adriangr Although it contains one of cinema's most enduring and iconic scenes, The Seven Year Itch is not actually very good. Tom Ewell plays a married man who has the family apartment to himself for the summer, and Marilyn Monroe plays a ditzy blonde who lives upstairs. The plot charts the "will they, won't they?" situation, but hardly anything actually happens.For Monroe fans, it's a poor deal as there is an awful lot of screen time devoted to Tom Ewell delivering extended monologues, which probably worked as a stage play (which this originally was), but gets pretty boring in a movie. This is not really Ewell's fault, he knows how to perform dialogue, but the script is not engaging, as it consists mostly of the character's neurotic musings and guilt about his attractiveness/fidelity/health/the heat/work/smoking, etc. As soon as Monroe is on screen though, she lights it up, but the extent of her dimness is very forced, particularly as Ewell's character is so obviously trying to seduce her, yet she remains unbelievably and steadfastly oblivious to it for nearly all of the running time, while he burbles away via the ever present monologues. Even the skirt blowing scene is disappointing - a real let down when the on screen footage of the situation is compared to the wealth of still photographs that exist of the famous event, because in the movie it's barely even shown.Directed by Billy Wilder, it's nowhere near as smart and sassy as "Some Like It Hot". I think the stage origins drag it down. Town Ewelll is actually the central character, but he fights a losing battle against both the luminous Monroe, and the drivel of his character's dialogue. And for Marilyn Monroe fans, she does provide a textbook dizzy breathy blonde bombshell, but a sharper and wittier script would have made so much more of her.

classicsoncall This movie probably holds the record for at least two categories I can think of. First, it's got the greatest amount of on screen dialog by a character talking to himself. And secondly, the story references more movie titles than any other picture I can think of. I came up with the following - "Riot in Cell Block 11" (1954); "From Here to Eternity" (1953); "The Picture of Dorian Gray" (1945); and ""Creature From the Black Lagoon" (1954). All but Dorian Gray were relative contemporaries of this one, made within a couple years of "The Seven Year Itch".So I guess the time and place for a picture like this was the 1950's. Along with "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" (1953) and "Some Like it Hot" (1959), both of which also star Marilyn Monroe, the story telling consisted of libido saturated men salivating over ditzy women and the complications that arise during the chase. Time and tastes would eventually put these kind of pictures out of favor and I guess that's why they have a dated feel to them today. One could make the case that they're chauvinistic to a fault and you wouldn't get much push back from me on that score.But just like the racial references one finds in pictures of the Thirties and Forties when blacks were called 'boy' and Chinese were 'Chinks', it's interesting to see the evolution of society and the movies that reflect those attitudes in each ensuing decade on the big screen. "The Seven Year Itch" is like a movie version of a TV sit-com one might have caught during the era, but with a subject matter a bit too intimidating for family fare.I've never been a big fan of Marilyn Monroe and her film comedies generally leave me feeling ambivalent regarding her talent. The one picture in which she does leave a significant impression is 1961's "The Misfits" where she uses her eyes expressively to reveal the pain of her character. Had her life not been cut short we might have seen more influential work from this actress who's legacy primarily rests on scenes like the one in this picture, skirt billowing in an updraft to reveal the hint of sexuality for which the blonde actress was primarily known.Tom Ewell, with his hilarious facials and discombobulated lack of self confidence is the perfect foil for 'The Girl" in this story. Unable to pull the trigger on his infatuation for the girl upstairs, Richard Sherman (Ewell) represents the Everyman who considers himself a Casanova, but underneath it all, is firmly anchored to the idea of one man, one woman, at least as the institution of marriage existed in the Fifties. An insight into his cluelessness was confirmed when he needed the entire Manhattan phone book to look up the number of his upstairs neighbor.

Dalbert Pringle I have always liked Marilyn Monroe, but, with that said, I honestly think that Hollywood totally wasted her by squeezing her into a stereotypical straitjacket where they tried to repeatedly capitalize on that clichéd persona by starring her in such mediocre movie-nonsense as this here "Comedy" that was so funny I forgot to laugh.As usual, Monroe looked very hot in this flick (in fact, she was simply sensational to behold), but, since she was clearly being presented here as a sex-object and being defined within the rigid restrictions of a fantasy, dream woman for every man, any opportunity for Monroe to really shine was flatly denied her.And, so, Monroe (whose character wasn't even allowed a name, but was given some of the dumbest and most contrived dialog to speak) simply remained just some flighty, little figment of one man's lecherous imagination throughout the entire course of this so-so picture.What definitely brought this faltering film's appeal-level down several major notches was the gross miscasting of Tom Ewell as the Richard Sherman character, a family man who just so happened to be the publisher of lewd and lurid dime-novels.Put plain and simple, Ewell, to me, was sickening. Not only was his character an annoying idiot with an inflated ego about the size of NYC, but, his overall appearance was utterly creepy, and his attitude so downright lecherous, that he made my skin crawl, big time.I mean, this guy struck me as one of those totally ugly, self-loving, middle-aged farts who have really foul body odor and the most ghastly, bad breath imaginable. (He also struck me as a potential rapist and, yes, perhaps, even a possible child-molester, as well) And, believe me, when Ewell actually kissed Monroe smack-dab on the lips, I could easily imagine director Billy Wilder having to immediately cut the scene at that point so that Marilyn could go and throw up in the nearest sink/toilet/whatever and then furiously brush her teeth with "Dazzledent" toothpaste in order to get rid of Ewell's hideous reek.Hey! Please don't get me wrong here - I didn't hate The Seven Year Itch, but, with that said, I'm sorry, f-f-f-folks, but, this film just didn't work its intended magic on me.Yes, of course, I do realize that this over-rated sex-farce was clearly a product of its time (the 1950s) - And, I'm more than sure that it totally titillated its adult audience, immensely, back then - But, now, 60 years later, this decidedly weak-scripted tale of a male-menopause fantasy-overload only flew at half-mast.Oh, well - So much for the hitch of The Seven Year Itch! Yep. It's a real b-i-t-c-h!

Applause Meter Only Marilyn Monroe as The Girl brings life and effervescence to this movie; Tom Ewell, playing a summer vacation "bachelor" is dead weight. I agree with another reviewer that the part of Richard Sherman would have been a great vehicle for someone with the talent of Jack Lemmon. Lemmon would have provided the perfect foil for Monroe's brand of little girl naiveté, and disingenuous sexuality; the type of casting that made his pairing with Judy Holliday so successful. Ewell has absolutely no screen charisma. His characterization lacks the required wit, and whimsical nuance. He infuses no verve into his meanders as fantasizer engaging in monologues, which spout the trials and tribulation defining the battle of the sexes, as culturally accepted in 1950s America. When his character's frustrations morph into physical animation, he's a charmless bumbler and you find your eyes wandering to the set decor—the furniture, a lamp, even a flowerpot. The movie is all Marilyn. The viewer gets her screen persona in full bloom and with a fun, over-the-top bang. The movie is worth watching for her performance alone. Monroe at her iconic peak is the main attraction.