Translated Article from Italian Magazine: 'No need to be embarrassed about being nude' and More on Polanski

L'Europeo August 21, 1969

My Meeting with Sharon

by Adriano Botta

Producer Martin Ransohoff wanted to make her another Marilyn Monroe, the 'sex symbol' of the seventies. But Sharon reacted and got to attend the Actor's Studio. The meeting with Roman Polanski, Sharon called it 'a drug', radically changed her life.

I was one of six hundred and forty invited to the wedding of Sharon Tate in London on 20 January 1968, which was performed in place less for married couples than any place in the world, the Playboy Club. Roman Polanski, the husband, called 'genius and profligacy' by British film critics, dashed down streams of whiskey and told stories that nobody seemed to listen to. The 'bunny' club had distributed rose petals that they knew had hashish. The lights were low, like from a cabaret. On the tables there was no shadow of dishes, so I buy food. Her husband, extolling her, the bride, who looked out of the modern novel of a masochist. She appeared sheathed by Elizabethan costume: lace, high collar and starched puffed sleeves of silk, and a skirt that barely covered her bottom. After alluding to the guests to smile, Sharon Tate sat at the center of the room, in a large bed with black sheets. On her legs that black shining white, long and thin, as in a framework designed for antolgia seduction. We all looked at those legs, our eyes were riveted.  We also watched Polanski--who appears to have a taste for suffering--together with a Raymond Chandler film style, the director who turns a cocktail of seduction-perversion-bloody cruelty in a commercial product with a large circulation. "A drop of blood at the spectacle of the wedding would have been in Polanski film fashion," said one of the critics present. Seduction and perversion were squandered, spurting from the contrast between the violent beauty of Sharon and her features delicate and innocent, like the Madonna of Siena, between his hard and sterile voice to hers an icy, sexy, girlish, rich, soft one.

Suddenly Sharon Tate picked up her white panty-hosed, long, and beautiful legs that bewitched so many of us, and came over to me and held a conversation with me for most of that extravagant banquet:

"I'm in love with Roman Polanski because he is beautiful and a genius to the bone and he has the unruliness of a man who is truly wise.  My father always told me to cover my legs and never to button my blouse too low.  And he scolded my mother since I was two years old when she sent my photographs to newspapers. With my husband, however, I was taught that nudity is not shameful but a way to be free, happy, full of life, and that we have only one duty, to be ourselves.  We do only what we want to do, ignoring the opinions of the world. We especially have fun. Roman has taught me that when women like me show themselves nude and beautiful that it is the most pure thing a woman can do. When we were going to shoot our first film together, The Fearless Vampire Killers, Polanski did not want me. The producer had to impose himself and put his foot down to get me the role. I had to shoot three sequences completely naked. I arrived on the set wrapped in a sheet like a ghost and when I opened it I was terribly embarrassed. I bent over and tried to cover my breasts and the rest.  Then Polanski told me: 'If you do that it attracts even more attention from the technicians and the matter becomes sordid and dirty. They are embarrassed if you yourself are embarrassed. You must learn to be naked in a natural sort of way, given that you're beautiful, with pride. This is the right attitude.'


"Roman was right. His talent subdues me. And the week after that he photographed me in color for Playboy, naked and natural. By this point I was already at ease. I had already forgotten the stupid complexity of modesty. The nude body has become the symbol of an era, or at least is becoming one. Like the sound of a new era and a new moral--morality naked--without the veil of hypocrisy. The morality of pleasure sought by the soul and the light of the sun. Body and soul: is that not the title of a popular ballad?"



To be continued tomorrow...

Polanski has some good news come his way:

Roman Polanski in Pole Position at Berlin Film Festival

http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory?id=9838779

By Mike Collett-White

BERLIN (Reuters) - Roman Polanski can enjoy a break from sensational headlines about his arrest and misdemeanors and bask in the glow of mostly positive reviews for his latest movie "The Ghost Writer."

The 76-year-old director, under house arrest in his chalet in Gstaad, is among the early frontrunners for prizes at the Berlin film festival this year, although the 10-day competition has yet to reach halfway.

The political thriller based on a novel by Robert Harris is one of 20 movies vying for the Golden Bear for best picture, which Polanski won in 1966 for "Cul-de-Sac."

The fact that it is among the favorites is remarkable given that post-production was completed while Polanski was in a Swiss prison and, later, under house arrest.

"With this immensely enjoyable, satisfyingly convoluted thriller he demonstrates exactly why he is still a force to be reckoned with," Wendy Ide wrote in the Times newspaper.

"From the opening scene it is clear Polanski had complete control, whether or not he was behind bars when he finished it."

The United States is seeking to extradite Polanski to face justice after he fled the country in 1978 on the eve of his formal sentencing for unlawful sex with a 13-year-old girl.

Peter Bradshaw of the Guardian said: "This is his most purely enjoyable picture for years, a Hitchcockian nightmare with a persistent, stomach-turning sense of disquiet, brought off with confidence and dash."

Hollywood trade publications were more circumspect, however.

Kirk Honeycutt of The Hollywood Reporter described the film about a disgraced British prime minister loosely based on Tony Blair as "sleek" and "hypnotic," "but once the credit roll frees you from its grip, it doesn't bear close scrutiny."

Derek Elley of Variety was one of the few dissenting voices in Berlin:

"All the ingredients are here for a rip-roaring political thriller ... but ... Polanski simply transfers Harris' undistinguished prose direct to the screen and ... there's little wow factor in the revelations as they appear."

GRITTY DRAMAS ALSO SHINE

The Ghost Writer stars Ewan McGregor as a writer brought in to spice up the memoirs of an ex-premier (Pierce Brosnan).

The politician soon becomes embroiled in a bid to have him tried for war crimes, while the writer, who remains nameless, begins to uncover uncomfortable truths about the former leader and his wife, played by Olivia Williams.

Polanski is not alone in impressing critics in Berlin this year, with two other competition entries scoring strongly.

"If I Want to Whistle, I Whistle" is part of the "new wave" of Romanian film-making that has wowed festivals around the world in recent years.

It follows an 18-year-old young offender who is days away from being released from a correction facility. He discovers his mother, who abandoned him as a child, plans to take his brother to Italy, forcing him to take dramatic measures to break free.

Screen International wrote of its "outstanding quality," and the same publication was even more positive about "Submarino," a tough Danish drama which contains scenes of domestic abuse.

"Rarely has there been such a downbeat feel-good movie, but feel-good it is: Submarino works like an emotional massage, leaving the viewer pummeled but invigorated," Screen wrote.

The Berlin film festival awards ceremony is held on February 20.

Photo Comparison of the Week, Marilyn Monroe and Sharon Tate and more

I found a great photo of Sharon were her hair and make up where done up like Marilyn Monroe:

Speaking of these two beautiful ladies, I found many comparisons that they have in common:

Both were great beauties inside and out.  It makes me think of Mia Farrow's quote about Sharon: "She was like a princess in a fairy tale; as beautiful on the inside as she was on the outside."

Until people got to know them better, some thought both Marilyn and Sharon were naive and not very bright.  Both were more intelligent than what was actually known.

Both began as models and moved on to acting.  Likewise, both were also groomed for stardom by the old Hollywood system.

Both had known the Kennedy's: Marilyn knew John and Bobby while Sharon and Roman dined with Bobby Kennedy the night before he was assassinated.

Both adored animals small and great.

Both were also featured nude in Playboy magazine.

Both were well known as hollywood blonde bombshells and sex symbols.  Both of them wanted to go on to more serious work and to be looked at as "serious actresses."

Both were in films written by their husbands; Marilyn in "The Misfits" by Arthur Miller and Sharon "The Fearless Vampire Killers" by Roman Polanski.

Both died tragically in the month of August, both were discovered by their maids and both died in their own homes. 

Both were Studio Club girls, Marilyn stayed there first then Sharon was there 15 years later.

Both wanted children badly but, for different reasons, were not granted that opportunity.  They both had a nuturing nature towards animals and children alike.

Both were in films from 20th Century Fox Studios and Columbia Pictures.

Both had the great William Travilla design clothes for their films.

Both died at an age ending in 6, Marilyn was 36, Sharon was 26.  Both are said to be taken 'before their time.'

Both smoked but quit for different reasons.  Marilyn because it made her teeth yellow and Sharon because Roman didn't like it and shortly after they were married, she became pregnant.

Both had connections to Jean Harlow; Marilyn idolized her as a child and teen and Jay Sebring (Sharon's ex but still great friend) ended up owning the house that Jean had had when she was married to Paul Bern.  Furthermore, when Marilyn married Joe DiMaggio, the couple moved into a home at 508 N. Palm Drive in Beverly Hills next door to Jean Harlow's last home.

Both made motion pictures in London and loved it there.

Both had two siblings: MM had a half brother and sister while Sharon had two sisters.

Both were photographed by Bert Stern in similar poses and camera angles in photo shoots.  And both were photographed by many of the same legendary photographers such as Richard Avedon and Philippe Halsman.

Both preferred the comfort of being barefoot although of course, they did wear shoes.

Both married Jewish men in the their short lifetimes.

Both had Sydney Guillaroff do their hair for a movie.

Both had lived at the Chateau Marmont at one time or another.

Both studied under Lee Strasberg and lived in New York at different times.

Both loved the fashion designer Emilio Pucci and both were buried in that designer's clothes.

Both have become legendary and are more known now than ever.

Both were living in similiarly designed homes when they died. Single story two bedroom houses with a maid's room at the other end of the house. Both houses had pools accessed from the master bedroom.  In addition, the last houses Marilyn and Sharon lived in had been moved into in February month of the year.  Also, both lived in the homes they died in less then six months.

Both died on a Saturday.  Marilyn died on Saturday night, August 4th, 1962. Although she wasn't declared dead until early Sunday morning, August 5th. Coroner's report as well as the accounts of those present place her as having died around 8 pm in the evening. From the accounts available, Sharon died after midnight, probably between 12:30 am; 1 am early Saturday, August 8th, 1969.



Both were having work done on their homes when they died. Marilyn was having her bathroom re-done and updated. Sharon was working on having the maid's room converted into a nursery.



Both had bad relationships with Elizabeth Taylor.  Taylor was never friendly with Marilyn, although now 40 some years later relates an empathy for her in print. When Marilyn was living, Taylor was belittling to her. Once at a party when Marilyn tried to befriend Taylor, Taylor turned to her date and said in a loud voice, "Keep that **** away from me, will ya?" Taylor had Sharon's scenes in "The Sandpiper" cut either over jealousy of the young starlet's beauty or jealousy of her new husband Richard Burton's wandering eye and that he might try to pick up Sharon.



According to the Internet Movie DataBase, Sharon and MM both were around 5' 5' in height.
 
Both had early bit parts in films where their scenes ended up on the cutting room floor.
 
CMG now handles both celebrity merchandise legally for Marilyn and Sharon.
 
Both are burried in California cemeteries.



Both played characters that died in their films; Marilyn Monroe in "Niagara" and Sharon in "Valley of the Dolls."

Both were well known for their great smiles.  MM for her open mouthed smile and Sharon for her often described "Mona Lisa" one.

Both were known to wear glasses.



At the time of their deaths both were big box office, MM was even in development for more roles in films like "What a Way to Go!" and "The Stripper." While Sharon was enjoying box office success with "Valley of the Dolls" and the Matt Helm film, "The Wrecking Crew." In addition, Sharon was in development for major films roles as well with "The Story of O","Tess" and an unknown western Polanski had an idea for.


Both have had songs written about them and performed by rock bands and pop singers.


Both were part of Fellini films in some way: MM was referenced in the dialogue of "La dolce vita" (1960), in the context of dieting. And Sharon and Roman were in "Ciao Frederico" visiting the well known director on the set of a 'making of' documentary.


Both have appeared on European postage stamps.


Both have been portrayed by other actress. MM has had many actresses play her while Sharon has so far had at least three actresses play her in biographical type material.


Upon their deaths, rumors were fueled that there was sloppy handling of evidence in both cases.

Both had to do many takes in the movies they appeared in. Marilyn fumbling her lines of dialogue caused many retakes while Polanski--ever the perfectionist--made Sharon do many retakes on her scenes in "The Fearless Vampire Killers."


Both had ties to director J. Lee Thompson. He was suppose to direct Monroe in "What a Way to Go!" (He was on MM's list of approved directors.) He did direct Sharon in "Eye of the Devil."


Thomas Noguchi performed both Marilyn's and Sharon's autopsies.


Both had connections to Orson Welles. In 1947, while briefly involved with Orson Welles, Marilyn joined Welles in his popular magic stage show, The Mercury Wonder Show, being sawed in half by Welles using the "Buzz Saw" illusion he had previously used on both Rita Hayworth and Marlene Dietrich. Meanwhile, one of the major reasons why Sharon wanted to make what would be her last film, "12 + 1" was the chance to work with the legendary actor/director Welles.


Another two bits of trivia: Martin Ransohoff wanted to make her the next Marilyn Monroe. Sharon even played Jennifer North a tragic blonde character not unlike Monroe herself.
 
Can anyone think of anything else?  Add a comment and let me know?  It's fun to do comparisons every now and then.

Another great and interesting review of Roman Polanski's "Rosemary's Baby" here:

http://rwufilm.blogspot.com/2009/12/rosemarys-baby_12.html