Review #1390: The Seven Year Itch.Cast:
Marilyn Monroe (The Girl), Tom Ewell (Richard Sherman), Evelyn Keyes (Helen Sherman), Sonny Tufts (Tom MacKenzie), Robert Strauss (Kruhulik), Oscar Homolka (Dr. Brubaker), Marguerite Chapman (Miss Morris), Victor Moore (Plumber), and Donald MacBride (Mr. Brady) Directed by Billy Wilder (#106 - Some Like It Hot, #194 - Ace in the Hole, #422 - The Fortune Cookie, #641 - The Apartment, #809 - Sunset Boulevard), and #1384 - Stalag 17)
Review:
"Imperfection is beauty, madness is genius and it's better to be absolutely ridiculous than absolutely boring.”
When it comes to bombshell actresses, one that stands out most evidently for their role in popular culture is Marilyn Monroe. She had grown up under a turbulent childhood, with a nonexistent father and a mother that had a mental breakdown that had her committed by the time Monroe was eight years old, which led to years of bouncing around orphanages and lodgers to stay with. She found herself attracting to becoming an actress at a young age, mostly because it seemed like an escape from her real world troubles. Adulthood had plenty of paths for her to take, such as housewife to factory-work to modelling before she eventually took steps to acting, where she made bit part appearances for 20th Century Fox in 1947 before being let go the following year, although it did help her in enrollment to the Actors' Laboratory Theatre, which she found enticing. Her determination in wanting to make it as an actress eventually led to some roles, such as her first lead role with Ladies of the Chorus (1948), or small parts in 1950 films like Love Happy, All About Eve, and The Asphalt Jungle. Soon after she found herself with a contract back with Fox and her popularity gradually rose over the decade that made her a sex symbol, with highlights including Niagara (1953), Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953). Through the course of a career tragically cut short at the age of 36 in 1962, Monroe struggled with trying to branch out in roles beyond the bombshell types alongside struggles in her private life such as anxiety and addiction. In any case, Monroe's stature as an icon has endured long after her death, particularly with films such as this one, with one scene involving her dress being blown up by wind to show her legs being a particularly notable one for the decade.
The film was adapted from George Axelrod's 1952 play of the same name, which had run for over a thousand performances with Ewell on Broadway. However, turning the play into an acceptable film for the censors proved to be quite a challenge, with Wilder later stating that he was "straitjacketed" and wished that he had made the film in a later time that would have allowed the affair to be shown in the film, as opposed to it being in the imagination of Ewell's character, along with the fact that dialogue considered racy had to be omitted. In other words, the sin became one of boredom over lust. In any case, this is a fairly decent film, filled with a good deal of laughs that make an adequate farce firmly in the middle of Monroe and Wilder's careers given the circumstances of the time. Ewell makes for a fine panicky presence to go with, talkative to the audience and others with a few chuckles to deliver that make it palatable when faced without scenes with Monroe. She naturally steals the show, a bright presence of charm that commands our attention along with having fair timing with humor. The other members of the cast are okay, filling the 105 minutes around moments not with Monroe with fair patience. On the whole, this is definitely something that has aged a bit for its time, an envelope pusher in search of more to open within romance that nevertheless will prove adequate for those who like something carefully done by Wilder with plenty to highlight in Monroe.
Overall, I give it 7 out of 10 stars.
