rushes of "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes"
and heard the buzz about Marilyn at the studio, he'd known that the time
to start talking about a new deal would be after the film went into
release. If audiences and critics reacted as he expected they would,
Marilyn would be in an excellent position to maximize her salary demands.
Meanwhile, Feldman had considered other ways to
squeeze money out of the studio. A strategy he had used with other
clients seemed appropriate here: Feldman urged Marilyn to buy the
screen rights to a novel and to commission a screenwriter to tailor a
script for her. Famous Artists would then make it a condition of her
new contract that Zanuck purchase the rights from Marilyn. He
calculated that would earn her a profit in excess of $200,000.
Marilyn, advised by her lawyer to go ahead, agreed. Feldman's office
sent ten different books to Doheny, and Joe and Marilyn studied them
carefully.
The sports pages were DiMaggio's typical reading
matter, but in the end it was he who chose the novel "Horns For The
Devil." Marilyn, with $5,000 advanced by Feldman, bought the book
strictly on Joe's say-so. Then she conferred with the screenwriter
Alfred Hayes, whom she had met during "Clash by Night." She paid him
another few thousand dollars of Feldman's money to complete a script.
The decision to buy "Horns For The Devil" would have a significant impact
on the timing of the contract negotiations. For tax reasons, Marilyn
had to hold on to the screen rights for at least six months after the date
of purchase. Therefore, if the rights were to be used as a
negotiating tool, she couldn't sign a new studio contract until six months
had passed.
Even at this stage, Feldman was not being paid
for his work on Marilyn's behalf. Johnny Hyde had negotiated her
current contract, and the agency commission deducted from her paycheck
still went to William Morris. As long as that contract remained in
force, no matter who handled Marilyn's day-to-day interests, William
Morris collected the commission. That situation would change when a
new studio contract was signed. Then, Feldman would be entitled not
only to the agents commission, but also to a cut of the proceeds from the
sale of "Horn's For The Devil," if (and that "if" was beginning to be a
source of embarrassment) Marilyn had finally signed an agency contract
with Famous Artists. She had postponed so many times that Feldman
had stopped raising the issue. Until she did sign, Feldman would not
be entitled to a penny, no matter how many hours he and his staff devoted
to her.
On July 15, 1953, "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" was
released. It was a spectacular critical and box-office success. This
was the moment Marilyn had been working toward since she was a sad, lonely
little girl in an orphanage. This was everything Grace and, later,
Johnny Hyde had wanted for her. "Niagara" had excited audiences; but
the impact of "Gentlemen prefer Blondes" was entirely different.
Suddenly, people felt they really knew "Marilyn Monroe. And it
was immediately obvious that they couldn't get enough of her.
Zanuck expected to hear from Feldman with his
demands for a new contract, but the agency, usually so aggressive, was
mysteriously silent. What Zanuck didn't know was that the purchase
of "Horns For The Devil" would not become final before August 5, 1953.
,
page 87:
That
May, just as she finished "How To Marry A Millionaire," Marilyn's weekly
salary escalated to $1,250. It was an insignificant sum in relation
to the box-office success of "Niagara" and, soon, "Gentlemen Prefer
Blondes." There was no question that the terms of Marilyn's contract
had to be completely renegotiated. In 1950, Johnny Hyde had made a deal on
behalf of a starlet in whom he alone believed. By the summer of
1953, it was obvious that Marilyn was about to be a very major star.
From the moment Feldman had seen the rushes of "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes"
and heard the buzz about Marilyn at the studio, he'd known that the time
to start talking about a new deal would be after the film went into
release. If audiences and critics reacted as he expected they would,
Marilyn would be in an excellent position to maximize her salary demands.
