The Seven Year Itch - Marilyn and the Men

The Seven Year Itch is a romantic comedy 1955 American film directed by Billy Wilder and starring Marilyn Monroe and Tom Ewell.

 

You must have guessed by now, that I have been transitioning from Books to Films lately. Not that I have abandoned Books but for now I have this great itch to see the unknown World movies and the evergreen classics and ‘’’ scratch ‘’’ scratch ‘’’  - The Seven Year Itch is one that scrapes on the top of my mind.

 

It's a classic in its own right – the comedy, the plot, the actors, the dialogues and of course the very own Marilyn Monroe. Her gorgeous curves, the hourglass figure, the blond curls, the twinkling eye, the cute nose, the beautiful dresses, the pink pout, the goldfish lips and the sweet chirpy voice. She looked every bit blond, delicate and vulnerable. Of course this film is known for its most classic moment - the pose of Marilyn in a flowing pleated white halter dress over the subway air. Any body and anyone who copies Marilyn – this is the look, the hair and the dress they try to imitate. Marilyn is a true classic, icon and legend.

 

She is every man’s desire and every woman’s aspire.

 

But over and above Marilyn - this film has many other humorous moments, characters and dialogues. The film talks about a middle aged married man and his seven year itch. As Manhattan becomes hot the wives leave for cooler places with kids and the men start their hunting, hooking and fishing. The actor who plays the lead – Tom Ewell was a great discovery for me. He acted perfect as a dreaming and scheming middle aged married man. He is a publisher who rehashes old classics in new style marketing gimmicks ala republishing ‘Little Women’ as ‘The Secrets of a Girls dormitory’. He is torn between right and wrong – to cheat or not to cheat – to smoke or not to smoke – as he says “Not Me, Not Me Annhhh.”

 

His thumb twitches, his shoulder itches, his neck stitches as he fights his desires against control. His imagination is vivid with cinema scope print and stereophonic sound. The dreams and dialogues are funny and plenty that you can’t stop laughing - ‘The picture of Dorian Grey’, the creature form the Black Lagoon, Gregory Peck’s look “I am so handsome you can’t resist me”, the hay ride on horse with blinkers, playing ‘Chopsticks’ on the piano, the blond in the kitchen, the textured sand-skin-sea image in US Camera, underwear cooled in an icebox and the dazzle dent toothpaste advertisement… … and on and on.

 

Finally let me leave you with the lovely closing words of Marilyn -

“If she calls this lipstick mark, cranberry sauce, then she has cherry pits in her head” – how indeed delicate.

 

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