They both left for Paris, where she funded his studies at the Institute de Medecine St.Marie - his main duty being "preparing bodies for the anatomy class." He remained haunted by Mischa""s death and asked Lady Murasaki about the story of Abraham in the Old Testament, who was tempted to kill his son:"Do you suppose God intended to eat Isaac? That""s why he told Abraham to kill him...So his friend says to him, ""Hey, why don""t you do it like the Chinese do?"" So he says, ""How do the Chinese do it?"" And the guy says, ""Well, the Chinese, first they screw a little bit, then they stop, then they go and read a little Confucius, come back, screw a little bit more, then they stop again, go back and they screw a little bit.The title of the film is an anomaly and a clue to the absurd, confused plot in which no one is what he/she appears to be - there is no sharply delineated N by NW on a compass - it is an improbable direction.Marilyn Monroe had already starred in a number of great roles, sometimes opposite notable male leads:as Rose Loomis opposite Joseph Cotten inNiagara (1953)as Lorelei Lee with Jane Russell inGentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953)as Kay Weston opposite Robert Mitchum inRiver of No Return (1954)as The Girl inThe Seven Year Itch (1955)Bus Stopwas her first "serious" lead role, although her vulnerable performance as Cherie (a semi-dumb, sexually-exploited Ozark girl with hillbilly roots who was trying to make something of herself but only admired for her sensuality, mirroring Monroe""s own life) went unrecognized for an Academy Award.