Shot on location - Films and TV-series: August 2023

The film THE SEVEN YEAR ITCH is based on George Axelrod's play of the same name. He co-wrote the screenplay with director Billy Wilder. The title refers to a moment in a romantic relationship when feelings start to 'itch'; after seven years, partners become less happy with each other. There is however no scientific evidence for this assumption.

Filming took place from 1 September until 4 November 1954, both on location in New York as well as at 20th Century Fox Studios in Los Angeles.

The Seven Year Itch, 0:11:48

The film opens with footage of women and children leaving New York in the summer. They leave the hot city while the men stay behind to work. One of them is Richard Sherman (Tom Ewell). After putting his wife Helen (Evelyn Keyes) and little son Ricky (Tom Nolan) on the train to Maine, he meets an unnamed woman, ‘The Girl’ (Marilyn Monroe), who temporarily rents the apartment upstairs.

Richard Sherman lives at 164 East 61st Street in Manhattan. Although many houses in this street have been replaced by new buildings, the apartment building is still there. In the film, the building is black; now it is painted white and the shutters and air conditioners at the windows are gone. The street is seen several times in the film, including the final scene when Sherman has decided to go to his wife and son. He lets The Girl stay in his apartment because he has air conditioning. She calls out of the window that he has forgotten his shoes.

The Seven Year Itch, 0:08:34

164 East 61st Street, New York, 1 July 2023

The Seven Year Itch, 1:09:53

164 East 61st Street, New York, 1 July 2023

The Seven Year Itch, 1:43:44

162-164 East 61st Street, New York, 1 July 2023

The Seven Year Itch, 1:44:02

164 East 61st Street, New York, 1 July 2023

The most famous scene in the film and perhaps in film history is that of the billowing dress. After having seen a movie at the Trans-Lux Theatre, Sherman and The Girl walk down the street. She deliberately stands on a subway grate. When a train passes by, it provides a cool breeze as the air is blown through the grate, also blowing up her dress. This scene was filmed on Lexington Avenue; the grate is on the corner with East 52nd Street. The cinema and shops have disappeared; an anonymous office building now stands on this spot. There are still grates in the pavement, though.

The Seven Year Itch, 1:14:05

Lexington Avenue, New York, 1 July 2023

The Seven Year Itch, 1:14:40

Lexington Avenue, New York, 1 July 2023

This scene was filmed in the early hours of 15 September 1954. Dozens of photographers were present to capture Marilyn Monroe in her white dress. The photos that were taken have become more famous than the film itself. The photos below were taken by Sam Shaw; the idea of the billowing dress was his.

Lexington Avenue, New York, 15 September 1954

Lexington Avenue, New York, 1 July 2023

Marilyn Monroe, New York, 15 September 1954

Several articles about this film say that the scenes filmed on Lexington Avenue proved unsuitable and were made for publicity purposes only. There was an additional day of shooting on 10 January 1955 at the Los Angeles studio where the street was recreated. In a highly recommended article by Scott Fortner on his website The Marilyn Monroe Collection, he points out a number of minor differences between the first and second time when a subway train is passing, including the bow at the belt on the dress, Marilyn's hair and the pavement tiles. This shows that footage filmed on location in New York as well as in the studio in Los Angeles were both used for the film.

The Seven Year Itch, 1:14:10 (New York) + 1:15:52 (Los Angeles)

The Seven Year Itch, 1:14:37 (New York) + 1:15:01 (Los Angeles)

The Seven Year Itch, 1:14:40 (New York) + 1:15:12 (Los Angeles)

90 jaar Marilyn, Nieuwe Kerk, Amsterdam,
9 December 2016

The same article also discusses the dress worn by Marilyn Monroe. The original garment, from the collection of actress Debbie Reynolds, was auctioned on 18 June 2011 for US $ 5.6 million, including a $ 1 million commission. The dress was designed by William Travilla; he made four duplicate dresses for the film. Since the subway scene was filmed twice, it is highly possible that different dresses were used, a theory that is confirmed by the differences in the bow on the belt. In the 1960s, Travilla made a new duplicate of the dress especially for exhibitions. This means there are no less than five dresses in total, but which one is the one and only?

From 1 October 2016 to 5 February 2017, the Nieuwe Kerk in Amsterdam hosted the exhibition 90 jaar Marilyn (90 years of Marilyn). The main piece of the collection was 'the dress' which I suspect is the duplicate from the 1960s, this one has another bow.

Pultizer Fountain, Grand Army
Plaza, New York, 1 July 2023

The aforementioned photographer Sam Shaw (1912-1999) was friends with Marilyn Monroe and often photographed her. In May 1957, she posed for him again in New York, this time at the Pultizer Fountain in front of the Plaza Hotel. The fountain was an initiative of newspaper publisher Joseph Pulitzer who bequeathed US $ 50,000 after his death in 1911 to build a fountain with the same grandeur as the fountains at the Place de La Concorde in Paris, France. The structure was designed by architect Thomas Hastings, the statue on top by Karl Bitter. In May 1916, the fountain was installed at the Grand Army Plaza.

I assume Shaw only had a brief moment to portray Marilyn. As the other two photos show, she was surrounded by autograph hunters and even stepped into the fountain.