My Week with Marilyn and The Prince, The Show Girl and Me

By: Colin Clark

Narrated by: Simon Prebble

In 1956, 23-year-old Colin Clark began work as a lowly assistant on the set of The Prince and the Showgirl, the film that united Sir Laurence Olivier with Marilyn Monroe. The blonde bombshell and the legendary actor were ill suited from the start. Monroe, on honeymoon with her new husband, the celebrated playwright Arthur Miller, was insecure, often late, and heavily medicated on pills. Olivier, obsessively punctual, had no patience for Monroe and the production became chaotic.

Clark was perceptive in his assessment of what seemed to be going wrong in Monroe's life: too many hangers-on, intense insecurity, and too many pills. Before long, Monroe and Clark spent an innocent week together in the English countryside and Clark became her confidant and ally.

This special theatrical edition also includes The Prince, The Showgirl and Me, Colin Clark’s diary during the film’s production.

©1995, 2000 Colin Clark (P)2011 Dreamscape Media

Critic reviews

"The immediacy and charm of Clark's recollections are possibly more illuminating than the millions of words and pictures pumped out to expose or dish the dirt on the Monroe legend." ( Sunday Times, London)

"Beguiling, touching and compassionate." ( Evening Standard)

"An extraordinary story." ( Spectator)

Just like the movie...minus all the romance lol

Well...I bought this after seeing the motion picture and guess I expected to get an even more detailed bit of info, a closer peek into the real Marilyn Monroe I suppose. I listened to the whole thing waiting........I expected that Mr. Clark would empty his heart further after seeing the wilted sad Colin Clark heart broken by his week long romance with Marilyn. WRONG! Basically the movie romance was a Hollywood fabrication because other than getting a blow job from a guy after a night at a gay bar.....there wasn't any romance between Mr. Clark and Marilyn just a few set girls like in the movie. Although he does go into quite a bit of detail about the entire film production of The prince and the showgirl and how much nearly everyone hated working with Marilyn and couldn't wait for filming to end. I actually got the impression that Colin Clark himself loathed Marilyn and likely wrote the book to capitalize on the Marilyn mystique rather than pour out any kind of Me and Marilyn sentiment. It was his WEEK WITH MARILYN just not the week I expected.

The movie stays true to the book but the book is better

First book of this year. I saw the movie on Netflix and was hooked. I wanted to know more. I loved the dynamic of the audio because the first part is a dramatized version of the authors diary and the second part, is the literal reading of the diary. Sometimes, during the second part, it gets a little tired because he refers to people by their initials, so it gets hard to keep up. On the other hand, what a joy this was. The description of being on a movie set with Sir. Laurence Olivier and Marilyn Monroe along with the visits of Vivien Leigh, Ginger Rogers and an array of movie stars, I gasped! Colin also describes de unions, the dynamic with the extras and obviously Marilyn. This poor woman. Fragile and up to her ears in demons 💔. I think he describes her perfectly in the diary with both goods and bads. The movie is really well made and loyal to the book but the book, is wait better. My heart feels so tender after finishing it. I recommend #LibrosAle2021 #Audible

Fascinating memoirs, not so good writing

The story is fascinating by itself, though its social, psychological implications are not necessarily all good/ethical. I guess that’s ok with its historical context & personal nature. However, I do find the writing mediocre. Having to read the same story 3 times (first the normal text, then the letter & diary in appendix) is just really tiresome.