This movie was a HUGE hit in its day. It has not aged well. The Kinsey Report generation was titillated by Tom Ewell and his midlife fantasies about The Girl upstairs (Monroe, given no name--well she was essentially playing the public idealization of herself.) But today the movie is excruciating; boring ALMOST beyond redemption. Salvation arrives in the voluptuous and glimmery form of Miss M. She is adorable and gives a paper-thin role a lot of humor and even some poignancy.
But she is not on screen enough, and when she's off..oy vey! Here's my suggestion if you want to appreciate Monroe here. Find when it's going to run again. Record only MM's scenes, and please, find a full screen version. Cinemascope was not a good idea, except for epics. You'll find a delightful comedienne, even before her immersion in Method acting.
Billy Wilder gave Monroe a far better (if still not terribly big) role in a much better film, "Some Like It Hot." But even "Hot" is looking a bit tired. If you want tip-top Monroe in a tip-top entertaining-from start-to-finish film, try "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes." That one still holds up.
And so does "Bus Stop" despite the un-PC hero who manhandles Monroe. (But that was the movie--he was an idiot from a farm and she was a dim bulb from the Ozarks.)
Anyway, "Itch" has some of Monroe's most charming moments. My favorite? After the famous piano bench scene, when Ewell fumbles a pass--he tells her to "take her potato chips and go!" She does, but before she leaves, as she's opening the door, she pauses, looks over her shoulder--oh, the line of her back!--and says, sweetly, "I think you're very nice."
Millions of American men, sitting in darkened 1955 movie palaces, sighed deeply.
And women? Well, MM was too sweet to be a threatening femme fatale. They just worried she'd catch cold, standing over the subway grate.
But she is not on screen enough, and when she's off..oy vey! Here's my suggestion if you want to appreciate Monroe here. Find when it's going to run again. Record only MM's scenes, and please, find a full screen version. Cinemascope was not a good idea, except for epics. You'll find a delightful comedienne, even before her immersion in Method acting.
Billy Wilder gave Monroe a far better (if still not terribly big) role in a much better film, "Some Like It Hot." But even "Hot" is looking a bit tired. If you want tip-top Monroe in a tip-top entertaining-from start-to-finish film, try "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes." That one still holds up.
And so does "Bus Stop" despite the un-PC hero who manhandles Monroe. (But that was the movie--he was an idiot from a farm and she was a dim bulb from the Ozarks.)
Anyway, "Itch" has some of Monroe's most charming moments. My favorite? After the famous piano bench scene, when Ewell fumbles a pass--he tells her to "take her potato chips and go!" She does, but before she leaves, as she's opening the door, she pauses, looks over her shoulder--oh, the line of her back!--and says, sweetly, "I think you're very nice."
Millions of American men, sitting in darkened 1955 movie palaces, sighed deeply.
And women? Well, MM was too sweet to be a threatening femme fatale. They just worried she'd catch cold, standing over the subway grate.