THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, May 18, 1996 TAG: 9605150088
SECTION: TELEVISION WEEK PAGE: 01 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LARRY BONKO, TELEVISION COLUMNIST
LENGTH: Medium: 87 lines
TWO OF Hollywood's best and brightest young actresses - Academy Award winner Mira Sorvino and Ashley Judd - play Marilyn Monroe on Home Box Office Saturday night at 9 in the new film, ``Norma Jean and Marilyn.''
Sorvino and Judd appear at times as Monroe in the same scene at the same moment.
How does that work? Just fine, thank you, because Judd plays the actress as the young and hungry-for-success Norma Jean while Sorvino is seen as the Monroe we remember so well - the goddess of the silver screen with the boop-boop-de-do voice. Judd as Norma Jean is MM's conscience and inspiration, pushing her to the stardom that she wanted so badly since her lonely and abused childhood.
NJ to MM after MM indulged in pills and booze: ``You can barely drag yourself out of bed to make it to the studio before noon.''
Judd does nude scenes. Several. This is Marilyn Monroe laid bare. Judd as Norma Jean says she intends to sleep herself to the top, and she does.
``Marilyn entered the system when the only valid currency she had was sexuality. She used it brazenly and was rather comfortable with it,'' said Judd when she talked to TV writers in Los Angeles.
Sorvino, who made this HBO film before she was nominated for the Oscar last year, required much making over to resemble Monroe, who early on in her career toyed with the idea of being called Marilyn Madison. ``There were certain days in my makeup that I felt completely like Marilyn,'' said Sorvino. ``When I looked in the mirror, I saw her in there. It was an amazing feeling.''
If Monroe had not been done in by the excesses of her life in Hollywood, she would be observing her 70th birthday soon.
(Lifetime on May 26 at 10 p.m. does a straightforward film biography of Monroe. On Sunday at 8 p.m., A&E in its ``Biography'' series presents ``Hugh Hefner: American Playboy,'' a toast to the man who helped Monroe up the ladder of stardom when he posed her nude for Playboy. That business is dealt with in the HBO film. )
The Monroe special on HBO will distract cable subscribers from the May sweeps, but not for long, I'll wager. CBS on Sunday puts on its second miniseries of the sweeps, ``Ruby Ridge: An American Tragedy,'' which the network is pitching as the story behind Randy Weaver's bloody standoff with U.S. marshals in remote northern Idaho. Laura Dern and Randy Quaid co-star.
The producers send mixed signals here. First, they show Weaver as a hateful racist who peddles sawed-off shotguns to street gangs. When bungling federal agents begin the assault on his home, and take the lives of his wife and 10-year-old son, Weaver comes off as the poor victimized family man who loves kids and dogs. Who is the real Randy Weaver, I wonder?
As the May sweeps wind down, it's time to say farewell to two series that had a nice long run on the networks. ``The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air'' signs off Monday at 8 as the Banks' mansion goes on the block. Look for guest appearances by Gary Coleman and Sherman Hemsley. ``Murder, She Wrote'' is history as a weekly series after the Sunday finale at 8 p.m., but look for Jessica Fletcher to be back in TV movies.
Also upcoming in the TV week ahead:
Before there was Monroe, there was Jean Harlow. A&E tells her story Monday night at 8 in ``Platinum Bombshell'' on ``Biography''. . . Before he became a famous movie director, Mike Nichols helped to change the face of stand-up comedy in America when he teamed with Elaine May in the 1960s. The PBS series, ``American Masters,'' revives the era of Nichols and May Wednesday night at 9 with ``Nichols and May - Take Two.'' The documentary includes several Nichols and May sketches. They were one hot comedy team for four years, and then it was over. . . ``The Simpsons'' wraps up its seventh season Sunday night at 8 with Homer trying desperately to be hip. He takes Bart to the Hullabalooza festival to see Peter Frampton, Smashing Pumpkins, Sonic Youth and Cypress Hill. Homer not hip? Who could believe that?
The producers of ``JAG'' on NBC remind us that Sunday is Armed Forces Day, which is a sneaky way of getting in a plug for Wednesday night's season finale at 8. In that one, Lt. Cmdr. Harmon Rabb Jr. (James Elliott) finds himself a prime suspect in a murder case. . . Also in time for Armed Forces Day, The Discovery Channel on Sunday at 8 repeats ``Submarines - Sharks of Steel.'' Great documentary. . . E! Entertainment Television, a cable network that has a great time needling talk-show hosts on ``Talk Soup,'' gets serious about the genre with ``Talk Shows'' on Sunday night at 8. . . In the spirit of the Hercules and Xena series about adventures in a faraway, long-ago land of thieves, evil sorcerers, the MCA Action Pack network brings on ``Beastmaster III: The Eye of Braxus'' on WGNT Saturday night at 8. Marc Singer returns as Dar the Beastmaster. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
Ashley Judd, left, and Mira Sorvino star as the alter egos of
Marilyn Monroe Saturday at 9 p.m.
by CNB