Allan ‘Whitey’ Snyder has often appeared as a minor character in Marilyn Monroe biopics. As the actress’ personal make-up artist for much of her career, Snyder is credited with creating her iconic look of pouty lips, big lashes, defined eyebrows and beauty spot. Reliving Marilyn brings him to the forefront, framing her story with his vow to take care of her makeup should she die first. Regrettably, rather than a heartwarming depiction of a promise kept, Morgan Blackbyrne’s detached manner and raspy voice conjures up visions of a serial killer tending to his latest victim.

​

Filmed in black and white, these morgue-bound sequences are interrupted by frequent colour flashbacks of Snyder applying Monroe’s makeup or photographing her on location during the making of such films as Niagara, Some Like it Hot and The Misfits. Apparently, Snyder took these snapshots as a way of relaxing the actress before her scenes. Not that this is explained during the course of the biopic, which is indicative of a film that is unable to take advantage of the unique perspective its storyline presents. Stilted dialogue and flat delivery are aggravated by meaningless lines presumably assigned to friends or financers.

​

Made on a shoe-string budget by Monroe fans, Blackbyrne’s lack of skill as an actor is matched by his performance behind the camera, where he doubles as both director and screenwriter. Apart from portraying Marilyn, Blackbyrne’s wife Nadine Banville also contributed to the screenplay, foolishly giving herself the line “I don’t want to make a fool of myself” while achieving that very same feat. Though she doesn’t take out the award for the Worst Monroe portrayal, Banville is among the nominations.

​

Unlike this husband and wife team, Snyder’s career continued post-Monroe, working on such films as Rosemary’s Baby, The Poseidon Adventure and Marilyn: The Untold Story.