# What is the best Marilyn Monroe movie?

> Marilyn Monroe lit up screens in a string of beloved Hollywood classics — from screwball comedies to dramatic roles that revealed the full range of her talent. Pick the film that best captures her legendary screen presence.

*By YPB Team · Published May 9, 2026 · https://youpick.best/ranking/what-is-the-best-marilyn-monroe-movie*

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## Current results (0 votes)

1. **Some Like It Hot**
   A 1959 Billy Wilder comedy where Monroe plays Sugar Kane opposite Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon disguised as women in an all-female jazz band — widely considered one of the funniest films ever made.
2. **Gentlemen Prefer Blondes**
   A 1953 musical comedy directed by Howard Hawks, featuring Monroe as showgirl Lorelei Lee and the iconic 'Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend' sequence in a hot pink gown.
3. **The Seven Year Itch**
   A 1955 comedy directed by Billy Wilder featuring Monroe in the legendary subway grate scene that became one of cinema's most enduring images.
4. **The Misfits**
   Monroe's final completed film (1961), a dramatic western written by her then-husband Arthur Miller, co-starring Clark Gable and Montgomery Clift.
5. **Bus Stop**
   A 1956 comedy-drama where Monroe plays Chérie, an aspiring singer in a Phoenix saloon who captures the obsessive attention of a naive Montana cowboy.
6. **Niagara**
   A 1953 Technicolor film noir thriller set at Niagara Falls, where Monroe plays a scheming wife plotting her husband's murder — an early role that cemented her as a serious actress.
7. **How to Marry a Millionaire**
   A 1953 romantic comedy co-starring Lauren Bacall and Betty Grable as three models sharing a New York penthouse in their search for wealthy husbands.
8. **Don't Bother to Knock**
   A 1952 psychological thriller where Monroe plays a deeply troubled babysitter in a hotel, an early dramatic role that critics have since recognized as ahead of its time.
9. **River of No Return**
   A 1954 CinemaScope Western adventure directed by Otto Preminger, featuring Monroe as a saloon singer swept into a dangerous river escape with Robert Mitchum.
10. **The Prince and the Showgirl**
   A 1957 romantic comedy set in 1911 London, directed by and co-starring Laurence Olivier, with Monroe as an American chorus girl courted by a European prince.
11. **Let's Make Love**
   A 1960 musical comedy co-starring Yves Montand, notable for Monroe's memorable rendition of 'My Heart Belongs to Daddy' and her real-life romantic involvement with her co-star.
12. **All About Eve**
   A 1950 backstage drama where Monroe appears in a small but memorable role as an aspiring actress, sharing scenes with Bette Davis and Anne Baxter.
13. **Monkey Business**
   A 1952 screwball comedy directed by Howard Hawks featuring Monroe as a secretary caught up in a laboratory mishap involving a fountain-of-youth formula, alongside Cary Grant.
14. **There's No Business Like Show Business**
   A 1954 CinemaScope musical featuring Monroe alongside Ethel Merman and Donald O'Connor as the youngest member of a vaudeville family dynasty.
15. **Ladies of the Chorus**
   Monroe's first substantial film role (1948), a musical drama about a burlesque performer who follows in her mother's footsteps — an early glimpse of the star she would become.

Tags: movies, women, actors, classics, 50s