Marilyn Monroe and the Broken Shoulder Strap

While The Plaza’s Terrace Room has seen its share of press conferences, few have caused the pandemonium that occurred on the afternoon of February 9, 1956, when Marilyn Monroe arrived to announce her latest film project. Interest in Monroe was high, as this was her first major appearance since leaving Hollywood for New York the year before.

She had come to promote her latest project, a film based on Terence Rattigan’s play The Sleeping Prince (released as The Prince and the Showgirl). Accompanying her was the playwright and her future costar, Laurence Olivier, yet no one paid either man much attention. Marilyn, clad in a snug black velvet dress with thin straps and a matching jacket, was clearly the draw. The press conference proceeded routinely enough to begin with, until the actress removed her jacket, leaned forward—and broke a shoulder strap. After a moment of stunned silence, a blaze of flashbulbs erupted. A safety pin was called for, but even after a quick repair, the strap broke again, to the accompaniment of even more flashbulbs. “Shall I take off my coat, boys?” Laurence Olivier offered feebly. “Does anybody care?”

The broken strap put Monroe on front pages across the country—times were simpler then—although it was hardly an accident. According to the designer of the star’s dress, the strap-breaking incident was prearranged and carefully engineered in advance. “Just wait and see what’s going to happen,” the actress told a photographer before making her entrance and her unique contribution to Plaza legend.