Jeff MacClay
BERNARD OF HOLLYWOOD'S MARILYN, Corel Corp., 1600 Carling Ave., Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1Z 8R7, (613) 728-8208, $69.95
I have always had a fondness for Marilyn Monroe. After all, we share the same birthday (June 1). But my fondness never turned into the fascination that many die-hard fans have for the platinum blonde beauty. Bernard of Hollywood's Marilyn (which works on Macintosh System 7.0 or Windows 3.1 or higher) traces her life from the early days as Norma Jean to that tragic day (August 5, 1962) she died. The disc is based on a book of the same title by Susan Bernard, daughter of renowned Hollywood photographer Bruno Bernard, often described as the "discoverer of Marilyn Monroe."
Accompanied by a jazzy 1950s sound track, you can page through Susan Bernard's text, which offers li
nks to audio and video clips of Monroe. You can also listen to the journal entries of Bruno Bernard. The video clips are highlighted by Monroe's famous rendition of "Happy Birthday" sung to John F. Kennedy, her original screen test, and newsreel footage of Joe DiMaggio at Monroe's funeral. And there's also a screen saver of, guess who, on the CD-ROM.
You also get a time line of Monroe's life, which includes a glossary of her 29 films and a list of 103 "essential" Marilyn Monroe facts. Only the truly obsessed fan would care that Monroe had a weakness for chocolate eclairs, that her dress size was 12, and that her favorite snack was caviar.
I was, however, impressed with Bruno Bernard's photographs of Monroe. The disc includes a number of his works, and it's easy to see how they helped Monroe become a legend.
As the cake comes out and my family begins to sing, I'll remember Monroe, but don't ask me to tell you that her pant size was nine.
Marilyn Remembered
