Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #19192 in DVD
• Released on: 2006-05-22
• Rating: Parental Guidance
• Format: PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 100 minutes

Synopsis
It's possible that the legendary scene in which Marilyn Monroe's dress is blown skyward while she stands on a subway grating now dwarfs Billy Wilder's adaptation of George Axelrod's hit stage comedy in the same way that the 50-foot billboard of the scene bestrode Times Square in 1955. It stars Tom Ewell as Richard Sherman, a middle-aged book publisher who remains in Manhattan while his wife and son go off the country on vacation. Once alone, he's consumed with sexual fantasies about various women from his past as well as the eye-popping model/actress (Marilyn Monroe), who's just moved into the apartment above. Hoping for some action, he invites his neighbour to dinner, but the combination of his amusingly nervous bumbling and her belief in the innocence of his intentions guarantees that nothing happens. Despite his guiltlessness, he begins to imagine that his fantasies are being broadcast nationwide, with his wife part of an eager audience. In his parody of film romance, Wilder hilariously skewers several, including 'Here To Eternity' and his particular bete noire 'Brief Encounter', even having the hapless businessman fantasise about the latter's theme as an aphrodisiac. Although censors excised the play's raison d'etre of adultery, Ewell brilliantly manages the tricky feat of making a man seem risibly guilty despite having done nothing, and Monroe as the iconic 'girl' deftly parodies her screen image.

Customer Reviews

Billy knew best
The divine Marilyn is the real reason to see this fairly clumsy comedy, since her male lead Tom Ewell is a decent likeable jobbing actor but no movie star, in spite of having apparently starred in the theatre version of the play. He can't, as they say, carry the picture, and it's tragic to read that Billy Wilder tested, and wanted, the young Walter Matthau for the part, but was over-ruled by the studio, since Matthau wasn't a name at the time. Matthau and Monroe, now there would have been a five star combination. When Monroe is on screen the whole thing takes off, but in between, the long scenes with Ewell alone indulging his jokey sexual fantasies are clunky and one-note and haven't worn well with time. That there is no sexual chemistry whatever between the stars presumably worked well at the time for the Hays code- the theatrical version has the couple actually getting it together, but the film keeps the sex within the male character's fevered imagination. A missed opportunity, and as usual the director's casting could have made this a comic masterpiece, but the studio's intervention turned it into a now dated but watchable curiosity. Watchable, because inevitably the screen lights up every time Marilyn appears.

Marilyn Shines As Brightly As Ever
Marilyn Monroe and Tom Ewell star in this classic comedy about a man whose family have gone away for the summer falling for the girl who lives in the apartment above his own. The film makes much of Marilyn's sex symbol status but also allows her to deliver a wonderful comic performance as a girl completely unaware of her new friend's seedy intentions - "Hi. It's me, don't you remember? The tomato from upstairs!". The film created the now iconic scene of Marilyn's dress being blown up by the wind from the subway below and she says with relish: "Isn't is delicious?" George Axelrod provides the witty and - for the time it was originally released - risqué script and Billy Wilder directs with his usual flair. An excellent comedy and a must-have for any Marilyn Monroe or Billy Wilder fan!