Marilyn Monroe’s entire existence boils down to one iconic image from the 1955 comedy, “The Seven Year Itch”: standing above a New York City subway grate, holding her dress down from the escaping air beneath the streets.
As far as Monroe movies go, though, “Itch” is not one of the better ones.
Richard Sherman (Tom Ewell) works at a publishing firm in New York City. One project his company is working on is a book about a seven-year itch – the idea that married men start having affairs after seven years of marriage.
That’s about how many years Richard and his wife Helen (Evelyn Keyes) have been together.
Summer is upon New York, and this is the time men send their wives and children out of town to “escape the heat,” which is basically a euphemism for getting them out of the way while they fool around with their mistresses.
Why Richard sends his wife and kid away is kind of a mystery considering he doesn’t have a mistress and, in fact, fears falling victim to the dreaded “seven year itch.” But he sends them away on summer holiday nonetheless.
Once his ball-and-chain and ball-and-chain, Jr. are out of the picture, Richard meets a beautiful but klutzy blonde (Monroe) when she accidentally knocks a plant off her apartment balcony and onto Richard’s patio below.
The rest of the movie is drenched in fantasy sequences where Richard is imagining himself seducing the blonde.
Director Billy Wilder produces wonderful imagery with “The Seven Year Itch,” and he should get all the praise in the world for creating the image that will be synonymous with Marilyn Monroe for the rest of time.
However, the plot – specifically the execution of it – is a little lazy. It’s more of a vehicle for misogyny jokes (of which there are plenty). “Itch” wears out the nagging, rolling-pin yielding wife trope pretty quickly, and you soon find yourself wishing Richard would just sleep with the blonde and get it over with.
Admittedly, I’m making comparisons to some of Wilder’s other excellent works, like the quirky “Sabrina,” the intense “Sunset Blvd.,” and the uproarious “Some Like It Hot,” the latter being his best collaboration with Monroe.
But because “Itch” features the most famous scene Miss Marilyn has ever done, then we as a movie-loving audience are often guilted into believing we should be loving it. We need to be honest and admit not everything Monroe did was pure gold (have you ever seen “Niagara?”).
“The Seven Year Itch” isn’t bad; it’s a film worth watching for Monroe context. But as far as being Monroe’s or Wilder’s crowning successes goes, it may just be blowing a lot of hot air up our collective skirts.
– by Matthew Jacobson
