The Seven Year Itch

Critics Consensus

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87%

TOMATOMETER

Total Count: 31

76%

Audience Score

User Ratings: 23,471
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Movie Info

Like thousands of other Manhattanites, Tom Ewell annually packs his wife (Evelyn Keyes) and children off to summer vacation, staying behind to work at the office. This particular summer, the lonely Ewell begins fantasizing about the many women he'd foresworn upon getting married (in one of the fantasies, Ewell and Marguerite Chapman parody the beach rendezvous in From Here to Eternity). He is jolted back to reality when he meets his new neighbor--luscious model Marilyn Monroe. Inviting Monroe to dinner, Ewell intends to sweep her off her feet and into the boudoir. Things don't quite work out that way, thanks to Ewell's clumsiness (and essential decency) and Monroe's naivete. Still, Ewell becomes convinced that his impure thoughts will somehow be transmitted to his vacationing wife and to the rest of the world, leaving him wide open for scandal and ruination. In the original play, the husband and the next-door neighbor did have an affair, but both play and film arrived at the same happy ending, with Ewell and his missus contentedly reunited at summer's end. Featured in the cast of The Seven Year Itch are Robert Strauss as a lascivious handyman, Sonny Tufts as Evelyn Keye's former beau, Donald MacBride as Ewell's glad-handing boss, and veteran Broadway funny man Victor Moore in a cameo as a nervous plumber. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

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Cast

Tom Ewell
as Richard Sherman
Marilyn Monroe
as The Girl
Evelyn Keyes
as Helen Sherman
Sonny Tufts
as Tom McKenzie
Robert Strauss
as Kruhulik
Oscar Homolka
as Dr. Brubaker
Marguerite Chapman
as Miss Morris
Donald MacBride
as Mr. Brady
Carolyn Jones
as Miss Finch
Victor Moore
as Plumber
Roxanne
as Elaine
Butch Bernard
as Ricky
Doro Merande
as Waitress
Dorothy Ford
as Indian Girl
Ralph Sanford
as Railroad Station Gateman
Mary Young
as Train Lady
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Critic Reviews for The Seven Year Itch

All Critics (31) | Top Critics (6)

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Audience Reviews for The Seven Year Itch

  • Feb 07, 2017
    Iconic imagery aside, the movie itself is quite funny despite the fact that it's a somewhat neutered version of Axelrod's play.
    Alec B Super Reviewer
  • Aug 19, 2016
    Billy Wilder made some of the greatest films of all time, and most of them hold up to this day. Sadly, I don't believe The Seven Year Itch is one of them. It's fun, lighthearted, and has the benefit of Monroe's charm, but it's much more dated than Wilder's other ventures. Tom Ewell and Marilyn Monroe star in a film about men who send their wives and children off to Maine for the hot New York Summer while they fill their minds with ideas of adultery and temptation. At its core, it's a dated premise. This type of film would not be greenlighted in today's Hollywood, especially with its treatment of women. With that said, the dated humor sometimes can work to its benefit and add to its charm. But other times, it can be cringe worthy. There really isn't a whole lot of depth to this story. Knowing how great Wilder can be, it more or less just seems like he went through the motions with this comedy. It's filmed in mostly one location and doesn't have any rounded out supporting characters like Sabrina or Sunset Boulevard do. The script is also exposition heavy with a semi-neurotic performance from Ewell. It reminded me a lot like Martin Freeman's turn in the Fargo TV series. A man desperately wanting to be cared for and appreciated, but he turns to irrational ways of producing it. The Seven Year Itch is very much a product of 1950's Hollywood. Women weren't given great roles, and so the prototypical 'dumb blonde' gig that Monroe gets here isn't all that surprising. So looking back, you can certainly appreciate the alluring role and film for what it is, but its ideas and themes don't hold up well at all. +Monroe's charm +Goofy sense of humor -Very dated -Doesn't have Wilder's usual wit 7.2/10
    Thomas D Super Reviewer
  • Mar 23, 2014
    An insufferable comedy whose sense of humor is tremendously unfunny and obvious while Ewell is unbearable with his expository babbling and his character's stupid imagination - and the movie would have never become a classic if it weren't for that one famous scene only.
    Carlos M Super Reviewer
  • Jul 07, 2012
    Marilyn Monroe is the story in this film: charming, beautiful and sweet. She gives a warm hearted performance as "The Girl" (we never learn her name), every man's dream woman. This is, in my opinion, yet another masterful film by Billy Wilder. Tom Ewell, while not the best actor in the film, plays an ordinary man who believes he's coming down with the seven year itch, which is believed to be the point in the seventh year of marriage where a man becomes unfaithful to his wife. Throughout the whoile film, Monroe and Ewell show great chemistry and in the end, this film shows to be very charming. Favorite Scene: When Tom Ewell is playing the man from his fantasy at the piano
    Anthony L Super Reviewer
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