In 1947, Marilyn Monroe was just an unknown-but-hopeful contract player at 20th Century-Fox when she posed for this photograph. It was so early in her career, she wasn’t even blonde yet! But it does give us an idea of what the quaint little village set looked like on their backlot. If you can ignore the scaffolding behind the church facade, it’s not hard to imagine Marilyn is standing in the middle of a medieval European village that survived the bubonic plague, the French revolution, and two world wars. (Source: variety.com)
Wonderful pix, Martin. That’s the same backlot where Shirley Temple grew up, only with a happier life! Looks like the background from HEIDI (1937), one of her classic films. If you’re a mystery buff, that’s also where they shot the CHARLIE CHAN whodunts. It was Shirley and Charlie Chan (Warner Oland) that kept Fox in biz in the 30s. In the 40s, Laurel and Hardy moved onto the lot and made them millions. Yes, in the late 40s, Marilyn Monroe came along.