The Seven Year Itch (1955)

When his family goes away for the summer, a hitherto faithful husband with an overactive imagination 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 | 1950s | dream girl | 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

Did You Know?

Trivia

Bell Brand Snack Foods, a Southern California snack food manufacturer, sent cases of their products to various movie sets hoping they would be used in a film and their brand would go national. After Billy Wilder used Bell Brand Potato Chips in the film (The Girl brings a bag down to Richard Sherman's apartment and eats them with champagne.), Bell Brand became famous. The company continued on until financial difficulties forced them to close in July 1995.

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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

Miss Finch - Nurse: [in Richard's fantasy] Let's crash out of here! Let's steal an ambulance and make a run for the border.
Richard Sherman: Miss Finch, you're not fit to wear that uniform. You're rotten to the core.
[slaps Miss Finch across the face four times]
Miss Finch - Nurse: Beat me. Hit me! Beat me till your arms ache. You know I'll only come crawling back for more.

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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

Due to the Hayes Production code (censorship) issues of the time, Director Billy Wilder was forced to cut some footage that was judged to be too racy to have in the film. AMC showed some of the censored footage on a _"Backstory" (2001)_ episode. The cut material includes:

• A full shot of Marilyn Monroe's skirt being blown clear above her waist, which was included in the poster but deemed too suggestive to have in the film.
• Extended portion of the skirt scene in which Marilyn Monroe's skirt is again blown by the subway, and then there is a dialogue in which she tells Tom Ewell: "You should wear a skirt; I am feeling sorry for you in those hot pants!" (this deleted scene is also featured on the 20th Century Fox DVD release)
• A scene in which Marilyn Monroeis in the bathtub covered with bubbles, and gets her toe stuck in the faucet. The plumber, attempting to free her, drops his wrench in the bathtub and plunges his full arm towards the bottom of it to fish his tool. He is obviously embarrassed but Marilyn simply gives him a conniving look saying "It's OK!" (this deleted scene is also featured on the 20th Century Fox DVD release)
• Different, less suggestive angles were used in the scene which included the famous "undies in the icebox" dialogue.

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Connections

Referenced in The Congress (2013)

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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

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

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

29 July 1955 (UK)

Also Known As:

The Seven Year Itch

Filming Locations:

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

Box Office

Budget:

$1,800,000 (estimated)

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$7,652

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