Customer Reviews

Niagara [VHS]

5 star:		(58)
4 star:		(26)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

"Niagara" is a sexually charged suspense film reminiscent of the film noirs of the 1940s, but in bright Technicolor. It was Marilyn Monroe's first starring role and promoted the image of MGM's new rising star. The look and demeanor which Monroe wears in "Niagara" is the image she would create over and over again on screen and with which her name is permanently associated. Polly and Ray Cutler are on a delayed honeymoon to Niagara Falls, where they take a cabin next to another American couple, Rose and George Loomis. George Loomis (Joseph Cotton) is a troubled WWII veteran with "battle fatigue" and an obsessive, unstable manner. Rose (Marilyn Monroe) is his young sex pot wife, whose attentions improve George's state of mind and whose indiscretions inflame him. When Polly (Jean Peters) is kind enough to bandage George's hand after he injures it in a violent fit, George opens up to her about his marriage and his troubles. Rose discusses her husband's illness openly and may have ulterior motives for wanting people to think George is crazy. Polly's sympathy and curiosity draw her into Rose and George's warped and soon-to-be-violent world.

Marilyn Monroe certainly looks the part of Rose Loomis, and Rose is a villainess, not a sympathetic character, which would become unusual in Monroe's career. Rose is a very good role for her, though. Whether Monroe is acting or not is debatable, but beside the point. She is acting like Marilyn Monroe. She wears glossy bright red lipstick in every scene, including in the shower, to bed, and even when it clashes with her hot pink skin tight dress. The stand-out performance here is from Joseph Cotton, as the violently unstable, self-destructive George Loomis. Cotton leaves no doubt in the audience's mind that George is suffering, sometimes hateful of his wife but deeply in love with her, and considerate in his own way when he warns Polly against allowing love to "go over the edge", "like those falls". Rose and George are equally corrupted, for different reasons. But Joseph Cotton makes George sympathetic, despite his many faults. This is in contrast to Polly's husband Ray (Casey Adams), who is a "nice guy", but essentially shallow and chauvinistic. The audience, like Polly and Ray, is at first fascinated by Rose and George. But as the film develops, the interesting, though understated, relationship becomes George and Polly, who are the story's central characters in the sense that they have an emotional arc, while the others are static. Polly is "Niagara"'s brains and its occasionally confused moral center.

For film noir buffs: The 1945 film "Leave her to Heaven" is widely reputed to be the single color film that is classic film noir. But it isn't -it isn't noir, that is. "Niagara" might be a better candidate. George Loomis is probably the only truly noir character in this film, and "Niagara" isn't as introverted as film noir. Its views of sexuality and gender roles are moving into the Eisenhower era. Nevertheless, "Niagara" takes a lot of inspiration from the crime films of the 1940s. Rose is a femme fatale, although her machinations seem more foolhardy than ambitious, and she's not a strong character. Sex is portrayed as a corrupting force, as Rose and George's relationship is contrasted with Polly and Ray's. But "Niagara" is puritanical rather than paranoid. The sex of film noir is primal but attractive, a force of nature meant to exploit human flaws and reveal the fragile and laughable condition of the characters' egos. In "Niagara", it isn't so much Rose's seduction that plagues George, but the fact that his entire self-image is vested in his wife's sexuality. Odd. "Niagara" is a sort of bright, lacquered perversion of film noir. In any case, this is quite a thoughtful film as well as being a top-notch suspense.

The DVD (20th Century Fox Diamond Collection 2004): This is a restored print of the film that looks very good. Bonus features include several theatrical trailers, a Restoration Comparison, and a Still Gallery. The theatrical trailer for "Niagara" (3 minutes) is black-and-white. There are trailers for 4 other Marilyn Monroe films and one for the Diamond Collection of DVDs (1 minute). The Restoration Comparison (1 minute) is a side-by-side comparison of the unrestored print, which was sallow and greenish, and the new one. The Still Gallery includes 18 black and white pictures and 3 color photos of Marilyn Monroe. Most are movie stills, but there are a few publicity and wardrobe photos thrown in. Subtitles are available in Spanish, captions in English, and dubbing is available in French.

"Niagara" is one of my favorite Marilyn Monroe movies. To be honest, though, I think Marilyn's performance here is a bit stiff and forced at times, but this film still reeled me in. "Niagara", in my view, is catapulted into the realm of "5-Star" status not merely by Marilyn Monroe's lovely presence, or on the strength of the suspenseful screenplay -- but, instead, based in large part on the outstanding on-location filming at Niagara Falls. The wealth of "Falls" scenery makes this 89-minute movie seem like a mini-vacation to Niagara Falls in many respects. You can almost feel the spray of the Fall's mist in several scenes.

In addition to the gorgeous scenery of the Falls (plus M.M.'s beauty too, of course), "Niagara's" other cast members rate pretty high marks for their work in this movie too (IMO) -- including the always-great Joseph Cotten as "George Loomis". Cotten is excellent as Loomis, Marilyn's semi-neurotic and always-suspicious husband. (It's a bit of a "May-December" relationship between Monroe and Cotten -- MM is 26 here; Cotten is 47.)

Jean Peters also co-stars in the film, and Jean is very nearly as lovely and captivating as Marilyn here. Also watch out for Casey Adams, Russell Collins, Lurene Tuttle, and Will Wright. Plus Don Wilson, who does a nice job here in a humorous role as "J.C. Kettering". Wilson for many years served as Jack Benny's sidekick and announcer on radio and TV. It's kind of fun being able to see Don in something else here.

Many people have chastised the performance of Casey Adams (aka: Max Showalter) in this film, citing his acting here as a major (or minor) debit which brings the movie down a notch or two. I disagree with any such Adams' assessment. I think Casey does just fine in this film (as the husband of Jean Peters). I think his part is played pretty well here, countering nicely that of the Marilyn and Joseph Cotten characters.

Casey has a couple of the best lines of dialogue in the movie too, when he laments to his wife: "We wait three years for a honeymoon, and spend it with a couple of spooks!" .... "Sports clothes -- Ha! All we needed here were a couple of shrouds!"

IMO, Casey's performance is many times superior to that of Denis O'Dea (who plays Police Inspector "Starkey" in the film). O'Dea seems stiff as a board when he's reading his lines of dialogue. But, not everybody can be as good as Joseph Cotten I guess. ;)


DVD TALK...........

"Niagara" arrived on DVD in May 2002 as part of "The Diamond Collection" of discs showcasing this most famous of American movie bombshells -- Miss Marilyn Monroe. The movie looks very nice on DVD too. An above-average transfer to the DVD format IMO. The before-and-after "Restoration Comparison" on the disc shows us the work that went into bringing the film's colors back to life.

"Niagara" premiered in theaters on January 21, 1953, and was originally projected on theater screens in the same ratio we find on this disc (Full Frame; 1.33:1) -- or very nearly that same screen shape at any rate; it might actually have been an ever-so-slightly wider ratio of 1.37:1 on theater screens (which is the "Academy Ratio" that was commonly used for films shot prior to the mid-1950s). But in either case, this disc does not contain a "Pan-&-Scan" video transfer, as has been advertised by some sources. There would be no need at all to P&S this movie, because it wasn't filmed in Widescreen.

Fox Home Entertainment, however, has made it very confusing for buyers of this DVD to figure out just exactly what is the screen shape of the image contained on this disc -- because (for some reason) Fox has printed BOTH "Full Screen" and "Widescreen" on the back of the packaging here. In tiny lettering at the very bottom of the back cover, it says "Widescreen Version", which is definitely an error. No Widescreen here at all. Nor would it be wanted for this Full-Frame motion picture.

This disc offers up three Dolby Digital audio choices for the listener -- The original English Mono, plus a re-mixed 2.0 English Stereo track, as well as French Mono. Subtitles can be accessed in English and in Spanish.

In addition to the interesting "Restoration Comparison", other extras on the disc include the Original Theatrical Trailer for "Niagara", five other Marilyn-related Trailers, and a Photo Gallery. A one-page printed insert also is included, with a Scene Selection guide for the disc's 24 individual movie chapters.

Like many older movie trailers, this one for "Niagara" (which runs for 3:01) features some different versions of some of the film's scenes. The studios many times put together a Theatrical Trailer using alternate "takes" of scenes within the movie. This is the case here. The differences are subtle; but fans of the film will probably notice (mainly the inflections in an actor's voice, or a different camera angle, which are noticeably different from the version of the same scene that is placed in the final cut of the film).

Another note regarding the trailer -- For some reason, the "Niagara" movie trailer is shown in black-and-white on this DVD. Most odd, since it is presented in its proper color form on an earlier-issued VHS tape version of the film.

It would have been nice if Fox had included the 1962 "Movietone News" segments on this DVD that appear on the 1992 VHS version of "Niagara". But, alas, those clips (all about MM, made just after her death) are absent from the DVD variant. Which is a pretty good reason to hang on to that VHS copy of the film, which, btw, also contains other extras too -- e.g.: the (color) trailer for "Niagara", plus other "mini" trailers for additional MM movies that were being distributed at that time (1992) on VHS by Fox Home Video.

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"NIAGARA" is an hour-and-a-half of vintage Hollywood movie entertainment, with one of the biggest stars of the era in her prime (Miss Monroe of course). And when Marilyn is combined with those stunning Falls of Niagara, this film becomes all the more inviting and impressive.

An enthusiastically-recommended DVD.

This is one of my favorite movies. It's got Marilyn Monroe at her sexiest and the incredible Niagara Falls for a backdrop. What more could you ask for? Marilyn plays the trashy, bored wife of dull, older Joseph Cotten. He thinks they came to Niagara for a vacation, but Marilyn's lover is planning on tossing Cotten over the falls and running off with her. It doesn't quite work out the way she had hoped, however, and someone else is murdered. There is a big subplot involving a fresh-faced young couple who have won a prize trip to Niagra, but get dangerously involved with Marilyn and Cotten.

Marilyn is perfect as the cheap floosie who likes to toy with men. She burns up the screen when she sings a torchy song. This is almost cinema ancient history, because her performance is sooooo 1950's, but it's a fun ride, full of suspense and those beautiful Falls. Joseph Cotten is truly pitiable as a rancher with battle fatigue who wants to be loved.

If you've ever been to Niagara Falls, this film will bring back some great memories; you can almost feel the mist! Those who haven't been there will want to go after seeing Niagara. It's a dandy of a thriller, well-written and acted.

Let me just say first that I am a HUGE Marilyn fan and in my eyes, she can do no wrong. Well, with a few exceptions... I didn't enjoy all of her movies equally and some are not really that great in my humble opinion ("Bus Stop" comes to mind as an overrated bore...). The fact is that, along with "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" and "Some Like It Hot", "Niagara" is one of my favorite Marilyn movies, over such obvious choices as "The Seven Year Itch" and "How to Marry a Millionaire".

In Niagara, Monroe looks dazzling and, for the first and only time, plays a true villainess. Nowadays, we all remember Monroe for her ditzy blonde characters in which she sadly became typecast. But in this, she displays a knack for playing a would-be murderess intent on offing her husband played by Joseph Cotten with the help of her lover. She eventually ends up being the one murdered by her husband in the final scene.

The storyline is not really sizzling and the other actors don't really retain our interest much, all of them eclipsed by Marilyn who shines like a spotlight. But the plot doesn't really matter. What is important is that we can see Monroe portraying a real grown-up woman and furthermore, with an evil side. I truly loved seeing Monroe use her electrifying sexual charisma as a weapon. She obviously enjoyed playing such a departure from her other screen appearances and we can certainly understand why.

Monroe plays the character of "Rose Loomis" with an intensity and a coldness that perfectly matches her voluptuous appearance. She looks radiant in the very famous "red dress" while softly singing "Kiss" in a very tight close-up with a look of bliss on her face which shows that the character truly enjoys having such a devastating sexual power over men. She tourments her husband by refusing him sexual favors with a cruel glee in her eyes.

Sadly, Marilyn would never be given the chance to play an evil woman again and it's a shame because in Niagara, we see just how good she could be at being bad. From this point on, she would become trapped after her "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" role into playing innocent and vulnerable women. She would never be allowed again to play a woman with such an awareness of her own sexual power on the silver screen.

It makes me sad to see just how wasted her potential was. But fortunately, we have Niagara to show us a darker side of Monroe. I give this movie 5 stars, not because of its story which is somewhat [bad] nor for the acting which is, except for Monroe, rather uninspired. But rather, because it is the film that succeeded in showing us a different facet of the most celebrated Movie Goddess of all time.

Never really was a big Marilyn Monroe fan (she was a bit overdone and affected for me) BUT she is PERFECT in this film. She IS her character - a bit cheap, definitely overdone (who on earth wears hot red lipstick in the shower, for example? I can't even get mine to stay on from my apartment to the office, much less the shower! Or bed... on pristine white sheets no less!) but that's why Marilyn Monroe is so, well, Marilyn Monroe. When Casey Adams asks Jean Peters why doesn't she wear a dress like Marilyn, Jean Peters says "For a dress like that, you have to start laying plans when you're about 13." Ain't that the truth. Which brings me to Jean Peters who is the real beauty and star of this film. Jean Peters is magnificent. Smart, understated and (along with Joseph Cotten) full of conflict and inner turmoil. She is a woman whose husband is more concerned with Shredded Wheat (his employer) and reading books than on their belated honeymoon or his beautiful, smart bride. What a bore. In fact, when they first arrive at Niagara Falls, he's more in awe of their view of the Shredded Wheat factory than with that of the Falls. Which is why it's so believable when she gets entwined in the twisted world of Marilyn Monroe and Joseph Cotten. After all, there's only so much Shredded Wheat one can bear in a marriage, right? Anyway, one of the best and eerily perfect components of this particular film is the song Kiss. "There is no other song," Marilyn says as she uses it to drive her already unstable husband into a madness beyond which he could never hope to recover. The bells toll the tune sinisterly as a sign to Marilyn that all is "done." But not really, Marilyn soon learns. I'll stop there for anyone who hasn't yet seen this amazing film. SEE IT! The casting is superb on all accounts. The location shots are beyond amazing (I want to go back to Niagara Falls circa 1950 and stay at the Rainbow Cabins - if only I could!). And don't be surprised if you find yourself suddenly craving a bowl of - you guessed it - Shredded Wheat!

Oh, and the remastering is amazing - the color, the clarity - outstanding.

1953 was basically the Year of Marilyn, and Niagara is one of the films that transformed her from a much-talked-about newcomer into a living legend. The popular conception of Marilyn as a stereotypical blonde does her a disservice, as she proved in early films such as this that she had real talent as a dramatic actress. Here, she plays a cold, calculating woman planning the murder of her own husband - not your typical Marilyn role. For my money, she is amazing. There are scenes in which she communicates only through facial expressions, and she handles this so naturally that I could swear she wasn't even acting. I should also say that Marilyn is simply stunning in this movie, especially in that red dress which draws so much attention. The Niagara Falls setting, as beautiful and sweeping as it is, pales in comparison to Marilyn's beauty. She is the epitome of sultriness; she is so hot and steamy in this role that I'm surprised several movie theatre screens didn't spontaneously combust as the movie was shown. She is of course gorgeous in all of her movies, but the villainy of her character in Niagara adds an exotic flavor to her forceful presence that leaves me feeling wilted and weak in the knees.

Rose Loomis (Marilyn Monroe) wants to ditch her husband and run off with her lover. Rather than merely leave her husband George (Joseph Cotton), she wants to eliminate him altogether. George is somewhat disturbed as a result of his tour of duty in Korea, and Rose uses this to her advantage by taunting and teasing him into making public spectacles of himself in front of plenty of potential witnesses. Ray and Polly Cutler (the ubiquitous Max Showalter and Jean Peters) are in Niagara Falls on a long-delayed honeymoon, and they find themselves a growing part of whatever craziness is going on between George and Rose. Rose plays her role of the loving, worried wife quite well, intentionally driving her husband into fits; the sound of her favorite song, Kiss, never fails to send him into uncontrolled outbursts. Finally, the time is right, and the lover is sent on his way to murder Rose's husband, but of course these types of things are never as simple as they should be. Rose' s portrayal of the frantic, worried wife might have worked if everything had gone according to plan, but a number of twists turns the tables right on top of her, and the whirlpool of self-destruction eventually threatens to pull the Cutlers down with it.

This is Marilyn as you may never have seen her before. There is no comedy, no dumb blonde characterization to be found here, just an amazingly powerful dramatic performance. Joseph Cotton's talent contributes mightily to the film's success, and Max Showalter and Jean Peters lend a needed air of believability and realism to this beautiful thriller. There is one rather infuriating scene, however, where Ray completely dismisses his wife's account of what she has just witnessed; such an old-fashioned treatment of the real heroine of the movie is one thing that does not transplant well from the 1950s to the twenty-first century. By and large, though, this movie has not lost any of its punch over the years. To say that this movie possesses a driving force rivaling the power of Niagara Falls itself would be both cliché and inaccurate, yet Marilyn's indomitable presence combined with the setting's natural beauty makes Niagara an unforgettable movie experience.

Short, sweet, and as vicious as a slash of a switchblade. *Niagara* is about an unhappily and unlikely married couple (Marilyn Monroe and Joseph Cotten) hunkered down in a honeymooner's cabin at Niagara Falls. While Cotten deals with his post-Korea depression, Monroe indulges in an affair with a local bohunk. Monroe convinces the bohunk that killing her hubby would be a swell idea. The only explanation for this is that Monroe's character (sweetly named "Rose") gets a sexual charge from the plan. If she simply wanted to be rid of her husband, why doesn't she get a divorce? -- an inconvenient but easy enough matter, even during the 1950's. Wandering into this amoral tableux are Jean Peters and her Shredded-Wheat-salesman husband, Casey Adams, on a delayed honeymoon. Their subplot is nearly as entertaining as the main one: Adams is a scream as the Typical 50's Husband, condescending to his superior-in-every-way wife, concerned more about his career than his wife's well-being, abrasive salesman of both Shredded Wheat and the Eisenhower America that promulgates it. It's no wonder that, late in the film, his wife Peters and Monroe's husband Cotten share an unusually consummated, largely symbolic romance of their own. Indeed, symbols abound in *Niagara*. Director Henry Hathaway takes maximum advantage of the area's suggestive locales: the phallic Bell Tower and the gushing Falls themselves are in almost every shot. The Falls, in particular, become a menacing force, a deafening, titanic cascade of lust that overwhelms any decent impulses. Finally, let me add that *Niagara* also happens to be the only Monroe movie an unbiased movie fan need concern him/herself with. It's a real treat to see Marilyn playing someone who wouldn't be mistaken for a patient in the brain trauma ward; i.e., there's little of the doped, breathy cooing of her later roles. She was on the brink of stardom here, and the studio profiteers had yet to chart her course for her: therefore, she was permitted to actually act. And guys, she's intensely trampy and hot in this one: siren-red lipstick at all times (even in the shower and in bed, for Pete's sake), low-cut dresses, tight skirts . . . then-living proof of the neurotic levels to which sexual repression in the 50's was reaching in this country.

As a native of the area, it was very interesting to see the falls area circa 1950's. Marilyn's beauty is "mistifying"! The performances by each actor is a time capsule of that era. Simple, sexually suggestive yet innocent. If you love the Falls, you won't waste your money buying this movie. If you are strictly a Marilyn Monroe fan, she won't dissappoint you either.

This is Marilyn at her best and her most beautiful. The story is really great. They don't make them like this anymore. The acting is wonderful. The views of Niagara are the best ever filmed. Joseph Cotton fans won't be disappointed either. One of my all-time favorites.

In "Niagara", Marilyn Monroe portrays Rose, a sneaky, sinister temptress planning to kill off her husband George (Joseph Cotten). Why she wants George murdered instead of simply leaving him is never explained. There are plenty of sexy shots of Marilyn (a couple of them focusing on her rear end), and the clips of the Niagara Falls are also quite impressive. I should mention that although Marilyn gets top billing in the credits, she has less screen time than Joseph Cotten, Jean Peters or Casey Adams, the latter two portraying Ray and Polly Cutler, a honeymooning couple. About the DVD: the picture and sound quality is definitely an improvement over it's VHS cousin. There are a few other extras, but nothing to get excited about. The optional French dubbing is performed very well. The woman who reads Marilyn's lines sounds like her.