As I said in an earlier post, I have become interested in watching Marilyn's movies remastered on Blu-ray, particularly because she is the focal point of what ignited my interest in classic Hollywood. I figured a fine place to start this journey would be with
Niagara, the 1953 suspense picture that propelled Monroe to superstardom. Without even seeing any of the clips on YouTube or any pictures on Google, I just knew that the scenery contained within this film was just made for Blu-ray. And it is certainly beautiful.
But I'm getting a little ahead of myself. Monroe, who was quickly ushering to the forefront of Hollywood's biggest stars, was handed this picture in the summer of 1952. While not originally meant as a star vehicle for her, her rapidly growing popularity with movie audiences convinced 20th Century-Fox that the story needed to be shifted to favor their hottest new property. It's a good thing they did, too, because this film would not have been the success it was had it not been for Marilyn. And yes, I'm biased.
Without running into too many spoilers for those of you that don't like movies being ruined for you, I won't dive into the story all that much. But I do think a basic outline is needed to understand the flow of what is going on in
Niagara. Marilyn plays a young bride named Rose, who is married to a somewhat older man George (Joseph Cotten), who has recently been released from an army hospital. They are vacationing in Niagara, and they become involved with a rather average American couple by name of Polly and Ray Cutler (Jean Peters and Casey Adams). Of course, there's a side boy toy in the mix, a case of alleged accidental death, as well as planned and unplanned murders all to make this for an enjoyable outing that never fails to please this viewer.
I'll get off of that now though. I don't want the bulk of this post to be devoted to summary. I want to talk about the movie itself, and if you want to fill in the holes, you can pick up this Blu-ray for yourself on Amazon.
It is
very easy to see why this movie was the one that really put Marilyn on the map the way she wanted to be. The entire movie revolves around her
presence, whether or not she's in the frame. Almost all the dialogue or the purpose of the scene directs itself back to her character and her motives for the decisions she's selfishly making. When we first see Marilyn on the screen, she's wrapped in a thin sheet while laying on her bed (as shown in the above picture). The way she opens her eyes to look at her husband after he lays on his bed (yeah, this is one of those husband and wife sleep separately movies) seems to immediately key-in the audience that this woman has a trick or two up her sleeve. She's beautiful, sure, but there seem to be more layers beyond the ruby lips and fluttering eyelashes.
Like always, I have done my fair share of digging into the production of
Niagara. To toss in some trivia for you more insightful historians, this film was not originally slated as a Monroe vehicle, but was instead intended as a movie to showcase the talents of Jean Peters, one of Fox's popular female leads, after she replaced Anne Baxter, who declined the role. But when the reaction from the public proved Monroe the more popular of the two women, the story was rewritten, and more emphasis was given to Marilyn's character to the point where her presence dominates the story. It's as if the movie itself would practically cease to exist had she not been the focal point. Jean Peters herself is a great beauty and a fine actress, and every time I watch this movie, I find myself wanting to see more of her work. I still haven't gotten around to any of her other films yet, but she was in several fine pictures, but retired from the screen prematurely to marry billionaire Howard Hughes. Apparently, he didn't want his wife to continue in pictures, and evidently she was alright with throwing in the towel, so the mutual decision was made and she left the limelight.
Let's talk about the men in this movie. The film's leading man, Joseph Cotten, was a fairly popular leading man in Hollywood during the 1940s and 1950s, but I've only seen him in
Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte outside of
Niagara. Those two films cannot be further apart in their executions, so judging him as an actor overall isn't easy or even possible really for me to do properly. Then there's Casey Adams. He's a somewhat interesting individual, or at least his career is at least. His given name was Max Showalter, but Fox rebranded him Casey Adams because they felt that name was more "bankable" and they planned to groom him for stardom. Whatever happened to his promises of getting male leads, I honestly couldn't tell you, but I'd guess that the novelty of his career wore thin with the studio and they burned off his contract with minor roles, one of them being a gig as an imitating
Life magazine photographer in Monroe's
Bus Stop.
was released in early 1953, and it was a box office success, becoming one of the year's biggest hits. While many critics hailed Monroe's presence, they often singled out her acting as imperfect. You might notice by now that I kept referencing Marilyn and her
presence in this film. She sizzles on the screen in a array of form-fitting gowns, one of them being the hot pink number (as seen in the photo below), which leads Casey Adams' character to exclaim, "Hey, get out the fire hose." He nails it with that line. That one line sums up Marilyn's contribution to this film, but only visually. Her presence and beauty does not take away from the performance she gives, which is certainly credible and serviceable in the material given. While the story itself might seem dated or typical by today's standards, at the time it seemed like a breath of fresh air, especially for Marilyn. When watching it, one wonders how her career might have turned out had she done more films of this arena.
The film is also notable for some outside-of-the-genre that marks it as distinctive and for conservative groups deeming it too racy.
Niagara is quite simply your basic old Hollywood film noir, but with one noticeable difference: it's shot in Technicolor. Now, it was not the first to be shot in Technicolor (some of its camerawork reminds me of
Leave Her to Heaven, a semi-similar Technicolor noir), but it is certainly a rarity in the batch. The photography is breathtaking, and the transfers for this Blu-ray restoration are beyond words. It's as close to flawless as I'm sure they can get it, and whether or not you like the film, I'll stand firm that the scenery will knock you back in your chairs.
Aside from that, there were a few scenes in the film that raised many a censor's eyebrow. As aforementioned, Marilyn's first scene shows her laying seductively in her bed, with what appears to be just a shear bed sheet between her flesh and the eye of the moviegoer. Rumor has it that she was nude under the sheet, and if she was, I wouldn't be surprised. The feeling of that brief scene is evidence enough that she could have very well been bare-skinned. There is also a scene where she is showering behind a see-through shower curtain. The body suit I'm sure she was forced to wear is good, and she wiggles and teases Joseph Cotten and the audience before wrapping herself in a little white towel and exiting the shower. She parades herself in front of Cotten, and breathlessly orders him the "Dry my back!", a lieu of Jean Harlow's "Scrub my back!" in
Red Dust. It's definitely enticing.
Perhaps the most famous scene is the one where she thanks Jean Peters and Casey Adams for their kindness but declines their invitation for a ride home to walk home instead. She turns and walks away from her co-stars, and as she walks away, the camera stays on her for close to thirty seconds, giving her the distinction of having the longest on-screen walk in cinema history. Marilyn certainly gave the famous falls some serious scenic competition with that one.
Watch
Niagara on Blu-ray if you get the chance. It won't disappoint.
