I just don't understand the mass affection for this film, it's a tidy watered down sex comedy that fails to achieve anything other than mild humour. Made famous for being the film that contains THAT money shot of Marilyn Monroe on the subway grating having her skirt blown up around her waist, the film actually suffers from bad casting and Billy Wilder not being able to realise his vision for the adaptation.
Adapted along with Wilder by George Axlerod from his own Broadway play, the film version is far removed from the racy, farce laden stage version, and it really does shine thru that we are missing out on a fully fleshed out comedy. The first thing wrong that stands out to me is the performance of Tom Ewell, he overacts here, and at times when the humour should be impacting on the viewer he simply achieves the opposite by being annoying. Put in Ewell's place Walter Matthau in the role {Wilder's choice for the role but he was overruled}, and you can imagine just how much better the comedy would have been delivered. Marilyn Monroe does just fine, it's a perfect vehicle for her, look gorgeous, play it with dopey innocence, and deliver the lines on time, she does all these well, and it's with much credit to Wilder for getting a decent performance from her as off the screen her marriage to Joe DiMaggio was crumbling apart.
Censorship and snips mean that we have never seen the film that Billy Wilder envisaged, the censors even refused him having a somewhat tame ending to wrap the picture up, so what we are left with is a little laugh here and there, some Monroe texture, but ultimately the film just doesn't add up to being close to a real good sex comedy, 5/10.
Adapted along with Wilder by George Axlerod from his own Broadway play, the film version is far removed from the racy, farce laden stage version, and it really does shine thru that we are missing out on a fully fleshed out comedy. The first thing wrong that stands out to me is the performance of Tom Ewell, he overacts here, and at times when the humour should be impacting on the viewer he simply achieves the opposite by being annoying. Put in Ewell's place Walter Matthau in the role {Wilder's choice for the role but he was overruled}, and you can imagine just how much better the comedy would have been delivered. Marilyn Monroe does just fine, it's a perfect vehicle for her, look gorgeous, play it with dopey innocence, and deliver the lines on time, she does all these well, and it's with much credit to Wilder for getting a decent performance from her as off the screen her marriage to Joe DiMaggio was crumbling apart.
Censorship and snips mean that we have never seen the film that Billy Wilder envisaged, the censors even refused him having a somewhat tame ending to wrap the picture up, so what we are left with is a little laugh here and there, some Monroe texture, but ultimately the film just doesn't add up to being close to a real good sex comedy, 5/10.