The Seven Year Itch - videos, teasers and stills from filming

All videos, teasers and footage from the filming of the film "The Seven Year Itch"

The Seven Year Itch (1955)

Timing: 1:44 (104 min)

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All about film

Video 1

Photo 46

Actors and characters

The Seven Year Itch | Theatrical Trailer | 1955

English

2:17

What's left behind the scenes

A film adaptation of George Axelrod's play.
The famous episode in which a sudden gust of air from a ventilation grate lifts Marilyn Monroe’s skirt was originally filmed in Manhattan, at the corner of 52nd Street and Lexington Avenue, at midnight on September 15, 1954. 5,000 onlookers whistled and cheered as Monroe repeatedly flubbed her lines, ruining take after take. All of this happened before the eyes of Joe DiMaggio, the actress’s then-husband. The footage was never used in the film due to the noise of the crowd. Film director Billy Wilder reshot the scene in a studio at 20th Century Fox. To achieve the desired result, he had to do 40 more takes.
During filming, Monroe often made mistakes, mixed up and forgot her lines, resulting in dozens of takes being required. As a result, the production of the film was delayed, and its budget swelled to $3.2 million – a considerable sum for that time.
After seeing Walter Matthau’s screen test for the role of Richard Sherman, Billy Wilder realized he had found the actor he needed. However, studio executives did not want to take a risk by casting a debutant in the lead role. Wilder then chose Tom Ewell, who had played Sherman in the Broadway production of George Axelrod’s play, which served as the basis for the film.
Paramount acquired the rights to adapt the play, but after Billy Wilder left the studio, the project ended up at 20th Century Fox.
George Cukor was the first director to be offered the opportunity to film this picture, but he turned down the project.
During filming, Monroe suffered from depression as her nine-month marriage to baseball player Joe DiMaggio was coming to an end.
The famous scene in which a sudden gust of air from a ventilation shaft lifts Marilyn Monroe’s skirt was originally filmed in Manhattan, at the corner of 52nd Street and Lexington Avenue, on September 15, 1954, at one o’clock in the morning. 5,000 onlookers whistled and cheered as Monroe repeatedly flubbed her lines. All this happened before the eyes of Joe DiMaggio, the actress’s then-husband. The footage was never used in the film because it was unusable due to the noise of the crowd. Film director Billy Wilder reshot the scene in a studio at 20th Century Fox. To achieve the desired result, he had to do 40 more takes.
During filming, Monroe often made mistakes, mixed up and forgot her lines, which resulted in dozens of takes. As a result, the production of the film was delayed, and its budget swelled to $3.2 million – a considerable sum for that time.
After seeing Walter Matthau's screen test for the role of Richard Sherman, Billy Wilder realized he had found the actor he needed. However, studio executives did not want to take a risk by casting a newcomer in the lead role. Wilder then chose Tom Ewell, who had played Sherman in the Broadway production of George Axelrod's play, which served as the basis for the film.

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