The Seven Year Itch (1955)

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

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 - Nurse

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:

skirt | new york city | blonde | 1950s | extramarital affair | 

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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:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

29 July 1955 (UK)

Also Known As:

La comezón del séptimo año

Filming Locations:

164 East 61st Street, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$1,800,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$12,000,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Charles K. Feldman Group, Twentieth Century Fox

Technical Specs

Runtime:

105 min

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Color (Color by Deluxe)

Aspect Ratio:

2.55 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Adapted from the Broadway play by George Axelrod starring Tom Ewell and Vanessa Brown. When the project moved from Paramount to 20th Century-Fox, Brown was replaced by Marilyn Monroe. Due to the Hays Code, not only was most of the racy dialogue omitted, over the objections of Axelrod and Billy Wilder, Sherman's romance with The Girl became a product of his imagination.

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Goofs

When Richard sets the coffee pot on the stove and turns on the gas, there is no flame, yet the pot is percolating when he returns to the kitchen minutes later.

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Quotes

The Girl: Hey, did you ever try dunking a potato chip in champagne? It's real crazy!

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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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Alternate Versions

Version released in then West Germany contains some profanity.

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Connections

Spoofed in Discworld II: Mortality Bytes! (1996)

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Soundtracks

Piano Concerto #2
Composed by Sergei Rachmaninoff (as S. Rachmaninoff)
Played on a record and often in the score

User Reviews

The best comedy for a hot night of summer.

The Seven Year Itch"is a minor comedy from Billy Wilder.However,it has an enduring magic that made special.Is the story of a husband whose wife and son are in vacation.He's alone and full of temptations with the new neighbour(Marilyn Monroe).Wilder has a great script with his usual elements:acid vision of the typical american and his problems,very good dialogues and magic.The only failure of the movie could be it's too much theatrical(is based on a play)but it's great anyway.I see this movie every summer and is special.Few movies capturing the essence of the summer(a summer in the 50's New York in this case).Also,the movie contains the most famous shot of Marilyn Monroe,when she is outing of the cinema.She was a great comical actress and this is very clear in this movie. In short,a great comedy to see the life of the 50's and the best way to spend a hot night of summer.