Having recently realised that
I’ve loved almost every Billy Wilder film I’ve seen, I’ve been seeking out more
of his work. It suddenly dawned on me earlier today that I owned one of his
films which I hadn’t seen for a few years but remembered fondly. That film was The Seven Year Itch. I first saw the
romantic comedy about five years ago and it had been on my shelf ever since.
Unfortunately for my memory and for my love of the film’s director, I’d
remembered it as a better film than I actually think it is.
The Seven Year Itch is based on the Broadway play of the same name
and stars Tom Ewell as Richard Sherman, a slightly awkward man on the cusp of
middle age. An abject worrier and daydreamer with an overactive imagination, Sherman sends his wife and young son off to Maine for the summer in order to escape the New York heat. When
returning from work that night he meets a beautiful young woman (Marilyn
Monroe) in the hallway of his building and begins to have thoughts that belie
his faithful and honest nature.
