The Seven Year ItchThere's a popular twist on a classic maxim: "Lead me not into temptation; I'll find it myself". When Richard Sherman (Tom Ewell), a nervous, mild-mannered, and exceedingly imaginative middle-aged publisher of tawdry, penny dreadfuls finds himself alone in his family apartment in the sweltering heat of July, with his wife and son away for the summer, only to discover that the temporary tenant in the flat above his is a young, beautiful, twenty-something model and actress (Marilyn Monroe), it doesn't take long before Richard finds that it is more than the heat which has him hot under the collar.
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The Seven Year Itch is, when it comes right down to it, a sex comedy, albeit one where the comedy succeeds because of the lack of sex, not the inclusion of it. The film is a constant state of sexual tension for Richard, whose overall moral integrity is what really holds him back from pursuing an illicit affair with his new housemate, the lovely girl who goes unnamed. Richard periodically repeats, "oh no, not me", when describing the surge of licentious activity which swells among the men just like him, the ones who remain behind in the hot city, following them shipping off their families to other climates. The Seven Year Itch opens with a cute narration about how the natives of Manhattan hundreds of years prior did the same thing, only to show the remaining men ogling a lovely woman walking past; since then, apparently nothing's changed. As Richard is within the seventh year of his marriage to his wife, Helen (Evelyn Keyes), he becomes aware--following his reading of a psychology manuscript solicited to him for publication by Dr. Brubaker (Oskar Homolka)--that it is under circumstances just like his that men's resolves weaken, and they find themselves given to debauchery and infidelity. This thought gives Richard a persistent panic attack, and causes him to act out in absurd ways, his fantasies even overtaking him as he endures his stretch as a "summer bachelor". All of this might sound very serious, but The Seven Year Itch couldn't be farther from it. The film is filled with coy titillation, sly provocation, all while remaining charming and sweet. The dialogue is frequently witty, light on its feet, and even self-aware. Take the perfectly clever nod to the captivating Marilyn Monroe playing, well, herself, when Richard's imagined rival, MacKensie (Sonny Tufts), comes to finally retrieve Richard's son's paddle to take back to the country. Although the film begins with narration, Richard largely takes over the exposition via a constant string of soliloquies, reflecting his neurotic insecurity, as he attempts to convince himself that he is more than just a milquetoast husband in a book company, that he is the Romeo he imagines himself to be, having to throw off the affections of beautiful women so that he may maintain his fidelity to his wife. Richard envisions scenes right out of Hollywood blockbusters as he carries on an imaginary discussion with his wife, just before a pendulous tomato plant plummets down and nearly busts his block. Of course, this moment presents an opportunity for Richard to reunite with the gorgeous blonde he met only hours before, and invite her into his abode for an innocent, harmless, totally benign drink, but one which is preceded by a bevy of fantasies about their encounter to come, some elements of which aren't that far removed from his vision.
Richard unquestionably has an overactive imagination, but this characteristic becomes doubly deadly when he self-diagnoses himself after reading Dr. Brubaker's manuscript. In a way, The Seven Year Itch represents Richard psychoanalyzing himself, through his monologues, but also by confronting the anxieties plaguing him. Perhaps they seem innocent enough at first, as he previews the scandalous book covers of the paperbacks, adorned with scantily clad, buxom women, only to find himself making the same perceptions of his secretary, Miss Morris (Marguerite Chapman). But when Dr. Brubaker comes to visit his office in person, and Richard presses him into hearing out his worries--complete with a convenient stand-in for the psychiatrist's couch--it's clear that something is really eating Richard, and the appearance of the girl above his apartment is the inevitable climax for his pent up frustration; you can practically hear the proverbial tea kettle whistling. When Richard invites the girl down for the drink, after all his panic-ridden nervousness, they engage in small talk, in which--like all good small talk--it suggests far more than what is actually said. Richard reveals himself to be not the Lothario of his visions, but an altogether shy man, whose awestruck by the opportunity to enjoy an evening with a vibrant young woman, even if their tastes are pretty different on the whole. Richard's the kind of guy who tries to set the tone of the evening with Rachmaninoff's Second Piano Concerto; she recognizes the music as classical because no one's singing in it. On the other hand, she understands far more about what a woman really wants in a man than Richard, whose concept of the alpha male has been warped by the perceptions of his publishing firm's marketing strategies. Tom Ewell is excellent as the working man stiff--the protagonist with the eponymous itch--and he gets more screen time and lines than anyone else. However, it is Marilyn Monroe who is the star of The Seven Year Itch all the same. Every moment she is on screen is electric; she is a magnetic force, who oozes seduction with seeming effortlessness. Her raw charisma and naive charm are both innocent and immoral all at once, perfectly encapsulated in her famous pose in the white dress over a subway vent, the cool air from below blowing her skirt upward. It is because of Marilyn Monroe that Richard's crisis is so convincing in The Seven Year Itch, his satellite orbiting closer and closer to "Venus" herself, her proximity making his temperature skyrocket, and the gravity of his attraction threatening to send him and his fortitude crashing down.
Recommended for: Fans of a sharp and funny comedy, quick and clever. The Seven Year Itch is filled with copious double entendre, and yet is a film which is sweet, even charming, regardless of the premise of infidelity.
Richard unquestionably has an overactive imagination, but this characteristic becomes doubly deadly when he self-diagnoses himself after reading Dr. Brubaker's manuscript. In a way, The Seven Year Itch represents Richard psychoanalyzing himself, through his monologues, but also by confronting the anxieties plaguing him. Perhaps they seem innocent enough at first, as he previews the scandalous book covers of the paperbacks, adorned with scantily clad, buxom women, only to find himself making the same perceptions of his secretary, Miss Morris (Marguerite Chapman). But when Dr. Brubaker comes to visit his office in person, and Richard presses him into hearing out his worries--complete with a convenient stand-in for the psychiatrist's couch--it's clear that something is really eating Richard, and the appearance of the girl above his apartment is the inevitable climax for his pent up frustration; you can practically hear the proverbial tea kettle whistling. When Richard invites the girl down for the drink, after all his panic-ridden nervousness, they engage in small talk, in which--like all good small talk--it suggests far more than what is actually said. Richard reveals himself to be not the Lothario of his visions, but an altogether shy man, whose awestruck by the opportunity to enjoy an evening with a vibrant young woman, even if their tastes are pretty different on the whole. Richard's the kind of guy who tries to set the tone of the evening with Rachmaninoff's Second Piano Concerto; she recognizes the music as classical because no one's singing in it. On the other hand, she understands far more about what a woman really wants in a man than Richard, whose concept of the alpha male has been warped by the perceptions of his publishing firm's marketing strategies. Tom Ewell is excellent as the working man stiff--the protagonist with the eponymous itch--and he gets more screen time and lines than anyone else. However, it is Marilyn Monroe who is the star of The Seven Year Itch all the same. Every moment she is on screen is electric; she is a magnetic force, who oozes seduction with seeming effortlessness. Her raw charisma and naive charm are both innocent and immoral all at once, perfectly encapsulated in her famous pose in the white dress over a subway vent, the cool air from below blowing her skirt upward. It is because of Marilyn Monroe that Richard's crisis is so convincing in The Seven Year Itch, his satellite orbiting closer and closer to "Venus" herself, her proximity making his temperature skyrocket, and the gravity of his attraction threatening to send him and his fortitude crashing down.
Recommended for: Fans of a sharp and funny comedy, quick and clever. The Seven Year Itch is filled with copious double entendre, and yet is a film which is sweet, even charming, regardless of the premise of infidelity.