The Seven Year Itch (1955)

When his family goes away for the summer, a so far faithful husband is tempted by a beautiful neighbor (Marilyn Monroe).

Director:

Billy Wilder

Writers:

Billy Wilder (screenplay), George Axelrod (screenplay),

Stars:

Marilyn Monroe, Tom Ewell, Evelyn Keyes

Won 1 Golden Globe. Another 3 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Marilyn Monroe	...	The Girl
Tom Ewell	...	Richard Sherman (as Tommy Ewell)
Evelyn Keyes	...	Helen Sherman
Sonny Tufts	...	Tom MacKenzie
Robert Strauss	...	Mr. Kruhulik
Oskar Homolka	...	Dr. Brubaker (as Oscar Homolka)
Marguerite Chapman	...	Miss Morris
Victor Moore	...	Plumber
Dolores Rosedale	...	Elaine (as Roxanne)
Donald MacBride	...	Mr. Brady
Carolyn Jones	...	Miss Finch

Storyline

With his family away for their annual summer holiday, New Yorker Richard Sherman decides he has the opportunity to live a bachelor's life - to eat and drink what he wants and basically to enjoy life without wife and son. The beautiful but ditsy blond from the apartment above his catches his eye and they soon start spending time together. It's all innocent though there is little doubt that Sherman is attracted to her. Any lust he may be feeling is played out in his own imagination however.

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Plot Keywords:

summer | apartment | imagination | paddle | tomato | 

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Taglines:

It TICKLES and TANTALIZES! - The funniest comedy since laughter began!

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Genres:

Comedy | Romance

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Certificate:

Unrated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

3 June 1955 (USA)

Also Known As:

La comezón del séptimo año

Filming Locations:

Stage 10, 20th Century Fox Studios - 10201 Pico Blvd., Century City, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$1,800,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Charles K. Feldman Group, Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

105 min

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.55 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The caption that goes by the "Textures" picture in U.S. Camera is about the Ruwenzori Mountains (Africa).

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Goofs

In the scene where Richard opens the door for The Girl, at the time she forgot her front door keys, he gets out of the apartment to talk to her and look at her going upstairs. When he gets out the lights are on, but when he come back after he hurt his neck, the lights are off.

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Quotes

Richard Sherman: Miss, may I have the check, please?
Waitress at Vegetarian Restaurant: Oh, yes, sir. Now let's see... we had the number seven special, a soybean hamburger with french-fried soybeans... Soybean sherbet and peppermint tea.
Richard Sherman: Don't forget I had a cocktail to start.
Waitress at Vegetarian Restaurant: Oh yes, we had the sauerkraut juice on the rocks, didn't we? You will be proud to know that your entire meal with the cocktail was only 260 calories.
Richard Sherman: I am proud.

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Crazy Credits

When the title appears, one arm of the T in ITCH reaches down and scratches the stem of the letter.

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Connections

Referenced in Bewitched: The Catnapper (1966)

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Soundtracks

"Chopsticks"
(1877) (uncredited)
Music by Euphemia Allen
Performed by Marilyn Monroe and Tom Ewell

User Reviews

Magic on the screen: Monroe fights the New York heat and gives pleasure to Ewell…

In the 'fifties Hollywood created its biggest, best-loved and most powerful sex symbol of all—Marilyn Monroe…

Marilyn's appeal was, perhaps, in her weakness, in that revealing look of innocence and confidence, in her intense desire to be loved…

The 'seven year itch' points out the instinctive desire to be disloyal after seven years of matrimony, with a longing to satisfy one's sexual needs…

This amusing film was adapted from a Broadway play of the same name by George Axelrod, with Tom Ewell reprising his Broadway role, walking, worrying, and sweating…

Tom and Evelyn Kayes have been married for seven years… While he remains in Manhattan on business, Evelyn and their son Ricky (Butch Bernard) go off to Maine to escape the sweltering summer…

The apartment upstairs has been rented to a television blonde model (Marilyn Monroe). When she forgot her front door key, she had to ring Ewell's bell to let her into the building…

When Marilyn accidentally knocks a tomato plant onto Tom's terrace, the happily man invites the luscious young beauty downstairs for a drink, indulging in fantasies about taking her in his arms and kissing her 'very quickly and very hard'…

Marilyn comes in, explaining that she feels safe with married men... He makes a clumsy pass while they are at the piano but both fall off the seat… He stammers an apology, but she pretends it is nothing…

When Marilyn returns to her apartment, Tom envisions his wife having an affair in Maine with their big neighbor, Tom McKenzie (Sonny Tufts)… Then he sees himself lost between foolish fantasies of seduction, and terrible ideas of his wife capturing him in action… Finally he decides to put an end to his visions and asks Marilyn out to a movie...

On their way home, they stop on a subway…

As the trains go by underneath, Marilyn's skirts billow up…

It is so hot in the city she presumably loves the rush of air on her thighs…

Marilyn plays the scene in innocent delight… And Billy Wilder's shot shows a strapping blonde with a white skirt blown out like a spinnaker above her waist…

For this famous shot alone, the movie is a must see…