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Niagara
The stylish and atmospheric direction of Henry Hathaway, some gorgeous location photography, and Marilyn Monroe at her steamiest are the primary attractions of 1953's Niagara, a tense thriller that earns originality points by locating it in what was once the #1 honeymoon location on the planet.
This is the story of two couples at Niagara falls whose marriages are in two very different places: Ray and Polly Cutler are a young couple who are arriving at the falls for their honeymoon but learn that the cabin that they reserved is still being occupied by Rose and George Loomis, a couple who seem to have been married for quite awhile but are not even in the neighborhood of happy. It comes to light that Rose is cheating on George and is plotting to get rid of him and somehow Polly becomes caught right in the middle of what's going on with Mr. & Mrs. Loomis which eventually gets her in a lot of danger.
The screenplay by Charles Brackett, Walter Reisch, and Richard L. Breen is quite effective in setting up backstory for the Loomises without actually giving them a backstory. We learn things with Rose and George Loomis are not what they should be in their first moment onscreen where George comes in the room, Rose pretends to be asleep, and when George drifts off, she turns and shoots him a look of such ugly contempt that we don't know exactly what's going to happen, but we just know this can't end well.
Director Henry Hathaway displays an atmospheric directorial eye that fits this dark drama beautifully. There is a lot of shadowy photography that never makes you feel like you're missing something, it just adds to the slow burn of suspense that occurs here. I have to admit while watching this, there was a real Hitchcock sensibility to what Hathaway is doing here and also wondered what this film might have been like with Hitch directing. I always thought Hitchcock and Monroe would have been an interesting director/actor combination and this film would have been a perfect property for them. It's Hathaway's work that allows the viewer to forgive some implausible plot points.
But above all, this movie has the incredible Marilyn, more beautiful, more alluring, and more toxic than I have ever seen her. This Rose Loomis is one of cinema's most duplicitous movie heroines. With the aid of Hathaway, Monroe creates a character that commands the screen to the point where anytime she's not on screen, the film becomes a lot less interesting. That scene near the beginning in the bright red dress sitting on the steps at the party dreamily singing "Kiss" or that iconic walk to the bell tower in the tight black skirt are images that will be burned in my brain for eternity. Joseph Cotten makes a tragic George Loomis and Jean Peters holds her own as Polly Cutler, but this is Marilyn's movie and she never lets you forget it.
The stylish and atmospheric direction of Henry Hathaway, some gorgeous location photography, and Marilyn Monroe at her steamiest are the primary attractions of 1953's Niagara, a tense thriller that earns originality points by locating it in what was once the #1 honeymoon location on the planet.
This is the story of two couples at Niagara falls whose marriages are in two very different places: Ray and Polly Cutler are a young couple who are arriving at the falls for their honeymoon but learn that the cabin that they reserved is still being occupied by Rose and George Loomis, a couple who seem to have been married for quite awhile but are not even in the neighborhood of happy. It comes to light that Rose is cheating on George and is plotting to get rid of him and somehow Polly becomes caught right in the middle of what's going on with Mr. & Mrs. Loomis which eventually gets her in a lot of danger.
The screenplay by Charles Brackett, Walter Reisch, and Richard L. Breen is quite effective in setting up backstory for the Loomises without actually giving them a backstory. We learn things with Rose and George Loomis are not what they should be in their first moment onscreen where George comes in the room, Rose pretends to be asleep, and when George drifts off, she turns and shoots him a look of such ugly contempt that we don't know exactly what's going to happen, but we just know this can't end well.
Director Henry Hathaway displays an atmospheric directorial eye that fits this dark drama beautifully. There is a lot of shadowy photography that never makes you feel like you're missing something, it just adds to the slow burn of suspense that occurs here. I have to admit while watching this, there was a real Hitchcock sensibility to what Hathaway is doing here and also wondered what this film might have been like with Hitch directing. I always thought Hitchcock and Monroe would have been an interesting director/actor combination and this film would have been a perfect property for them. It's Hathaway's work that allows the viewer to forgive some implausible plot points.
But above all, this movie has the incredible Marilyn, more beautiful, more alluring, and more toxic than I have ever seen her. This Rose Loomis is one of cinema's most duplicitous movie heroines. With the aid of Hathaway, Monroe creates a character that commands the screen to the point where anytime she's not on screen, the film becomes a lot less interesting. That scene near the beginning in the bright red dress sitting on the steps at the party dreamily singing "Kiss" or that iconic walk to the bell tower in the tight black skirt are images that will be burned in my brain for eternity. Joseph Cotten makes a tragic George Loomis and Jean Peters holds her own as Polly Cutler, but this is Marilyn's movie and she never lets you forget it.