Saturday night at the movies Part II

Ok well it's time to get back to my film blog. I've thought long and hard about which films deserve to be included, I have so many to choose from but I've decided to go for ones that I really do feel are verging on my definition of perfection. So I've chosen a film from my favourite era - the 1950s. Now as you can imagine a lot of my favourites were made in the 1950s so it was hard to choose which one to write about first but I have chosen Niagara. If you've not seen this film, you really should. It's a complete marvel. I only saw it a couple of years ago and it so intrigued me it's now in my top ten list. I've watched it a couple of times since but I don't think it had the same effect on me as when I first saw it. It was made in 1953 by Henry Hathaway. It stars Marilyn Monroe as Rose Loomis and Joseph Cotten as her husband George. It's a sort of Hitchcockian thriller, made before people described things as "Hitchcockian". It is such a strange film with such a bizarre atmosphere that in some ways it feels ahead of its time. But in another way it is completely of the 1950s.

It starts off innocuosly enough, a young, suburban just married couple Ray and Polly Cutler (Max Showalter and a fantastic Jean Peters) turn up at Niagara for their honeymoon only to find another couple (Monroe and Cotten) occupying their cabin. It is clear from the start that things are not what they seem between the Loomis'. Rose is young and glamorous but George appears older and troubled. It is implied that he was in an Army mental hospital. As the film goes on you realise that Rose is having an affair with another man, she is seen with him by Polly on a rain swept bridge overlooking the falls. Polly then becomes intrigued with the Loomis' and after George goes missing, comes to the conclusion that Rose is responsible for his death.

What makes this film such a revelation is Monroe. Everyone, even myself to some extent, never really believed she could act. It's quite energising to watch one of her films and see how fantastic she really was. For me, in Niagara, she's a rebel. As much as Brando and Dean were. Remember, this film came out in '53 - two years before rock 'n' roll fully impacted on American culture. Yet here is Monroe, dressed in a skin tight irridescent bright pink dress, showing just the right amount of cleavage; her bleached blonde hair cut in that famous short style, completely oozing attitude. The world had just come out of the dark days of the 1940s and to some, those years were still a potent memory. And then along strides (or wiggles) Monroe and tears down all that traditionalism and drabness with one killer dress and a smirk of the lips. It is completely phenomenal that she even did it yet alone got away with it. That's what really hits me about this film. It is so modern.

In the above scene, a local "DJ" plays records outside the cabins for couples to dance to. This is when you first notice how wildly different Rose is from everyone else. For instance, Polly, the archetypal girl next door reacts with fear yet curiosity at the sight of Rose. Polly in her sneakers and alice bands is a world away from the exotic, slightly dangerous Rose. The men seem equally scared of her. Monroe in this film is the archetypal male character. George is weak and remote. Ray is jolly yet vacant. Monroe really has the edge in this film, yet she knows when to play down the attitude and play the sweet, innocent girl. 

The music is also very strange. There is a bell tower that features in some of the scenes and the sound it produces is ominous, almost sad. It really gives the film an atmosphere. Also the lighting and the shots of Niagara falls itself are outstanding. There are used as a backdrop to a lot of the most highly charged scenes; the dramatic imagery mirroring the tension of the characters. 

Anyway I urge you to watch it, if only for Monroe.