RyothChatty ridiculous rating

CrawlerChunky In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

Gurlyndrobb While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

Ogosmith Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

weezeralfalfa Something I would have expected Woody Allen to come up with! The primary reason for me to see this is to see and hear the stunningly elegant, adorable, Marilyn Monroe in a movie where she is not scripted as a gold digger. She has a NYC summer job advertising dazzledent toothpaste, thus has moved into the apartment above the Shermans. Mr. Richard Sherman has sent his wife and boy to a cooler Maine for the summer. Having time on his hands, he decides to try to get acquainted with this gorgeous creature, who also has lots of spare time. She begins by knocking a flower pot off her patio that nearly beans Richard. Before this, she called a plumber to extract her big toe from the bathtub faucet, she having stuck it in to try to stop it leaking!?This film had to be toned down from the stage version to get past the Hays Commission. Thus, some of the humor was lost, but probably some more was added. Tom Ewell, who played Richard Sherman in the Broadway stage version, was tapped to star in this film version. Marilyn , for some reason, is never given a name other than the anonymous "The girl". This has led some to wonder if she is supposed to be purely a daydream, as clearly she is in one segment. Although Richard has never been a philanderer, he now has daydreams that his secretary is madly in love with him, and that he is making love to his wife's best friend in the surf, in mimicry of the famous scene in "From Here to Eternity". Sherman tells a psychiatrist that he suspects he's suffering from 'The seven year itch': a recognized stage in many marriages. He feels guilty and imagines that his wife finds out and shoots him. Finally, he decides he has to leave this situation. So he packs up and joins his family in Mains, telling 'the girl' that she can stay in his air-conditioned apartment until he returns.In past centuries, the idiom "Seven year itch" referred to persistent itches caused by parasites, rashes, dry skin, etc.. This film did much to promote its modern usage, as a means of expressing the all too common phenomenon of a reduction in marital satisfaction over the years. This is supported by data that says the average divorce happens after 7 years of marriage. The German politician Gabriele Pauli famously suggested that marriage licenses should be good for only 7 years, after which they could be renewed, if both parties agree.

l_rawjalaurence Even after sixty years, THE SEVEN YEAR ITCH retains its freshness and bounce - a delightful testament both to the script (by Billy Wilder and playwright George Axelrod) and the quality of the performances.The story is a simple one: left on his own during a hot New York summer, Richard Sherman (Tom Ewell) tries his best to avoid the temptations of drink, tobacco and an extra-marital affair. However his best intentions are frustrated by the presence of The Girl (Marilyn Monroe), who has moved into the apartment above him. Nothing actually happens, but the promise persists ...Ewell gives a stellar performance, the best in his forty-five year acting career. In his rumpled gray suit, with tie askew, he embarks on a series of monologues where his better nature competes with his carnal desires. Most of them are shot in single takes in the Shermans' apartment: Ewell's India-rubber face changes rapidly as he debates the morality of inviting The Girl down for a drink. He walks from side to side of the frame, his shoulders hunched, almost as if he is bearing the cares of the world on his back. The fantasy-sequences are extremely funny, with Ewell imagining himself as the protagonist in a comic reworking of FROM HERE TO ETERNITY, rolling about on the beach with a woman not his wife. Later on he casts himself as a Noel Coward-like figure speaking in a cod-British accent, as he plays Rachmaninov on the piano while trying to seduce The Girl (a reference to BRIEF ENCOUNTER). When the latter scene is re-enacted for real, The Girl is completely uninterested in Rachmaninov. Sherman tries to embrace her, and the two of them end up falling off the piano bench in an ungainly heap. Although Sherman imagines himself as the Great Lover, he will never be able to fulfill his role.Monroe is equally memorable in her role as the not-so-dumb blonde from Denver. It's clear she is attracted to Sherman - not because of his physical attributes, but because at heart he is an extremely sweet man. On the other hand she respects his love for his wife Helen (Evelyn Keyes), and thus refrains from making a pass at him. THE SEVEN YEAR ITCH contains the memorable sequence where she stands over a grille and lets the wind from a subway train beneath blow up her white dress. Wilder shoots this sequence very discreetly, leaving everything to the viewer's imagination. Monroe is far more seductive in an interior sequence, where she hides behind a chair and stretches out one leg, and then another. The janitor Mr. Kruhulik (Robert Strauss) witnesses what happens, and promises to leave Sherman alone.Wilder's and Axelrod's script fairly crackles with one-liners, as well as a series of in-jokes referring to Charles Lederer (Wilder's fellow-scriptwriter), as well as a reference to Monroe herself.THE SEVEN YEAR ITCH is one of those comedies that never loses its sparkle, even after repeated viewings.

SmileysWorld Richard Sherman is looking forward to time away from his family as they are on vacation.He embraces a temporary life of freedom from the stresses of everyday family life.It just so happens that a pretty young blonde is moving in upstairs while his family is away,and his imagination,already overly active,begins to really run wild.He's obviously attracted to her,but his ties to his family and his love for them limit his potential actions to that wild imagination.The results play out in a series of moments ranging from mildly amusing to downright hysterical.I thoroughly enjoyed this film and will no doubt do so again in the future.

LeonLouisRicci Smack dab in the middle of the Decade of presumed innocence there were cracks in the facade and this is an example. Occasionally there were Artistic displays that penetrated, or at least tried to penetrate, the layer of "Virginity" that coated this most hypocritical of times.Billy Wilder was one of those Visionaries that always seemed to be on the edge of things and here he attempted to say more than the Censors would allow and as a result this was as revealing as a revelatory recital on Sexuality and Mores could be in 1955.Couched in Neurosis and suppressed urges (itches) this broad Sex/Comedy is a dated, ditsy, delight, and is iconic and irresistible for those seeking its less than lewd portrayal of Male Fantasies from the age of agonizing conformity. Marilyn's doe-eyed display of a naive natural beauty and some amusing situations give this a Charming experience that is devoid of the cringe inducing Comedy that passes by today.