But a Monroe expert says buyer beware, insisting the actress in the grainy black-and-white film is not the star of "The Seven Year Itch."



"That's not Marilyn," declared Monroe memorabilia collector Scott Fortner. "The chin is not the same, the lips are not the same, the teeth are not the same."



Barsa dismisses the naysayers as people trying to protect the blond bombshell, and says his film is an exact copy of a 16-mm film discovered more than a decade ago.



"People with romantic notions have denied that it's Marilyn Monroe, and have invented stories to raise doubts about the film," Barsa said. "This film shows the real Marilyn Monroe."



The 16-mm reel was purchased in 1997 by a European magazine that peddled 600,000 copies before a collector paid $1.2 million for the film, Barsa said.



Barsa said it's no surprise there were two different formats, since sex films of that era were often shot simultaneously with two cameras.



The legendary Monroe died of a sleeping pill overdose in 1962, when she was just 36.



lmcshane@nydailynews.com