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I know I have a lot of movies to catch up with when it comes to Billy Wilder, who is known as one of the greats for smart and memorable movies. This is one of his well-known movies, particularly because it contains the iconic scene when Marilyn Monroe's skirt is flown into the air by a gust of air from the subway. The story, which I knew nothing about, is about a business man who lives below Marilyn's character (who is nameless). His name is Richard Sherman (Tom Ewell), and in the hottest part of the summer, his wife and child pack up to spend the season in cooler climates while he remains in the city for work. He is determined to be good while his wife is gone, but he suffers from what one doctor refers to as the seven year itch, which is when a man has been married for seven years and is easily tempted by other women.

Richard sees of his wife and kid with the best of intentions (eating healthy, quitting smoking, working even at home), but on the night after they leave, he meets his new neighbor. A flower pot falls into his patio and he yells up at the patio above him, and who should appear but Marilyn Monroe, who peeps over her shrubs to apologize (and who's only covered by her shrubs since she's not wearing anything else). By the time Richard's wife is due to call to check on him that very night, he's inviting his pretty neighbor over for drinks, and has already broken his no smoking rule so he can calm his nerves.

Richard is a boring man, for the most part, but his imagination runs wild. His wife isn't nervous leaving him alone for the summer, because she knows him. He sees things differently than she does, imagining all sorts of instances in which various women in his life have come on to him. His imagination also makes for a lot of funny scenes, especially how he thinks he might seduce his neighbor.

But Richard's heart is always in the right place, and he's always trying to be good. His inner battle is what makes the movie great - the struggle to be a good husband as well as the struggle against the magnetism of Marilyn Monroe, whose character naively confesses that no matter what happens to her, men fall for her. She doesn't seem to notice that in combination with her fun spirit and great looks, her own casual conversation has something to do with it. After all, she talks about how it's so hot that she doesn't wear anything around the house and keeps her underwear in the freezer. I think the allure of Monroe in this movie has a lot to do with the fact that she's not trying to seduce anyone. She's simply irresistible, yet Richard has to resist her, which is kind of hard to do when they agree she can sleep in his apartment because it's air-conditioned.

This movie was completely hilarious in the beginning, and then funny for the most part to the end. Wilder is great at building interesting characters and clever situational setups. Richard's imagination does go overboard a few too many times for my tastes, but not enough to ruin the movie - it's just a little bit anticlimactic. Ewell is as funny as Monroe is charming, and the two have a great chemistry together. Ric had a fun time listening to this as he installed some new tiling in our downstairs hallway, and it was a fun evening of entertainment for me. I'm glad to have finally watched it.