HOLLYWOOD -- Actress Melody Anderson lay nude beneath a towel while a muscular bit player faked giving her a massage beside a pool in the garden of a Studio City, Calif., residence.
A couple of dozen crew members stood by as lights and reflectors illuminated the daytime scene for the USA cable movie 'Marilyn & Bobby: Her Final Affair.'
After several takes, director Bradford May was satisfied and called a halt, instructing his crew to set up for the next scene inside the house.
Melody decorously slipped into a robe, the bit player was thanked and dismissed while stagehands efficiently carried lights and scrims and reflectors inside.
Premise of the film, as the title clearly suggests: the screen's greatest glamour girl had a sexual liaison with Robert Kennedy, which led somehow to Monroe's death in 1962.
Despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, most recently presented by author Donald Spoto in his best-seller 'Marilyn Monroe: The Biography,' the film blatantly endorses rumors and gossip that Bobby and Marilyn were lovers.
USA Network blurbs describe the film as 'a fictional account of the time period after Marilyn Monroe's reported relationship with President John F. Kennedy in the early 1960s during which an already fragile Monroe met and began an intimate relationship with the president's brother, then-U.S. Attorney General Robert Kennedy.'
Monroe is portrayed by Anderson. James Kelly plays Bobby. Richard Dysart plays FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover -- in Hollywood's hindsight a most sinister villain -- and Thomas Wagner is union boss Jimmy Hoffa.
Director May is convinced Monroe had affairs with both Kennedys, saying he could not in good conscience make this picture if he did not accept that premise.
'I have to believe the romance did happen because that's the story I'm telling,' May said. 'I do believe it happened, and I think the controversy is good.
'People will say yes it did happen or it's a crock. But it will be pure entertainment.
'From all the information we have and the books that have come out recently, I'm convinced it did happen.
'That's not a bad thing. People do have affairs. This just happened to be RFK. Marilyn had an affair with his brother and with Frank Sinatra and Sam Giancana and various studio heads. Bobby was her final affair.
'Maybe with the president it was just sex. I think she loved Bobby. Even though the man had six children, she believed he would leave them to marry her, at least according to our movie.
'I don't see Marilyn in a bad light for sleeping with the president and Bobby. That's what happens in life.
'I'm not judgmental. I'm not playing judge and jury. I'm just telling a story. She had a quality that would melt men, and I think Melody Anderson is doing the same thing in this film.
'She and James Kelly not only look like their characters, they are showing us a different side of them.'
And how does actor Kelly, who played Bobby previously in 'L.B.J.: The Early Years,' feel about playing Bobby in bed with Marilyn?
'I grew up in Washington and I understand the political implications,' he said. 'Using his New England accent wasn't all that difficult. I spent a lot of time watching videotape of Bobby.
'And don't forget, I'm James Francis Kelly (J.F.K.), from an Irish Catholic family of seven kids. There's a lot of it in the genes. I'd say there is a certain kinship. Plus, Bobby's been a hero of mine.
'I don't believe Bobby was a womanizer. He didn't have his brother's playboy ethic. I think he was very moralistic, and I try to get that across in playing this part.
'I see him as a sensitive, private and vulnerable man with feet of clay. I think his love affair with Marilyn Monroe was very special. He was really captivated by her. Remember, this is a fictionalized account.
'My job is to project the private Bobby as opposed to his public persona. For that reason, I think I played the role better than I did the first time when Bobby was perceived as a very tough guy.'
To Kelly, Bobby is a heroic figure who loses none of his luster in steamy bedroom scenes in the picture. He admits, however, that RFK's alleged affair with Monroe might not be interpreted as heroic by Ethel Kennedy and their kids.
'All men are fallible,' Kelly said. 'A great man can make missteps. I see his relationship with Marilyn in this film as very special and magical.
'Nobody really knows what went on between them. This picture presents one point of view.'NEWLN:
