Today I celebrated Marilyn Monroe's birthday by watching one of her most famous films, The Seven Year Itch. The film is famous for the scene when Monroe stands above a subway grate and a rush of air blows up her skirt. This 10 second bit is one of the most iconic moments in movie history.
The film, based on the Broadway play, was directed by Billy Wilder and stars Monroe and Tom Ewell. The title refers to a period in a husband's life when they are more inclined to be unfaithful to their wives. Tom Ewell plays a husband and father whose family has gone off to the country to escape the summer heat and he is left to fend for himself. The same day he discovers a beautiful young woman has sublet the apartment upstairs. The film shows his attempts to socialize with the girl, remain faithful to his wife and the paranoia that develops when he thinks people will find out.
The film should belong to Ewell. He created the role on Broadway and played it over 900 times, but he is upstaged by Monroe in every scene she's in. By now she had perfected the role of beautiful, clueless, bombshell and her comic timing is impeccable. The movie is funny, but dated. The comic situations are from a different era and it doesn't hold up as well as some of Wilder's other films based on his own scripts.
At The Movie House rating *** stars.
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