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As two couples are visiting Niagara Falls, tensions between one wife and her husband reach the level of murder.

Marilyn Monroe was given first billing in "Niagara" which elevated her to star status. Her following two films of that year, "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes", with Jane Russell, and "How to Marry a Millionaire", with Betty Grable and Lauren Bacall, were even bigger successes.

Films like this are what I really wish Monroe was remembered for. She is more often than not seen as the "dumb blonde" of "Seven Year Itch" and other such films. But "Niagara" and "The Misfits", for example, show she was actually a rather good actress and not just an object.

Joseph Cotten was an outstanding actor whose talents have been terribly under-appreciated. He is great in this movie as an abusive husband. The very sexy Marilyn Monroe is his wife, who is having an affair with another man. They meet a pair of young newlyweds on their honeymoon. Max Showalter as the young husband is one of the most annoying characters I've ever seen. Jean Peters as his bride does the unthinkable, managing to look almost as beautiful as Marilyn herself.

This is a suspenseful and entertaining movie, which makes great use of the scenery surrounding Niagara Falls.

Marilyn Monroe may not have been one of my favourite actresses, but she was a real beauty and there was something really magnetic about her screen presence, 'Some Like it Hot' being a fine example. Joseph Cotten was responsible for some fine performances, my first exposure to him being in 'Shadow of a Doubt' and still remember how creepy he was in that. Henry Hathaway was a more than able director, while not caring for everything that he did.

'Niagara' is not quite either of them at their best, though they still come off well. But considering how intriguing it sounded a big part of me was hoping for a great film rather than the in my view (as others have liked better, and also worse, than me) a decent one. One that would have lived up to its potential with a better-written second half and if there was a better supporting cast. Don't let this make you shy away from watching, as 'Niagara' does have a lot that works in its favour.

Will start with the bad. Don Wilson, in scenes that add very little to the film, and especially Max Showalter badly overdo their roles and are really annoying (Showalter embarrassingly so).

Some of the second half can be implausible.

However, 'Niagara' is significantly advantaged by the remarkably vivid photography and quite ravishing Technicolor. Niagara Falls looks utterly majestic and captured on film with such beauty and atmosphere. Monroe's wardrobe is a sight to behold, in a good way. The music was in good keeping with the film's tone without overbearing it. The script has a fair share of clever and entertaining moments, even if it was also 'Niagara's' most uneven component.

The story in the first half is highly intriguing and a lot of fun, with some lovely character interaction, helped by that director Henry Hathaway shows that he knew what he was doing. Monroe is something of a sensation and she positively smolders. Cotten makes his character an interesting one, it is not easy making a character such as his affecting as well as menacing but Cotten manages it. Jean Peters sparkles and for me she was 'Niagara's' most likeable character.

All in all, uneven but with a lot of well done things. 7/10

Like - WOW!!... Marilyn Monroe has never looked hotter than she does in Niagara. Man, Monroe just sizzles in this flick, especially in her hot-pink dress.

This 1953 Thriller offers great fun for the viewer on a variety of levels.

(1) Film Noir themes abound (albeit in Technicolor).

(2) Oodles of location shooting around Niagara Falls.

(3) And, best of all, Freudian Symbolism runs amok.

Monroe plays Rose Loomis, an unbelievably ripe femme fatale.

Niagara's twisted tale of greed and infidelity has the tantalizing Rose devilishly plotting (with her handsome toy-boy) the murder of her emotionally unstable husband, George. And, what better way to do him in, then a quick, hard push over, into the roaring Falls.

Adding to Niagara's thrills - Director Henry Hathaway does an excellent job of squeezing the most out of the spectacular scenery around Niagara Falls.

If you're a Marilyn Monroe fan, then you're sure to enjoy this seductively wicked flick.

Niagara is one of those wonders who came out of the dream factory of the fifties and still manage to leave deep impressions in fresh viewers. Technically it is simply perfect: the story is like in a film noir, but Niagara is anything but «noir»! This is a true color movie with high artistic and aesthetic value. The best possible use was made of the location; it is an idealized place for honeymooners, with gleaming surfaces, gaudy colors and happy faces. The viewers see the postcard-image of the place – it's the era of President Eisenhower, renowned for its uplifting moral integrity, right? But behind the surfaces are dark rooms, depression, madness and scheming thoughts. Innocuous facades conceal quarrels, discontent and eventually murder. And in its midst roars the waterfall, at once beautiful and menacing. The message of the movie is conveyed largely through pictures, the location not the screenplay is the story.

The actors are part of the location. As far as I can remember there are hardly any close ups. Marilyn Monroe looks feverish and disturbed throughout, she elicits compassion rather than arousing sexual desires. Joseph Cotten is very good in the role of her confused and deranged husband. His mental condition seems to stem from war experiences (although in the movie this is treated as a kind of a side remark, its being mentioned is worth remembering, it happens seldom enough). To the disturbed couple are added a «normal» couple and an older, «seasoned» couple (very good, sensible performances by Lurene Tuttle and Don Wilson). The cast aptly represents the chances and pitfalls of life and human relations as behind them water flows down the river and falls over the edge.

Niagara shows a highly artistic approach to a specific place and uses symbols in the way of earlier black and white movies. I can highly recommend it to everyone. It is a pity that the potential of the technical means of this kind of widescreen color movies was not explored further in that direction, creating a direct link between the style of film noir and that of «film couleur». The wet asphalt in the early morning light is just unforgettable.

Although I think Marilyn Monroe suited comedies better, this somewhat hitchcockian thriller is nevertheless a convincing demonstration of her more serious acting abilities, and also one of the finest films she starred in.

"Niagara" introduces Monroe as a seductive, wily wife wanting to get rid of her jealous husband (a very good Joseph Cotten). Her lover, an awfully small and stereotypical role, is played by Richard Allan.

Funnily enough, it seems that it's Jean Peters who has the film's biggest part. As the innocent honeymooner, her character is clearly designed as a contrast to Monroe.

The breathtaking surroundings of the Niagara Falls are a significant supplement to the film's atmosphere.

The look and atmosphere in this film is so vivid that even viewed on TV it makes you feel as if you have been to Niagara Falls sometime in the early 1950s. The plot takes a deceptively leisurely pace but it builds to a gripping climax. It is worth the viewer's time & effort to stick with it to the end. Marilyn Monroe is radiantly treacherous & her performance is subtle and bears close watching beyond her obvious attractiveness. She should get a lot more credit for this picture than I've seen others give her. Joseph Cotten balances between being menacing & getting our pity & sympathy. Not all the performances are terrific but this movie is a gem that rewards the effort to stick with it to the end.

This nifty thriller represented one of Hathaway's few forays into noir (he was largely known for Westerns). It was unusual for noir in being filmed in shimmering Technicolor rather than the pallet of grays, blacks, and whites more commonly associated with the genre, but then, given the resort setting, this was almost inescapable.

The storyline is straightforward: an amiable Midwestern couple, the Cutlers, Polly and Ray (Jean Peters and Max Showalter, billed as Casey Adams) arrive at the Falls to find the cabin they've reserved is occupied by another, more fractious couple: the Loomises. George (Joseph Cotten), the husband of the latter couple, could be nicknamed "Gloomy Loomy" given his downcast and cynical demeanor; we learn that he spent time in a psychiatric hospital for war veterans. His ravishing and none-too-faithful wife, Rose (Marilyn Monroe) provides ample reason for his suspicions. Turns out she's been two-timing George with a man who looks like the textbook illustration of a smooth gigolo (Richard Allan) and she and loverboy are planning something most foul for George.

But Polly, the distaff half of the Cutler twosome, has witnessed some of the hanky- panky, and when Rose and her lover's nefarious plans run into trouble, Polly finds herself caught between a vengeful husband and a scared-out-of-her-wits wife. The suspense arises from Polly-in-peril and her efforts to extricate herself from another couple's troubles.

Monroe is excellent in one of her few villainous roles in a non-comedy, and Cotten is riveting as the troubled, betrayed husband bent on revenge. His voice-over during an insomniac late-night/early-morning walk by the Falls at the start of the film is almost worth the price of admission alone. And the Falls? They never looked more beautiful- or deadly.

I like watching Niagara because it gives one a chance to see the place before it became a mini Las Vegas. No doubt that legalized gambling on the Canadian side has certainly given the place a prosperity it hadn't known before when it was just dependent on honeymoon tourism. Still both sides have a quaint look that sad to say is gone forever.

If the town has changed, Marilyn Monroe and one of the great natural wonders of the world remain the same. Marilyn is half of two couples vacationing at the Falls. Marilyn and Joseph Cotten are trying to regain some romance, at least that's Cotten's intention. In the meantime Casey Adams and Jean Peters have won a trip there from his company because he thought up a prize winning ad campaign to sell the breakfast cereal he works for.

Fate brings these two couples together, one a happy couple and one a most unhappy one. It seems that Marilyn has a whole other agenda involving Cotten and Peters becomes innocently involved when Marilyn's plan doesn't work.

If you remember how in Duel In The Sun Cotten and his brother Gregory Peck were both involved in competition for sex kitten Jennifer Jones. In Niagara, Cotten has won the sex kitten, the sexiest woman of the Fifties some say and it's certainly not brought him any happiness. His portrayal of a beaten man, married to a tramp ranks as some of his best work.

As for Marilyn Monroe, Darryl Zanuck brought her along quite carefully and she certainly attracted attention in All About Eve and The Asphalt Jungle. But no doubt that her role as the hard hearted stone goddess married to Joseph Cotten was her breakout role. There was nothing but star parts for her after this.

So for a chance to see an unglitzed Niagara Falls and the statuesque beauty that was Marilyn Monroe, don't miss Niagara.

Marilyn hype aside, this is quite a good thriller. The sheer drama of the falls merge strikingly into the story as a whole. Some of the camera angles really showcase the waters in their crashing majesty, a sinister backdrop to the shadowy events. Then too, I hope TCF gave poor Jean Peters hazard pay for the way she gets doused around in that little boat. No glamour girl there.

I expect the movie's overall quality is due to director Hathaway, long one of Hollywood's most underrated movie makers. Catch, for example, that marvelous overhead shot in the bell tower of Marilyn lying dead. It's a composition worthy of the best of Welles. Also, I kept watching for process shots, Hollywood's usual expedient when dealing with difficult action set-ups. The only one I could spot in that long river sequence is Peters on the rock awaiting rescue. To me, that's quite a feat of expert movie-making.

Nothing special about the storyline itself. Faithless wife Monroe two-times her unbalanced husband Cotten who then stalks her amid the touristy Niagara setting. In fact, Cotten gets to do a lot of sinister lurking around. On the other hand, wholesome newly-weds Showalter and Peters make a charming, non-sappy contrast to the other couple-- and I'm not surprised that in real life, the notorious love-'em and leave-'em Howard Hughes ended up marrying the no-nonsense Peters. My only gripe is with the ever-exultant Don Wilson. He was such a good pitch-man on TV, but here it's like he's trying to sell us his glad-handing role instead of acting it out.

Anyway, the movie remains more than simply Marilyn's breakthrough role-- good as she is-- and can stand on its own as an expert scenic thriller.

Rose Loomis (Marilyn Monroe) takes a trip to Niagara Falls with her husband George Loomis (Joseph Cotton) as part of their honeymoon. Rose hatches a plan to murder her husband with her lover's help, but things don't go according to plan.

This really should have worked as it has a very simple 'Hitchcock type' plot, but sadly it always feels much less than the sum of its parts. The first problem with this film lies with the screenplay which is very basic and never offers anything in the way of surprises or suspense at any point in the film (and believe me there were lots of missed opportunities in this respect). The film also takes an awful long time to get going (why it does this when the plot is simple and straight-forward is anyone's guess).

The characterisation here is rather poor and motivation is also rather weak - this ultimately results in a story and characters that I didn't particularly care about. The narrative involves Polly & Ray Cutler as the concerned fellow holidaymakers who both come across as very twee and fake in the early stages (Polly develops and improves somewhat in the second half of the film), but Ray remains the same throughout the film and felt to me more like a caricature than a real person. One thing I will concede is that the Cutler's romance was convincing, but in a sort of nauseating way.

The performances are variable with only Joseph Cotton and Jean Peters making any real impression on the film; Marilyn Monroe looks great, but isn't particularly convincing and the less said about Max Showalter the better.

Aside from a couple of good performances the only other thing that I liked about this film was the on-set locations and cinematography, but in all honesty Niagara just isn't very good and after watching it I just kept thinking to myself 'What would this film have been like if Hitchcock was at the helm?'

Marilyn Monroe in one of her earlier roles showed she had promise as a dramatic actress that was never fully realized on screen. We all know she was fine in comedies but she acquits herself well in the role of a young wife anxious to rid herself of her jealous, mentally unstable husband (Joseph Cotten) and plots with her lover to do so. The lovers are spotted by another honeymooner (Jean Peters) who is drawn into the plot by circumstances beyond her control.

Jean Peters is excellent as "the other woman", smart and strong-willed and able to cope with the unstable husband when she has to. Joseph Cotten by this time had played several stressed, shell-shocked veterans and does his usual fine job here. Marilyn is garbed in her most revealing wardrobe and makes the sluttish housewife a real and pitiful being by the time she confronts her husband in the bell tower.

Atmospheric film noir type of story is well photographed for maximum effect among the famous Falls. With swirling mists, choppy waters, bell tower ringing ominously, and murderous intent--it's makes an absorbing, fast-moving melodrama that is chillingly effective and at the same time enjoyable to watch.

Coming late to assessments of Niagara on IMDb I see most of the themes that impressed this reviewer have been well canvassed. A middling to good rating as an entry in the film noir/thriller genre. One of the first full blown depictions of the hyper-curvaceous, iridescent lipglossy and figure-huggingly clothed Marilyn Monroe persona that became standard. The expert use of the wonderful Niagara Falls backdrop to the story. The unsettling(poor) performances of Max Showalter and Don Wilson. But just like cadillacmax@msn.com , the thought that was most insistent to this elderly male reviewer throughout was – Boy, would I love to be on a honeymoon with this Jean Peters.

This superb Technicolor noir from 1952 is a real eyeopener for viewers who only know MM as a breathy musical or comedy star. MM's drama roles of this early period are well worth finding, especially also DON'T BOTHER TO KNOCK and even LADIES OF THE CHORUS from 1948. However NIAGARA is a star vehicle that delivers in glorious Technicolor and serious scare. One daylight fright with Joseph Cotton is genuine enough to get an audience off their seats, and all through MM gives as strong a performance as Cotten and gorgeous Jean Peters. Only Max Showalter as the Honeymoon Husband is tedious and obvious. Wonderful location footage and spectacular eerie tone is evident and appealing only with some lame back projected footage in key moments to yank the viewer away from the tense drama. Viewers will also think of CAPE FEAR in certain moments. The use of chimes and the song KISS is very effective and the alarming scenes in the tower, especially the stairway are seen again in VERTIGO. Any film that can pre flag those two films from the late 50s as this 1952 Fox production does is deserving of the discovery/classic status NIAGARA has. Monroe clearly nude in bed under a sheet in her opening scene is a real crowd pleaser.

Entertaining, watchable Technicolour noir showcasing the emergent Marilyn Monroe alongside dependable Joseph Cotton against the spectacular backdrop of Niagara Falls, an obvious metaphor for the teeming passions at play here.

As I've said before on these pages, I do prefer my noir black, as it were, but the lurid Technicolour employed by director Hathaway was probably justified to highlight the natural wonder that is Niagara Falls as well as Ms Monroe's scarlet-coloured lipstick. The noir trademarks are pretty much all in there somewhere, not only most obviously in the plotting, very sub - "The Postman Always Rings Twice" and "Double Indemnity" to name the two most obvious predecessors of a sensual, alluring bored wife using her younger lover to bump off her older, besotted husband, but we also get plenty of mirror-reflection shots and shots against the background slats of window blinds and extravagant long-perspective shots of the "little people" here playing out their rather sordid little lives in the bigger world.

The film starts with Cotton's Loomis character, a Korean vet with a can't-believe-his-luck "trophy-wife" in the form of the long-since disenchanted but still highly-charged form of Monroe, moping his ill-fortune by the falls before returning to the awakening Monroe, heavily made-up even in bed. In fact these early images of Monroe, firstly obviously naked under the sheets and a little later putting on her stockings tell us all we need to know about her character - in their few reluctant embraces you can almost imagine her looking at her watch a la Jane Fonda in the much later Klute.

The plot then sees the introduction of a bright pair of delayed but still loved-up honeymooners here for the Niagara experience but whose paths, particularly Jean Peters as the young wife cross fatefully with the warring Loomises.

Director Hathaway keeps the plot moving and the exterior work highlighting the Falls is a rare treat, especially for the likes of myself who got to visit Niagara only a few years ago. He delivers two particularly effective scenes - Monroe's sexually-charged gramophone scene in the candiest-pink of dresses and later her demise in long-shot on the stairs of the carillon tower, whose eerie bell-ringing throughout adds a further disquieting dimension to proceedings. The big climax on the Falls was coming from a mile off and isn't altogether convincing in its depiction but there's no denying Cotton & Peters earned any "dirty money" bonus for getting good and soaked on-set.

Which takes us to the acting. Monroe certainly makes a big impact with her striking beauty with clothing to match, but she does often act as if she's just finished an "Actor's Studio" class and looks at times like Betty Boop made flesh teetering around on high heels, almost bursting out of her clothes. Her lips almost never cover her teeth throughout so that she seems to be forever pouting. Better is old man Cotton, who superbly projects his hopeless dependence on his young wife even as he is blind to her extra-marital infidelities. Of the young honeymooners, Max Showalters is altogether too college-boy gauche and lightweight as the boss' pet but Jean Peters is very good indeed as his young wife embroiled against her will in the machinations of both the murderous plots of the warring Loomises.

On the whole a well-turned little thriller, perhaps lacking that tang of originality to elevate it to the upper echelons of truly memorable thrillers. That said Monroe's stunning appearance and the acting of Cotton and Peters certainly take it out of the ordinary and don't quickly leave the memory.

Fine film starring Marilyn Monroe and Niagara Falls! Wow, this still looks good and if it wasn't for the fact that Max Showalter's character so annoys me, I'd be giving this an even higher score. Shame too because Jean Peters, as his wife completely acts him off the screen, even if she does needlessly loose her skirt on the boat only to be wearing what looks like a pair of shorts underneath! Back to the plot. Actually there is not much of a story, all fairly simple but beautifully done in fantastic surroundings. Is there a film that has better used its location? Great attention to the technical details too, the buses, the lifts, the cubicles and all the paraphernalia around the falls. Were those walkways for real? There are noirish moments, particularly in the bell tower, which reminds me, I kept thinking 'Vertigo' and it can't have just been the bells. The colour, maybe and the music, although it's not Herrmann of course. Anyway, if you like 'Vertigo', you'll like this; if you like Monroe, you'll like this; if you like movies, you'll love this.

One of the best projects Marilyn was associated with. I didn't like Niagara the first time i saw it, because i thought Marilyn was only good for comedy. But this role as the sensual, unfaithful wife of Joseph Cotton's (superbly performed) troubled war veteran is one of her most memorable roles. Pleanty of indelible Marilyn images come from here: Marilyn lying seemingly naked with legs apart under bed in hotel room, purple dress standing against cabin in grammophone scene, and the entire grammophone scene. Pleanty of location shooting made good use of the beautiful location, and the motif of the song the lovers sing to each other is a beautiful touch. The suspense develops well, but i suppose it depends on what you're expecting. I found it a great sensual thriller, but this movie lives and dies with Monroe. She is captivating in every scene, and looks stunning. The belltower climax of the movie is very fine indeed, one of the best scenes she ever played in. Nods to director Hathaway for camera placement in this scene.

Best line:

(Monroe has just done a sensual walk to the grammophone and had them put it on, then had a virtual standing orgasm listening to it, and spent an entire minute of close-up singing along to it, and the happy-go-lucky honeymooner character says to her)

Honeymooner: You seem to really like this song, Mrs Loomis."

Marilyn: "There isn't any other song," she says. But its all in her face - it always was. One of the best moments in her career.

Marilyn Monroe always wanted to be a straight-dramatic actress. She succeeded in this 1953 film.

Unhappily married to Joseph Cotten, the two are at the famous falls where Monroe plots with her lover to kill Cotten.

Jean Peters and Richard Allan (who also went under the name of Max Showalter) are a married couple who befriend the two.

They try to comfort Monroe when they all think that Cotten is dead. Monroe soon realizes that the plot has gone awry and that her lover is instead dead. Cotten has gone totally insane by her actions and plots her demise. The chilling scene where Monroe meets her end is done extremely well as the chimes ring. The latter was supposed to signify the death of Cotten by her lover.

Cotten fleeing with Jean Peters, in the boat by the Falls, is done in an exciting, ambitious way. The end is marvelously staged. ***

There are good reasons why suspicions make you wary, why your blood begins to boil and you're not cheery, as every glance catches the eye, as all the fellas like to spy, because your lady's quite the opposite, of dreary. In addition she's evasive and quite cunning, reticent and secretive and not forthcoming, your lack of trust is justified, as all she does it tell you lies, while she schemes to cause and end that's unbecoming.

Who wouldn't be perpetually jealous and suspicious with a screen goddess for a partner, so George Loomis should take some consolation that most mortal men would have given an arm and a leg to have been married to Rose, although they'd have spent most of the time pinching themselves and asking how!

As two couples are visiting Niagara Falls, tensions between one wife and her husband reach the level of murder.

Director: Henry Hathaway Writers: Charles Brackett, Walter Reisch Stars: Marilyn Monroe, Joseph Cotten, Jean Peters

In the '50s, drama meant melodrama, and there's plenty of good melodrama in "Niagara," a masterful bit of film noir suspense. It's directed by Henry Hathaway, better known for his Westerns. But Hathaway was no stranger to film noir.

"Niagara" was released in 1953, the same year that star Marilyn Monroe appeared nude in Playboy as the magazine's very first Playmate of the Month. Twentieth Century Fox made sure that her sensuality was played up in this drama, but Monroe also does a credible job as a femme fatale. Even as she's fooling Canadian police into thinking she's as shocked as anybody that an accident may have have befallen her husband (Joseph Cotten), she's convincing viewers that she can play a dangerous blonde as well as she can a dumb one. She looks absolutely marvelous. Her acting is superb!

Then you add Joseph Cotten and Jean Peters. They both do some really essential work here. And surprisingly, Jean Peters holds her own in scenes with Monroe, with the good girl/bad girl balance adding additional interest. Jean Peters was no slouch in the looks Department.

The Falls themselves are an ever-present backdrop, and as memorable (and integral to the plotting) as Mount Rushmore was in "North by Northwest." It's not as taut as that Hitchcock entry, but "Niagara" is a respectable and engaging film noir ,thriller that offers several stylish suspenseful sequences.

"Niagara" is quite a departure for Monroe, who proved she was up to the task of playing a femme fatale. As '50s film-noir, thrillers go, it's well above average. 8/10