Billy Wilder, who directed Marilyn Monroe twice (in The Seven Year Itch and Some Like It Hot) said that when you watched Monroe performing a scene, it was nothing, but when you saw her projected up on the screen it was indeed "magic": the camera caught something about her that wasn't evident in real life. Whatever this was, it's something that a number of stars, male and female, have had. It's not a talent that can be learned or applied, switched on and off. It's innate and unforced. People who have such a quality and are aware of it can build on it by learning how to best play to the camera, but you can't invent or feign it.

It's this "extra" that made Wilder decide to hire Marilyn for Some Like It Hot after his dreadful experiences with her on Itch. Her tardiness, lack of preparation and disregard for her fellow performers had so irritated Wilder (and everyone else) that he vowed never to work with her again. But she was the one actress really suited for the role. Her bad habits had grown vastly worse in the intervening four years, but in the end what he got on the screen was -- barely -- worth it. But once more he said he would never, ever work with her again. The fact that he and others were willing to put up with such nonsense is testament to that special something that Marilyn and no one else had.