10 Marilyn Monroe Best Movies That You Should Watching Update 04/2024

Marilyn Monroe Best Movies

According to Rotten Tomatoes, this is Marilyn Monroe’s best work.

Marilyn Monroe is unquestionably one of the greatest film stars of all time. In the late 1940s and early 1950s, the plump, world-class beauty soared to stardom as an actress, comedienne, singer, and dancer in Hollywood’s pantheon of titillating sex symbols. Due to a sleeping pill overdose, Monroe died at the age of 36 in 1962.

Despite her terrible life in the movies, Marilyn Monroe was much more than a gorgeous face. During the 1950s, she starred in some of the best-received films, receiving two Golden Globes.

1. How To Marry A Millionaire (1953) 84%

How To Marry A Millionaire (1953)

With Lauren Bacall and Betty Grable, Monroe was part of a harem of gold-diggers in the rom-com How to Marry a Millionaire. We won an Oscar for Best Costume Design after that.

It’s about a group of women who want to marry affluent males for their wealth. The girls set up an elite apartment to entice wealthy guys, but they have trouble finding the proper ones. As soon as the females let their guard down, they start joking about and end up falling for each other. Can’t Buy Me Love! is the film’s motto.

2. Niagra (1953) 84%

Niagra, a romance film noir, portrays a significantly more cynical and calculating side of Monroe than ever shown on the pin-up beauty’s face.

At Niagara Falls, Rose Loomis (Monroe) hatched a plan to have her boyfriend Ted Patrick (Richard Allen) murdered by her husband George (Joseph Cotton). Polly (Jean Peters) is a neighbor at the Niagra Falls motel where George was staying when he went missing and saw him having sex with another lady. Who’s playing who in this game?

3. The Seven Year Itch (1955) 87%

The Seven Year Itch (1955)

During the first seven years of a marriage, a couple begins to feel weary of their devotion to one another. Monroe’s character in Billy Wilder’s classic rom-com is referred to as “The Girl!”

New Yorker Richard Sherman (Tom Ewell in a Golden Globe-winning performance) is a married father and husband enjoying a vacation in the city. While Richard is usually loyal to his wife, he begins to question his commitment when he meets the gorgeous new neighbor (Monroe) upstairs.

4. Monkey Business (1952) 88%

Monroe stars alongside Cary Grant and Ginger Rogers in Howard Hawkes’ sci-fi screwball comedy Monkey Business. As a result, she was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for her performance.

The narrative revolves around a scientist hired by a chemical company to find a fountain of youth pill. Dr. Fulton (Grant) has the health of a teenager after accidentally treating himself with anti-aging properties. With Lois by his side, Fulton takes a stroll around town (Monroe). Until Edwina (Rogers), Fulton’s wife, takes a massive quantity of the drug!

5. Some Like It Hot (1959) 95%

Some Like It Hot (1959)

Sugar Kane Kowalczyk in Some Like It Hot is unquestionably Marilyn Monroe’s finest on-screen performance. As a result, she was awarded the first of two Golden Globes in 1960 for her famous performance!

After witnessing the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre, two Chicago musicians flee the city in Billy Wilder’s hysterical comedy. With the help of an all-female band aboard a train, Jerry (Jack Lemmon) and Joe (Tony Curtis) keep their identities secret by pretending to be women. As Daphne and Josephine, the two men are unable to resist Sugar Kane’s seductive appeal. Greatest of all time.

6. The Misfits (1961) 97%

Monroe had one final opportunity to work with John Huston before her sad death in 1962, in the final feature film of her career. Even more heartbreaking, Arthur Miller wrote The Misfits, a play about a dysfunctional family.

Clark Cable portrays an edgy cowboy who must come to terms with his sexual prowess in the hardscrabble western. It is with some reluctance that Gay Langland (Gable) gives up his love liaisons with the recently divorced Rosalyn Taber (Monroe).

7. The Asphalt Jungle (1950) 97%

The Asphalt Jungle (1950)

Knowing that John Huston, the man who directed Marilyn Monroe’s first starring role, supervised her final cinematic performance is poetically cyclical. What an incredible coincidence!

Kubrick’s The Killing and Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs were both heavily influenced by Huston’s explosive, genre-changing heist picture The Asphalt Jungle. In the aftermath of a daring jewel theft, the film received four Oscar nominations.

8. Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953) 98%

The musical rom-com by Howard Hawkes Dazzling dance numbers and stunning chemistry between Monroe and Jane Russell make Gentlemen Prefer Blondes an unforgettable film. Actually, Madonna’s Material Girl directly parodies Monroe’s Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend performance!

Dorothy (Russell) and Lorelei (Monroe) become the object of every man’s desire when they sail to Paris on a luxurious cruise liner.

9. All About Eve (1950) 99%

All About Eve (1950)

With a Metascore of 98/100 and six Academy Awards, All About Eve is one of the greatest films ever made. IMDB’s Top 250 also includes 1951’s Best Picture winner!

Eve, a crafty but naive ingenue, is the focus of an extremely amusing picture (Anne Baxter). Eve gets a job as Margo’s assistant and infiltrates her personal life after securing her trust (Bette Davis). Eve is on the verge of overtaking Margo as the new star of Broadway.

10. Don’t Bother To Knock (1952) 100%

According to Rotten Tomatoes, no Marilyn Monroe picture rates better than Don’t Bother to Knock from 1952.

Roy Ward Baker’s film tells the story of a commercial pilot who has been rejected by his lover and is struggling to come to terms with it. Nell Forbes (Monroe) is babysitting in a nearby hotel room, and Jed Towers (Widmark) goes there to get over her. Jed discovers that Nell is significantly more risky than he first thought after meeting and instantly falling for her. The surname Munroe was originally intended for Nell in the story, but when Marilyn was cast, her surname was changed to Forbes.