One of the best films Charles Brackett ever made - watching his post-Billy Wilder output I think he benefited from working on tougher, pulpier material where his good taste and class elevated things, as opposed to comedy, where it dragged the material down.
This uses CinemaScope for good instead of evil - the Niagara falls setting works a treat and the photography is spectacular. Marilyn Monroe has star power to burn even if it is to see her play a bad girl (a rare lead where this was the case - her first two leads for Fox were bad girls, this and Don't Bother to Knock).
There's some terrific dialogue - "to wear a dress like that you've got to start laying plans when you're right" - and a decent story, plus Monroe's charisma, excellent work from Joseph Cotten as the traumatised sap married to Monroe, and Jean Peters and Casey Adams very engaging as a normal couple on honeymoon at Niagara.
The film does lose a bit of steam in the last half hour, after Monroe's character is killed.
No comments:
Post a Comment