Diana Dors made two films in Hollywood for RKO during the second half of 1956. I Married a Woman was a romantic comedy starring George Gobel, which began shooting in July. In September, Dors replaced Shelley Winters as Rod Steiger's co-star in the crime melodrama The Unholy Wife. Both films received poor reviews and failed at the box-office when eventually released. In part, this was due to Dors’ increasingly fraught relationship with the American press, although there are other reasons why these movies failed to impress critics and engage cinema audiences in the late 1950s, as discussed later in this chapter. The failure of Dors’ Hollywood ambitions cast a long shadow over the rest of her career and had a pronounced impact on her star image. Nevertheless, as also discussed here, this failure actually reveals many of the star’s greatest strengths, notably her courage, confidence and determination to be herself.

Impressing the press

Shortly before the release of Yield to the Night in London on 19 June 1956, Dors was offered £25,000 to appear in a Hollywood movie. By the time that Marilyn Monroe arrived in Britain to make what became The Prince and the Showgirl with Laurence Olivier at Pinewood Studios, Dors was making her way towards the USA on board the Queen Elizabeth. Arriving in New York City on 25 June, she held a press conference at the 21 Club alongside her husband Dennis, during which she informed reporters that her plan was to earn a fortune over the next five years and then retire to start a family (Wise 1998: 155). She described herself as being ‘completely independent’ and able to take on any kind of work anywhere in the world. When asked if she would be staying in Hollywood permanently, she replied emphatically, ‘No. England is where my home is’ (156).

Dors’ made a deep impression upon several leading members of the New York press and inspired a great deal of newspaper copy over several weeks as journalists attempted to work her out. Here was someone who resembled Marilyn Monroe but didn't sound like her, someone who spoke with the confidence and authority of a leading statesman.