For one thing, we live in an age of instant conspiracy theories, so that, for instance, when Lady Di was killed there was immediate buzz on the Internet that the car wreck was no accident but rather the result of sinister forces.

But when Monroe died, few at the time had anything to say other than to speculate as to whether she had accidentally taken an overdose or deliberately done herself in. It was only later that rumors of Mafia involvement and her tangled relationship with the Kennedys gained traction.

Daily Variety was no exception in its coverage of the tragedy.

As she had many times before, Monroe got front-page treatment Aug. 6, 1962, the day after her body was found lifeless in her Brentwood home.

Said the paper in its lead: "Marilyn Monroe, who often tried without success to shut herself off from the world, early yesterday did so."

The piece goes on to describe "the telephone receiver dangling from her lifeless hand" and "the empty bottle that had contained 50 Nembutal capsules." Tests were begun, the paper said, to determine if the demise was accidental or not.

As for its analysis of her career, the paper could not be said to have gone overboard:

"Miss Monroe, who vaulted into prominence through cheesecake publicity before her acting ability became recognized in 'The Seven-Year Itch,' died alone behind her locked bedroom door only a month after she caused international headlines for failure to work out a commitment in 20th-Fox's 'Something's Got to Give.' "

In Daily Variety's estimation, of her 21 films "only a few starred her" and of those only "How to Marry a Millionaire," "Some Like It Hot," "Bus Stop" and "Itch" were "B.O. clicks."

As for the funeral, which took place Aug. 8, just 31 mourners were allowed into the service in Westwood, including, per Daily Variety, showbizzers like N.Y. ticket broker George Solitaire, Monroe's attorney Milton Rudin, her stand-in, May Reis, and her press agent, Pat Newcomb. The eulogy was delivered by Actors Studio founder Lee Strasberg.

Curiously, the paper mentions a CBS "Eyewitness" doc to be screened Aug. 10, with the title "Who Killed Marilyn Monroe?" -- which the paper called a puzzling title.

Somebody at the Eye must have read the comment: By the next day the title had been softened to "Marilyn Monroe, Why?" Whether the folks behind the show knew something the rest of the world didn't at that time, it didn't come through in what was aired. (Doc focused on the actress's early childhood and emotional instability.)

Meanwhile, weekly Varietyweighed in Aug. 8 with a front-page article debunking the moolah Monroe supposedly was responsible for.

Apparently other papers were "bandying a ridiculously inflated estimate" of the blond bombshell's box office pull. Guesses of this nature ($200 million and upward) tend to acquire "sanctity by repetition," the paper pointed out in setting the record straight.

By Variety's reckoning, Monroe actually made nine movies that had "box office firmness attributable to her, at least in part."

The paper lists the nine, beginning with "Niagara" in 1953 (which raked in rentals to Fox of $2.35 million) and ending with "The Misfits," (which netted UA $4.1 million). All in all, the paper calculated her careerlong B.O. oomph at $44 million in rentals -- by no means bad, but not really boffo, either.