Marilyn Nash Movies
Former model Marilyn Nash was discovered for films by Charles Chaplin, who selected her from the ranks of the unknowns to play the woebegone street girl in Monsieur Verdoux (1947). Though critics sniggered knowingly, assuming that there was some hanky-panky between Chaplin and his latest protégée, the relationship was evidently platonic, and Nash's performance (the result of intensive, painstaking rehearsals) was reasonably professional. Once away from Chaplin's influence, however, it was clear that the young newcomer's talents were severely limited, as proven by her subsequent appearance in such cheapies as the 1951 sci-fi Unknown World. After this forgettable enterprise, Marilyn Nash retired to become the wife of screenwriter Philip Yordan. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1951
Assembled by the same production team responsible for the minor sci-fi classic Rocketship X-M, Unknown World isn't quite in the same league as its predecessor. The plot is set in motion by Dr. Jeremiah Morley (Victor Kilian), who theorizes that mankind could save itself during a nuclear attack by resettling far beneath the earth's surface. To prove his theory, Morley builds the Cyclotram, a combination drill and exploratory vehicle, with the financial assistance of playboy Wright Thompson (Bruce Kellogg), who insists upon joining the expedition to the earth's core. After several hair-raising adventures, the Cyclotram and its surviving passengers reach a cavern nearly 2000 miles beneath the surface. The cavern contains all the necessities of survival save one: the atmosphere renders anyone living within its walls sterile. Deciding that it isn't worth hiding in the center of the earth if only one generation will survive, the explorers endeavor to get back to the surface -- but who will survive this journey? The obligatory female lead in Unknown World is played by Marilyn Nash, who'd been discovered by Charlie Chaplin for the 1947 film Monsieur Verdoux. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Victor Kilian, Bruce Kellogg, (more)
"Von Clausewitz said that war is the logical extension of diplomacy; Monsieur Verdoux feels that murder is the logical extension of business." With his controversial "comedy of murders" Monsieur Verdoux, Charles Chaplin makes his final, definitive break with the Little Tramp character that had brought him fame and fortune. Verdoux (Chaplin), a mild-mannered family man of pre-war France, has hit upon a novel method of supporting his loved ones. He periodically heads out of town, assumes an alias, marries a foolish, wealthy woman, then murders her for the insurance money. He does this thirteen times with success, but wife #14, brassy Martha Raye, proves impossible to kill (nor does she ever suspect what Verdoux has in mind for her). A subplot develops when Verdoux, planning to test a new poison, chooses streetwalker Marilyn Nash as his guinea pig. She tells him so sad a life story that Verdoux takes pity on her, gives her some money, and sends her on her way. Years later, the widowed and impoverished Verdoux meets Nash once more; now she is the mistress of a munitions magnate. This ironic twist sets the stage for the finale, when Verdoux, finally arrested for his crimes and on trial for his life, gently argues in his own defense that he is an "amateur" by comparison to those profiteers who build weapons for war. "It's all business. One murder makes a villain. Millions, a hero. Numbers sanctify..." Sentenced to death, Verdoux remains calmly philosophical to the end. As the condemned man walks to the guillotine, a priest prays for God to have mercy on Verdoux's soul. "Why not?" replies Verdoux jauntily. "After all, it belongs to him." The original idea of Monsieur Verdoux originated with Orson Welles, who'd wanted to make a picture about notorious modern "Bluebeard" Landru. Welles wanted to cast Chaplin in the lead; Chaplin liked the idea, but preferred to direct himself, as he'd been doing since 1914. It is possible that Chaplin might have gotten away with the audacious notion of presenting a cold-blood murderer as a sympathetic, almost lovable figure. Alas, Monsieur Verdoux was released at a time when Chaplin was under a political cloud for his allegedly Communistic philosophy; too, it came out shortly after a well-publicized paternity suit involving Chaplin and Joan Barry. Picketed in several communities, banned outright in others, Monsieur Verdoux was Chaplin's first financial flop. Today, it can be seen to be years ahead of its time in terms of concept, even though the execution is old-fashioned and occasionally wearisome. Monsieur Verdoux doesn't always hit the bull's-eye, but it remains one of Charles Chaplin's most fascinating projects. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Charles Chaplin, Ada-May, (more)
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