Marilyn Monroe she founded a film production company in late 1954; she named it Marilyn Monroe Productions (MMP). She dedicated 1955 to building her company and began studying method acting at the Actors Studio. In late 1955, Fox awarded her a new contract, which gave her more control and a larger salary. Her subsequent roles included a critically acclaimed performance in "Bus Stop" (1956) and the first independent production of MMP, "The Prince and the Showgirl" (1957). Monroe won a Golden Globe for Best Actress for her work in "Some Like It Hot" (1959), a critical and commercial success. Her last completed
Marilyn Monroe musical was unsuccessful upon its release in December, and Monroe's performance was considered vulgar by many critics. In September 1954, Monroe began filming Billy Wilder's comedy "The Seven Year Itch", in which she starred opposite Tom Ewell as a woman who becomes the object of her married neighbor's sexual fantasies. Although the film was shot in Hollywood, the studio decided to generate advance publicity by staging the filming of a scene on Lexington Avenue in Manhattan. In the shoot, Monroe is standing on a subway grate with the air blowing up the skirt of her white dress, which became one