Here Milton Berle and Marilyn are deep in conversation and the plate shows a genuine intimacy between them. Berle later claimed that he'd had an affair with Marilyn on the set of 'Ladies of the Chorus' in 1949.
In mid-week Marilyn visited the Brooks Costume Company in Manhattan to be fitted with the costume she'd wear for the elephant ride at the circus gala. Brooks were a top New York theatrical costumier where the designer Norman Norell had once worked. Brooks was owned by James and Bianca Stroock, (whose daughter, Geraldine Brooks, went on to become a prominent T.V actress in the '70's).
Marilyn would be in good hands at Brooks – especially with circus costumes. Three years earlier they had supplied the costumes for the Oscar winning epic 'The Greatest Show on Earth'; a dramatic circus story starring Charlton Heston, directed by Cecil.B.de Mille
Picture 28.
Ed Fiengersh photographs himself capturing the scene at Brooks with his inventive use of the mirrors in the fitting rooms.
Picture 29.
Marilyn adjusts her costume under the watchful gaze of, from left to right: Mary Smith, the Brooks costume fitter, Dick Shepherd, Marilyn's agent, James Stroock, Brooks' proprietor and H.D.Quigg, a reporter for United Press, who would later report seeing Marilyn nude in the fitting rooms.
