When his family goes away for summer vacation, a hitherto faithful husband with an overactive imagination is tempted by a sexy new neighbor.When his family goes away for summer vacation, a hitherto faithful husband with an overactive imagination is tempted by a sexy new neighbor.When his family goes away for summer vacation, a hitherto faithful husband with an overactive imagination is tempted by a sexy new neighbor.
- Nominated for 1 BAFTA Award
- 2 wins & 3 nominations total
Tom Ewell
- Richard Sherman
- (as Tommy Ewell)
Dolores Rosedale
- Elaine
- (as Roxanne)
Brandon Beach
- Commuter at Station
- (uncredited)
Steven Benson
- Kid at Train Station
- (uncredited)
George Bruggeman
- Commuter at Station
- (uncredited)
George Chester
- Porter
- (uncredited)
Noble 'Kid' Chissell
- Train Station Gateman
- (uncredited)
Richard Elmore
- Commuter at Station
- (uncredited)
Duke Fishman
- Commuter at Station
- (uncredited)
Featured reviews
The film succeeds mainly because of Marilyn Monroe's obvious charisma and appeal - she really shines in this as the dizzy, curvy blonde upstairs. Tom Ewell has been married seven years and has seen his wife and son away for the summer - he determines not to smoke, not to drink, and not to chase women. The moment Monroe wiggles up those stairs all that goes out of the window and he starts fantasising about the new arrival.
There are a lot of funny situations and you're never quite sure what it in Ewell's head and what is real (well, I wasn't anyway). I love the scene where they are playing Chopsticks and of course, that old chestnut the 2nd Rach concerto rears its head! Victor Moore plays a doddery plumber and Oscar Homolka a shrink who advises Ewell not to consider anything as drastic as murder until he can get simple problems sorted out, while Evelyn Keyes makes the most of her few appearances as Ewell's wife (or is she his conscience?!).
The film is fun, the famous skirt and grid scene is now legendary (but quite unlike the often-seen poster shot), and there is much in this bouncy production after nearly fifty years to entertain pretty much anyone.
There are a lot of funny situations and you're never quite sure what it in Ewell's head and what is real (well, I wasn't anyway). I love the scene where they are playing Chopsticks and of course, that old chestnut the 2nd Rach concerto rears its head! Victor Moore plays a doddery plumber and Oscar Homolka a shrink who advises Ewell not to consider anything as drastic as murder until he can get simple problems sorted out, while Evelyn Keyes makes the most of her few appearances as Ewell's wife (or is she his conscience?!).
The film is fun, the famous skirt and grid scene is now legendary (but quite unlike the often-seen poster shot), and there is much in this bouncy production after nearly fifty years to entertain pretty much anyone.
Marilyn Monroe was a force of nature so great that Betty Grable her predecessor as Queen of the 20th Century Fox Lot claimed that MM saved the movie industry in the 50's when fans were switching to TV. I am not sure all about that but I do know that MM was incomparable as a comedienne. This is Ms. Monroe's first of two films with Billy Wilder and the great Director in an interview with Cameron Crowe noted that Wilder wanted Walter Matthau then a new Broadway star to co star with Double M but 20th insisted on Tom Ewell. One can only imagine Marilyn Monroe and Walter Matthau together! This is a great movie made greater by two greats Marilyn Mornoe and Billy Wilder.
Davud Barra
Davud Barra
Poor Richard Sherman's got himself in such a state, he's been mesmerised and is starting to fixate, a screen goddess lives upstairs, summertime is for affairs, now he's drinking, smoking, getting quite irate; as his wife has left the city for the country, and middle age makes him behave, quite dumbly, it's the itch of seven years, that's interfering with his gears, but just a scratch will turn his world, fragile and crumbly.
Fair play to him though, as I suspect most men in his position wouldn't behave the same way when presented with a new neighbour who's innocent exhibition and confiding character (along with a number of other engaging attributes) are so overwhelmingly enticing, especially to the archetypal 1950s middle aged man.
Fair play to him though, as I suspect most men in his position wouldn't behave the same way when presented with a new neighbour who's innocent exhibition and confiding character (along with a number of other engaging attributes) are so overwhelmingly enticing, especially to the archetypal 1950s middle aged man.
Something that irritates me about the IMBD is that if you criticise a movie that was made before 1980, a truckload of idiots send you messages telling you how much you hate old movies. Let me say right away, I don't. I like films from pretty much every era of cinema that I've had the chance to see, but, having had common sense recently installed, I've come to realise that age doesn't automatically make a movie great, just as modernity doesn't automatically make a movie bad.
So bearing in mind that I'm talking about this one movie, and not every movie made in the 1950s, The Seven Year Itch is as average as they come. The minimal plot sees Tom Ewell's `summer bachelor' trying to resist the charms of neighbour Marilyn Monroe while his wife and son are shipped off for the season. Very obviously adapted from a play, there are few characters, few sets, and even fewer laughs. That it succeeds at all is due to the charm of the leads and the occasional good joke that sneaks its way into the script.
The film's main problem comes in how it tells its story. First, it depends on Ewell constantly talking to himself, babbling on endlessly about what he's doing, what he might do, what he's never done, and what other people will think he's doing, done and about to do. Secondly, he is constantly daydreaming, the film constantly dissolving into one of his fantasies that are unfortunately no funnier than reality. If you find this storytelling approach irritating, as I did, the film's potential is lost immediately.
You'll no doubt be shocked to learn that in this film Marilyn Monroe is cast as a dumb blonde. Most people in the world seem to immediately pitch a trouser tent at the thought of Norma Jean, but I can't say I count myself among them. The problem with a dumb blonde is that she's dumb, so to find her attractive, you have to be attracted to stupidity. I'm not, so it doesn't matter how much she pouts, or how often we're treated to shots of her hourglass figure; she's as thick as a lobotomised footballer and therefore unattractive. She's basically got the personality and intelligence of a six year old, and, not being Gary Glitter, I can't say that appeals to me.
A comedy with few laughs, a sex symbol who doesn't float my boat, and a classic that just doesn't do it for me. I guess there's another bunch of snide messages coming my way.
So bearing in mind that I'm talking about this one movie, and not every movie made in the 1950s, The Seven Year Itch is as average as they come. The minimal plot sees Tom Ewell's `summer bachelor' trying to resist the charms of neighbour Marilyn Monroe while his wife and son are shipped off for the season. Very obviously adapted from a play, there are few characters, few sets, and even fewer laughs. That it succeeds at all is due to the charm of the leads and the occasional good joke that sneaks its way into the script.
The film's main problem comes in how it tells its story. First, it depends on Ewell constantly talking to himself, babbling on endlessly about what he's doing, what he might do, what he's never done, and what other people will think he's doing, done and about to do. Secondly, he is constantly daydreaming, the film constantly dissolving into one of his fantasies that are unfortunately no funnier than reality. If you find this storytelling approach irritating, as I did, the film's potential is lost immediately.
You'll no doubt be shocked to learn that in this film Marilyn Monroe is cast as a dumb blonde. Most people in the world seem to immediately pitch a trouser tent at the thought of Norma Jean, but I can't say I count myself among them. The problem with a dumb blonde is that she's dumb, so to find her attractive, you have to be attracted to stupidity. I'm not, so it doesn't matter how much she pouts, or how often we're treated to shots of her hourglass figure; she's as thick as a lobotomised footballer and therefore unattractive. She's basically got the personality and intelligence of a six year old, and, not being Gary Glitter, I can't say that appeals to me.
A comedy with few laughs, a sex symbol who doesn't float my boat, and a classic that just doesn't do it for me. I guess there's another bunch of snide messages coming my way.
In the 'fifties Hollywood created its biggest, best-loved and most powerful sex symbol of allMarilyn 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
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
Did you know
- TriviaBilly Wilder preferred shooting in black and white, but Marilyn Monroe's contract with Fox called for all of her movies to be shot in color. Monroe always thought that she looked far more attractive and glamorous in color than in black and white.
- GoofsBoth Richard and his boss, who are in the book publishing industry, refer to "The Portrait of Dorian Gray". The actual title of the Oscar Wilde novel is "The Picture of Dorian Gray".
- Crazy creditsWhen the title appears, one arm of the T in ITCH reaches down and scratches the stem of the letter.
- Alternate versionsVersion released in then West Germany contains some profanity.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Marilyn (1963)
- SoundtracksPiano Concerto #2
Composed by Sergei Rachmaninoff (as S. Rachmaninoff)
Played on a record and often in the score
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- La comezón del séptimo año
- Filming locations
- 164 East 61st Street, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA(exterior of Richard's apartment)
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $1,800,000 (estimated)
- Gross worldwide
- $22,277
- Runtime
- 1h 45m(105 min)
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 2.55 : 1
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