Story behind one of Marilyn Monroe's most iconic photo

This classic shot of Marilyn Monroe's dress blowing up around her legs as she stands over a subway grating was originally shot on Manhattan's Lexington Avenue at 52nd St. on Sept. 15, 1954 at 1 AM. 5000 onlookers whistled and cheered through take after take as Marilyn repeatedly missed her lines. This occurred in the presence of an increasingly embarrassed and angry Joe DiMaggio, Monroe's husband at the time. The original footage shot on that night in New York never made it to the screen; the noise of the crowd had made it unusable. Billy Wilder(director) re-staged the scene on the 20th Century Fox lot, on a set replicating Lexington Avenue, and got a more satisfactory result. However, it took another 40 takes for Marilyn to achieve the famous scene.

Not without a distinct ring of irony, the 9-month-old Marilyn Monroe-Joe DiMaggio marriage officially ended during this shoot.

Marilyn Monroe's lifelong bouts with depression and self-destruction took their toll during filming; she frequently muffed scenes and forgot her lines, leading to sometimes as many as 40 takes of a scene before a satisfactory result was produced. Her constant tardiness and behavioral problems made the budget of the film swell to $1.8 million, a high price for the time. The film still managed to make a nice profit.

Amazingly, Marilyn Monroe's very narrow spike heels don't get stuck or break in the subway grating that she stands on it in the movie's most famous scene, although this was a universal problem, at the time, for the countless women wearing that very popular style heel in New York City in that era.

An important promotional campaign was released for this mainstream motion picture, including a 52 feet high cut-out of Marilyn Monroe (of this shot) erected in front of Loews State Theater, in New York City's Times Square. Also it premiered on June 1st, 1955 which happened to be her 29th birthday.

Despite being one of the most iconic images in pop culture history, as well as one of the most recognizable photographs of Marilyn Monroe, the famous full-length image of Monroe standing with her dress being blown up never actually appears in the film. The shot used in the film is only of her legs, cut with reaction shots, and never shown full-length.

Marilyn Monroe's iconic white dress set a record when it was auctioned for $4.6 million in June 2011 (rising to $5.5 million after taxes and fees were included), quintupling the previous record for a movie costume.

Popular Searches:

• The word "scientist" did not exist before 1833

• The Queen of England does not have a passport!

• Australia has invented 'shark-proof' wetsuits!