The Seven Year Itch

 

               

              This ladies and gentlemen is the movie that gave us the iconic air vent dress gag that we've all seen countless times in Super Bowl commercial's and, well actually a ton of commercials especially one were a group of dudes in Scottish skirts are out in a hot summer day in New York parade and one of them goes to a ground vent and has the best time ever, until a kid tells his dad "that's just wrong dad!" Even the scene in Pulp Fiction where John and Uma go to the diner and Marilyn Monroe is there with her dress pushed by air. Well, The Seven Year Itch is that movie that I wouldn't say put Marylin Monroe on the map more like got so much attention towards her that was in a sad sense a downfall that she couldn't get out of. Especially when the Democrats aka Kennedy's killed her. 

                During a summer heat wave, New Yorker Richard Sherman (Tom Ewell) ships his wife, Helen (Evelyn Keyes), and their son to Maine for vacation. Left alone to work back in Manhattan, Richard encounters a gorgeous blonde model (Marilyn Monroe) who has moved into the apartment upstairs and becomes immediately infatuated. While pondering infidelity, Richard dreams of his beautiful new neighbor -- but will his fantasies about her become reality?

                The Seven Year Itch is based off, a three acted play of the same name by George Axelrod, in which the play premiered in 1952 and closed in August of 1955, just two months after the movie premiered. Directed by the talented Billy Wilder, this is another one of those films where Wilder strikes gold when it comes to directing comedy a side from this being based off of a play, surprisingly this was the first to two plays Billy Wilder collaborated with the beautiful Marylin Monroe, and really no matter the genre Wilder is doing from film noir to war drama or even comedy in general he's always has that natural gift in bringing out some hilarious moments that you can watch time and time again and you can chuckle even if the movie is either Stalag 17 or The Seven Year Itch it's always pretty funny especially when it's a guy having typical fantasies of a gorgeous women living upstairs next to him. Another surprising factor is actor Tom Ewell played Richard Sherman in the play version and surprisingly he wasn't consider for the movie role there were other actors like James Stewart and William Holden, but in all honesty Tom Ewell is the perfect Richard Sherman because he embodies everything in us men where we doubt ourselves especially when it comes to beautiful women and even when he gets to his imagination phase he's even greater in terms of his comedic performance. And Marilyn Monroe as beautiful and gorgeous of a woman she was back in her hay day, she was also an amazing actress although I still say her best movie is Don't Bother to Knock, she also steals the movie with of course her beauty but also has a great monologue about what women really want especially her as well. And although this was one of those films where everyone would pin her as sex symbol especially when her then hubby ex-baseball player Joe DiMaggio wasn't happy upon seeing the infamous of her skirt blowing through the air vent, I got to say that woman at least made a supportive good choice in separating herself from Joe D because, she's way too good for a baseball player who has the worlds ugliest face. I do hope with people watching this movie, that they at least see Monroe as a talented actress and not just a pin up model because she does have the great sense of being a great actress and it's just sad that her time was cut short. Now having seen at least four of Marilyn Monroe's filmography I do need to continue my search for more films she was in because she was in some good ones, especially one directed by John Huston, so hopefully I get the time to sit down and watch it. I've said it many times, Tubi is the go to movie streaming service for some great classic and hidden gems so, if you have Tubi, this film is a great movie to watch on this hot summer day and guys if you’re in a difficult relationship where you're woman is driving you up the wall it's not a crime to dream of beautiful women, though it would be wise to not let your wife know about the name you're mentioning in your dreams. Also here is the commercial I talked about earlier and take a guess who the surprise actor is in that commercial.