This book looks at the career life of Marilyn Monroe and in the process goes through each movie she has appeared in.  For each movie Conway provides a basic summary of the plot and an excerpt speaking of the publics’ reaction to the film.  The most valuable information contained in this source is the snapshot reviews of how critics’ responded to the each of Marilyn Monroe’s films during the time when they were released.  Reading short excerpts from different reviews gives a bit of a diversified picture of the publics’ response to the movie during its day and age.  This perspective is invaluable information when looking to understand the movies time period cues and appreciate how the film was viewed during a different time in American culture.

            The section focused on in this book was the few pages which concerned Marilyn Monroe’s role in Billy Wilder’s movie, Some Like it Hot.  This section provides a short strictly factual summary of the occurrences in this “twisted” plot, and then gives portions of 1959 critics to this film.  The three critics A.H. Weiler of the New York Times, Hift from Variety, and Archer Winsten from the New York Post, collectively help to paint a picture of where the epicenter of the movies success stemmed from, and this was the cast.  These excerpt reviews all celebrate Marilyn Monroe as both a sex icon and a skilled comedian whose amazingly believable performance as Sugar made the characters more accessible despite the surreal plot. The songs she sings and provocative costumes she wears accentuate her natural sex appeal, and yet despite this mature body Marilyn is a convincing innocent young girl looking for love.

            This source has cited references from dozens of literary reviews and is very direct and factual in its attempt to summarize movies as well as Marilyn’s life.  Therefore I would consider this source to be of value when researching any of Marilyn’s movies or her life in general.

Richard Buskins book is essentially a window into the world of one of the most extraordinary cinematic talents of this century, Marilyn Monroe.  This book takes an interesting form in its attempt to paint a picture of the woman, and not just create a biographical compilation of the events in her life.  Buskin looks at Marilyn’s life by following her career from one movie to another, and capturing a three dimensional view of her life by quoting; Marilyn herself, and fellow actors, directors, friends, and admirers who she knew. 

            In this books attempt to draw a line through Marilyn’s life using her career, the 1959 picture Some Like It Hot is a notable stop on the way.  Arguably one of Marilyn Monroe’s most famous performances this starlet was the heart of the movie, a sexual sweetheart who always got “the fuzzy end of the lollypop”.  After Buskin does a brief synopsis of the movies plot, the book delves into life behind the scenes, and we catch a glimpse of the devil behind the Monroe’s angel face. Screaming, cursing, undependable, and insisting on dozens upon dozens of takes she was difficult to work with to say the least.  But in the end the director Billy Wilder admitted that “she was actually worth all the aggravation.” Some Like It Hot is a movie defined by the talent of its cast, and this book gives an essence of the star actress.  Marilyn was and still to this day is a star, with a presence and reputation that surpasses her time.

            In terms of reliability as a source this book is strongly rooted in primary sources using quotations from Marilyn’s fellow actors and directors to characterize her.  The author spent almost a decade to write this book, named a great deal of notable institutions in citing his research, and  acknowledged several dozen people who interviewed with him about their personal relationship with Marilyn Monroe.  Therefore I would consider this source to be fairly trustworthy.