Diamond Collection [Best of]

Marilyn Monroe long ago passed into an impossibly tangled netherworld of fame, history, and myth, one that all the digital preservation in the world can never really unravel. While Monroe's films and tragic conflict of image and personality have been endlessly explored, her generally underrated talents as chanteuse often get short shrift. This wonderfully restored 20-track anthology (the musical companion piece to Fox's five-film Diamond Collection video boxed set) goes a long way toward addressing that shortcoming. Crucially, it pays equal tribute to the behind-the-scenes talents that midwifed Monroe through her iconic performances in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and There's No Business Like Show Business (films that account for the Monroe performances here): Fox musical directors Alfred and Lionel Newman. Alfred's scoring and conducting skills are also showcased on the grand, Gershwinesque "Street Scene" prologue to "How to Marry a Millionaire." Indeed, the Newmans are the firm bond that holds together this sometimes dizzying collection of performances by Monroe, Jane Russell, Fred Astaire (a sprightly "Something's Got to Give" from Daddy Long Legs), and Ethel Merman (her signature showstopper, "There's No Business Like Show Business"). But if the sign of a great singer is the ability to "sell" a song, Monroe is the equal of her stellar cohorts on sultry performances of "When Love Goes Wrong" and "After You Get What You Want, You Don't Want It," let alone the legendary "Heat Wave" and "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend" (even if we learn that Lionel Newman presaged contemporary recording technique by piecing Monroe's performances together in the studio). There is minor sonic residue of the films' antiquated recording technology, but producer Nick Redman overcomes it with treats like an a cappella rendition of the Monroe-Russell duet "Two Little Girls from Little Rock" from Blondes, with the singers' voices separated left and right in the speakers. If you loved Moulin Rouge, here's a healthy dose of its spectacular inspirations. --Jerry McCulley