Niagara Share | Options

[princesshapnick]

I saw this for the first time the other day on Sky Movies Classics. And I must say, Marilyn was magnificent. I agree with that she should have had more screen time - a lot of the time it was focused around the Cutlers when really they should be concentrating on what Rose was up to a bit more meanwhile. Even though I found the 'MM death' scene tense and exciting, I hated to see her like that - which sounds funny when it's only acting but I got so into it that at one point, I wanted to push Rose out the way before her husband was about to kill her! I felt quite silly afterwards.

Anyway, I'd definitely see this film again. A very superb MM performance - and very glamorous. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/clapping.gif)

[abeautifulchild]

I hated to see her like that - which sounds funny when it's only acting but I got so into it that at one point, I wanted to push Rose out the way before her husband was about to kill her! I felt quite silly afterwards.

Aw! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

[Tara]

After reading all your great comments, I need to watch Niagara again (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif)

[Bobby]

You sure do! It's a good film that could have been great and Marilyn provides a great performance that should have been rewarded.

[Fav]

I agree with that she should have had more screen time - a lot of the time it was focused around the Cutlers when really they should be concentrating on what Rose was up to a bit more meanwhile.

Don't you think though that the fact she was not on screen all the time, made it more exciting when she did appear? It leaves the audience wanting more plus she was very other worldly in this movie - a stark contradiction to the down to earth and now dated Cutlers. Just when you get fed up with watching them - BAM there is Marilyn to jolt you back to the brink. Great cheesy film noir.

[mmmMarilyn]

I am in (another, my third!) film studies class at school this semester and my professor knows I like Marilyn but doesn't know to what extent, and she (thank goodness) really said nice things about her in class the other day, about what great talent Marilyn had, and she said to me "have you ever seen Niagara? She was SO wonderful in that" or something to that effect, and I just laughed and said yes, that I own pretty much all of her films--but I thought it was interesting that she'd bring this one up vs. Bus Stop or The Misfits---not that I don't think Marilyn is amazing in it, I just thought it was pretty cool and unexpected of her--I was like, YEEEEAH!!!!!! hahaha

[Bobby]

Colby, I've just decided that I quite like your film studies professor (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif)

Fav, you make a very valid point and although I agree, I'd still always prefer to see more MM in the film...but that's because I'm hugely biased in favour of more Marilyn viewage!

[Maryleen_McBeat]

The movie is interesting and rich, Marilyn is like a diamond in it, I like her expression there, she played great great and great!!!

[Scottish Sugar]

Definitelty one of my most absolute favourite Marilyn movies. As much as I love her movies, there's only a handful I'd recommend to my friends who aren't into older movies. Some Like It Hot is def one of them as is Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and I would highly recommend Niagara to anyone as it's a great movie that stands out on its own, regardless of Marilyn being in the picture or not.

I agree with an earlier comment, in the scene where Marilyn is running for her life away from Joseph Cotton up the stairs, I'm always shouting at the tv "faster Marilyn! Faster!".. and i'm always sad when Joseph Cotton picks up her lipstick! lol which is silly, because really, Marilyn is the baddie in the movie! we shouldn't be on her side.

One of the first Marilyn movies I saw and I've loved it right from the start: 10/10

xxxx

[Tara]

I watched Niagara again recently and loved every minute! Marilyn is just mesmerising, I was on the edge of my seat...

[magda24]

What I admire about her portrayal is that she managed to somehow inspire, to "breathe" some life into a stereotypical femme fatale-sexpot combo. The little things like her being naked under the sheets, the thing she's playing with when in bed (quite risky!), her walk, it all gives some sort of depth to Rose; we can feel she has some history, some experience, is a person, not only a sexy villain. If only the screenplay added more depth and insight to her role! But I love this movie in its cheesiness anyway:)

[Maneki Neko]

I think this is a really good movie and I love the fact that it is so different from Marilyn's other movies. She is really believable as a femme fatale and looks absolutely stunning.

Every time I watch Vertigo, I think Marilyn would be so wonderful in it!

Yes, I have thought about this many times. I love Hitchcock movies and I think Kim Novak's role in Vertigo would have been perfect for Marilyn. Then she could have been in a movie with one of my favorite actors - James Stewart - as well and I would have loved that.

[TwinklingStar]

Niagara is my very favourite Marilyn movie. Her talent really shines through. I read an interesting blog on the filming of it here: http://www.niagarafallstourismblog.com/mar...-of-niagara.htm

It includes a few interesting tidbits:

-the blogwriter's father played the first mate on the Maid of the Mist (will have to rewatch to see this!) and was paid $5.00, which took him 6 months to get!
-a commenter claims that his mother was paid $50.00 to scream for Marilyn in the belltower scene towards the end.
-Joe DiMaggio made secret visits to her onset, which weren't so secret!

If you read all of the comments its quite interesting

[timetravelangel]

I found this interview with Walter Reisch, one of the screenwriters on 'Niagara':



There's a fascinating story behind Niagara, isn't there? How it got off the ground?
Brackett was the producer. He'd been born very close to Niagara Falls and had lived [around] there all his life. In contrast to other cases where we had to focus all our attention on an actress, this time he said, "Let's get the whole spectacle in as beautifully as possible." And since he was not a man to make pictures about the Riviera or about Paris, he said, "Let's make a picture about Niagara." As [Richard] Breen was not yet on the lot, I was the one who had to invent a story. I had only one argument with Brackett. I said, "Anybody hearing the name Niagara thinks of honeymoon couples and of some sentimental story of a girl walking out on her husband on their wedding night and their getting together again. It would be foolish to start up with Sonja Henie tricks here or Esther Williams-type swimming extravaganzas. I would like to make it a mystery story, with a real murder in it. . . ." Brackett was not sufficiently convinced to take on the responsibility for that decision, alone, so he went down to Zanuck's office. Half a minute later he walked out elated, because that was exactly what Zanuck wanted. Then Zanuck left us completely alone.
He sent you to Niagara, though, didn't he?
Yes. By that time the original story had been invented and covered some twenty or thirty pages. That original story was mine from beginning to end. All those original stories were mine. I was present throughout the writing of the dialogue until the very end, but I would usually subordinate my thinking there to Richard Breen's taste, which enabled him to invent very funny lines. Brackett and Breen and I went to Niagara Falls, lived for a while on both the Canadian and American side of the falls, and we . . .
. . .blocked out the script there?
Yes. Then Zanuck wired or phoned us that he wanted to put Marilyn Monroe into the picture. We thought that was a nice idea, until there came a second telephone call that he wanted her to be the villainess, not the girl . . .
Not the Jean Peters part, eventually . . .?
. . . in the honeymoon sequences. My God! Here was the prettiest girl in the whole United States of America! But he insisted it was a great idea, so we finally did it. We didn't know whether she would like it, but she had no objection, whatsoever—on the contrary. I think it came out pretty well, although that was a picture on which Zanuck really used the scissors in a very, very—how shall I say?—arbitrary way. There were sequences—not with Marilyn Monroe or with Jean Peters—but sequences with the police which he simply cut out.
There is one major scene that is missing, isn't there?
I think there are six major sequences missing. After he'd seen it, Zanuck simply couldn't accept the fact that the police at Niagara Falls were of Canadian extraction. We had British actors playing Canadian police commissioners and detectives and various cops, and he just abhorred it. He wouldn't let us go back to the stages to finish it or to repair it—no, he just took it out! The American audience, he said, does not know, does not understand, that the Niagara Falls are bisected by the border . . . and we should have used Americans. And [director Henry] Hathaway, who didn't like the idea either, sided with him. So there are big holes in the story. But how can I argue with that decision today? There are five or six sequences [in Niagara ] which many people call memorable. .

(Interview excerpt from 'Backstory 2: Interviews with Screenwriters of the 1940s and 1950s' edited by Patrick McGilligan UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS)

[TwinklingStar]

Neat! Thanks for that!

[timetravelangel]

Neat! Thanks for that!

My pleasure. I've always enjoyed watching 'Niagara' and I like stories about how my favourite movies came about.
Here is some more info on the movie from a book which I forgot the title of, but it is all about Marilyn's movies:
(IMG:http://www.everlasting-star.net/boards/style_emoticons/default/niagarasing.gif)
 Info_on_Niagara.pdf ( 2MB )Number of downloads: 40


This post has been edited by timetravelangel: Aug 17 2012, 02:39 PM

[CYRILPARIS]

from Marilyn Monroe Metamorphosis by David Wills and Stephen Schmidt

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[Paju]

I watched Niagara today (been watching a lot of movies since I've been sick at home for a week now). It's one of those MM movies that I watch pretty rarely, but when I do, I enjoy it immensely. She's so incredible. Her role is a completely another kind of sexy blonde than let's say, The Girl, and she emphasizes that difference. There's nothing sweet or naive about Rose. She's a woman who's willing to murder her husband because of lust - except that she herself doesn't really have to do the murdering, because she can get another man to do it. She plays the part exactly right, to the tiniest look in her eye. I'm not sure why this movie isn't brought up more often when talking about what a wonderful actress Marilyn is.

After Niagara I continued with the water theme and watched Free Willy. Now I'm gonna to have something to eat and then I'm gonna watch Clueless. But that's another story.

[meganmarilyn]

Of all her films, this is probably the closest to her being in a Hitchcock type film. He liked to use blondes in his movies, like Marilyn. Liked to emphasize clothes on the character, which Marilyn uses in the red dress. The dramatic soundtack is also very Hitchcock like. And the plot about murder, a Hitchcock theme. This is the movie that made her a legit star.

This post has been edited by meganmarilyn: Jan 26 2012, 04:42 PM

[Mezzo]

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