BFI

'Marilyn' is an example of a Mining Review motif - that of the miner's daughter, a way of finding a female interest story (others in the same genre feature a cinema projectionist, a gymnast, and a jazz drummer). If the young woman is attractive, so much the better, the industrial cinemagazine being as prepared to exploit male interest in the female form as any advertiser or feature filmmaker. So the daughter who is a model is a winning subject, allowing the camera to linger over the female form with a veneer of justification.

Marilyn is filmed in various outfits and poses, including a mini-dress made from back issues of Coal News. Marilyn's day job at Coalville's Palitoy is quickly dismissed by both her and the filmmakers. Nevertheless, the parallel between 'dolly bird' and doll is made explicit with an edit between her stage-weeping and a crying Tiny Tears doll. Tiny Tears had been introduced to the UK the year before, an instant success sold to this day - but whereto Marilyn Smith?

James Piers Taylor

*This film is included in the BFI DVD compilation 'Portrait of a Miner: The National Coal Board Collection Volume 1'.

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