The romantic comedy The Seven Year Itch is directed by Billy Wilder and stars Tom Ewell and Marilyn Monroe. The film takes place in New York City.
The film starts off with Richard Sherman's (Ewell) family going north to main for the summer because it is extremely hot in New York City. Sherman is always disgusted by the fact that the second other married men's wives leave for the summer they always start drinking, getting tattoos, and chasing other women. Richard works at a publishing company and promises himself he won't be like those other husbands and just focus on his work and not do anything that could later be frowned upon. But then the beautiful blonde girl (Monroe) moves in upstairs and Richard must resists his temptations...
The screenplay for this film by Billy Wilder and George Axelrod based off of George Axelrod's play was decent. The dialogue was very witty and the character of Richard Sherman was very well developed, but it just bothered me how much Sherman talked to himself. It is just so unnatural for a person to talk to themselves giving away so much information about what he is thinking. I felt all his dialogue could have been displayed just with actions and it would just be like a silent film.
Wilder's direction was fine, but not the reason he is known as the legendary director he is today. Since there was only really the set of his apartment and work place the film was not really that pleasing to look at, plus he never really used any complex shots that were memorable. He got good performances from the limited cast, but this is certainly not The Apartment.
The editing in this film was very strong. The film flowed smoothly throughout and never made me actually think about the editing, which is what an editor's goal should be. I did like how during the beginning of the film Sherman's wife and later the goal were layered over the film, I thought that was done very well, especially for the time period.
The acting in this film was overall very good. Tom Ewell I thought gave a great performance as Richard Sherman. He was witty and made me really feel like I knew his character. Even though I disliked all the monologue he had he performed it very well. One part where he was absolutely hilarious was when he was hallucinating himself talking to the girl, I just loved the voice he was using when talking to her. Monroe did fine in her role, all she basically had to do was act cute and look pretty so it was not that hard for her. I do feel though that this movie really displayed how iconic she is very well with all the subway shots and air-conditioning shot where her dress is blown up.
Overall I give this film a 6/10 because it is enjoyable, but not very memorable. I would recommend this film to anyone who is a fan of romantic comedies or Marilyn Monroe.
The film starts off with Richard Sherman's (Ewell) family going north to main for the summer because it is extremely hot in New York City. Sherman is always disgusted by the fact that the second other married men's wives leave for the summer they always start drinking, getting tattoos, and chasing other women. Richard works at a publishing company and promises himself he won't be like those other husbands and just focus on his work and not do anything that could later be frowned upon. But then the beautiful blonde girl (Monroe) moves in upstairs and Richard must resists his temptations...
The screenplay for this film by Billy Wilder and George Axelrod based off of George Axelrod's play was decent. The dialogue was very witty and the character of Richard Sherman was very well developed, but it just bothered me how much Sherman talked to himself. It is just so unnatural for a person to talk to themselves giving away so much information about what he is thinking. I felt all his dialogue could have been displayed just with actions and it would just be like a silent film.
Wilder's direction was fine, but not the reason he is known as the legendary director he is today. Since there was only really the set of his apartment and work place the film was not really that pleasing to look at, plus he never really used any complex shots that were memorable. He got good performances from the limited cast, but this is certainly not The Apartment.
The editing in this film was very strong. The film flowed smoothly throughout and never made me actually think about the editing, which is what an editor's goal should be. I did like how during the beginning of the film Sherman's wife and later the goal were layered over the film, I thought that was done very well, especially for the time period.
The acting in this film was overall very good. Tom Ewell I thought gave a great performance as Richard Sherman. He was witty and made me really feel like I knew his character. Even though I disliked all the monologue he had he performed it very well. One part where he was absolutely hilarious was when he was hallucinating himself talking to the girl, I just loved the voice he was using when talking to her. Monroe did fine in her role, all she basically had to do was act cute and look pretty so it was not that hard for her. I do feel though that this movie really displayed how iconic she is very well with all the subway shots and air-conditioning shot where her dress is blown up.
Overall I give this film a 6/10 because it is enjoyable, but not very memorable. I would recommend this film to anyone who is a fan of romantic comedies or Marilyn Monroe.