The Seven Year Itch (1955) "La tentación vive arriba"

DIRECTOR Billy Wilder

Marilyn Monroe, Tom Ewell, Oskar Homolka, Carolyn Jones, Evelyn Keyes, Sonny Tufts, Robert Strauss, Marguerite Chapman, Victor Moore, Donald MacBride, Carolyn Jones

The film succeeds mainly because of Marilyn Monroe's obvious charisma and appeal - she really shines in this as the dizzy, curvy blonde upstairs. Tom Ewell has been married seven years and has seen his wife and son away for the summer - he determines not to smoke, not to drink, and not to chase women. The moment Monroe wiggles up those stairs all that goes out of the window and he starts fantasising about the new arrival. There are a lot of funny situations and you're never quite sure what it in Ewell's head and what is real (well, I wasn't anyway). I love the scene where they are playing Chopsticks and of course, that old chestnut the 2nd Rach concerto rears its head! Victor Moore plays a doddery plumber and Oscar Homolka a shrink who advises Ewell not to consider anything as drastic as murder until he can get simple problems sorted out, while Evelyn Keyes makes the most of her few appearances as Ewell's wife (or is she his conscience?!). The film is fun, the famous skirt and grid scene is now legendary (but quite unlike the often-seen poster shot), and there is much in this bouncy production after nearly fifty years to entertain pretty much anyone.