because she turned down harry cohen, who is one of the most powerful men in hollywood. >> it is not untileak out. >> in 1952, she coauthors an article with a journalist called "wolves i have known". >> it is a great title. and that will show you a woman that came up with that title, that's a poet. >> the first real wolf i encountered should have been ashamed of himself because he was trying the take advantage of a mere kid. >> kiss me. >> her wolves are sexual predatory men, and the drawing of a wolf is often the tongue hanging out, the eyeballs bulging, very open about the sexual desire. >> she already understands the idea of being hunted. >> i don't think that sexual harassment was a term in anyone's vocabulary in the 1950s. it was just something that you put up with. >> bring on the women! >> there is something very accurate about the feeling of being pursued by a wolf, how dangerous that that feels. >> he gave me a script to read and told me how to pose while reading it. all the poses had to be reclining. >> although the words i was reading didn't seem to call for that position. >> sh

harry cohen. >> it was just a b movie, it was a movie and she had the main role and so i think she probablyr onto his yacht and that's not a code anybody today even requires any help deciphering. >> he was a major womanizer, oh my goodness, par excellence. >> he often exploited young women and if they didn't return his affections, then he would make their lives hell. >> she knew that if she said no to him that she would be thrown out but she had integrity. she just asked him will your wife join us? it was pointed and he was furious and threw her out of the office. i think that's why he didn't renew her contract after six months. >> this is the patriarchy, this is how we do things. little girl, you want to be famous? play with me. >> it is not the case that she was simply sleeping with any powerful man she encountered to get where she wanted to go. because she turned down hairy cohn, who was one of the most powerful men in hollywood. >> it's not until four years later that marilyn will find the courage to speak out. in 1952 she co-authors an article called "wolves i have known." >> it's a gr

. >> reporter: but marilyn rebuffed harry cohen, head of columbia pictures and one of the most powerfuld outed others in an article titled "wolves i have known." when nude photos of marilyn surfaced -- >> marilyn was halled into the office to account for herself. and she was put in front of all the powerful male studio heads. >> they said, did you pose for a calendar? and i said, yes. anything wrong? >> marilyn's decision to own her nude photo shoot calendar is brave. it's bold. it's very modern. >> reporter: and it worked. by then, marilyn was a bona fide superstar. but she grew tired of all the dumb blond roles she was forced to play. so she walked away from her contract with 20th century fox. launched her own production company and kicked off a year-long battle with the studio. >> marilyn had no idea if this entire experiment was going to end in complete humiliation and disaster. >> but her strategy worked. fox offered her a new contract with a raise, director approval and the freedom to make films through her own production company. >> she got everything she wanted. everything. whic

. >> reporter: marilyn rebuffed harry cohen, head of columbia pictures and one of the most powerful meninto the office. >> they said, did you pose for a calendar, i said yes. anything wrong? >> marilyn's decision to own her nude photo shoot calendar. it's brave, it's bold, it's very modern. >> reporter: and is worked. by then, marilyn was a bona fide superstar but she grew tired of all of the dumb blonde rolls she was forced to play. so she walked away from her contract with 20th century fox. launched her own production company and kicked off a year-long battle with the studio. >> marilyn had no idea whether his higher experiment was going to end in complete humiliation and disaster. >> reporter: but her strategy worked, fox offered her a new contract, with a raise, director approval and the freedom to make films through her own production company. >> she got everything she wanted. everything. which was unheard of in 1955. >> reporter: tragically, marilyn's life was cut short seven years later. >> of course, her early death is a tragedy but that doesn't overwrite everything she had achi