Netflix’s Blonde, a mostly fictitious production about Marilyn Monroe’s life, has created confusion about Marilyn Monroe’s life. Fans are trying to distinguish fact from fiction, which director Andrew Dominik views as unnecessary. He told Sight & Sound:
“Does anyone care, really? People who make films tend to think they’re incredibly important. But it’s just a movie about Marilyn Monroe. And there are going to be a lot more movies about Marilyn Monroe.”
To answer Dominik’s question: people care, especially if a film claims that Marilyn Monroe dated Charles ‘Cass’ Chaplin Jr. and Edward G. Robinson Jr. at the same time.
Marilyn and Chaplin Jr. dated briefly in the late 1940s
Anthony Summers wrote in Goddess: The Secret Lives of Marilyn Monroe that Marilyn and Chaplin Jr. had a brief relationship. Cass also discussed the romance in his book My Father, Charlie Chaplin.
He wrote that the older Chaplin was a huge admirer of Monroe: “‘Oh, she is a beauty,’ Dad [Charlie Chaplin] used to tell me. ‘What a figure! I admire your taste, son, very much.’”
Cass wrote that his father warned him not to fall in love before completing his studies. Summers claimed Cass ignored his father’s advice, dating Marilyn for several months. Anthony alleges that a close friend of Cass Chaplin said:
“Marilyn would stay the night with Charlie. She would cram into a single bed with him, while brother Sydney slept in his bed in the same room.”
Mary and Chaplin Jr.’s relationship fizzled out, but they remained friends.
Monroe wasn’t involved in a polyamorous relationship with Cass and Eddy
Blonde alleges Monroe met Chaplin Jr. and Robinson Jr. in acting class in Los Angeles. Chaplin and Eddy were already dating and invited Norma Jeane into their sexual relationship.
In truth, Monroe didn’t date Eddy and Chaplin simultaneously. Summers claimed Marilyn and Eddy met through Cass and had a fling.
Furthermore, there’s no evidence to suggest Cass and Eddy were gay, bisexual, or in a relationship.