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Niagara Overview:

Niagara (1953) was a Drama - Film Noir Film directed by Henry Hathaway and produced by Charles Brackett.

SYNOPSIS

In a Niagara Falls honeymoon motel, the voluptuous, seductive Monroe plots to murder her older husband, the decidedly creepy Cotten. A newlywed couple (Peters and Adams) observe the comings and goings, his fits, her infidelities, and finally begin to suspect the murder plot when a death occurs, but not to the expected party. This was the film (her 18th) that launched Monroe into Hollywood superstardom.

(Source: available at Amazon AMC Classic Movie Companion).

Niagara BlogHub Articles:

Marilyn: Behind the Icon – Niagara

By Gary Vitacco-Robles on Jun 1, 2020 From Classic Movie Hub Blog

Marilyn Monroe as Rose Loomis in Niagara In 20th Century Fox Studio’s black and white trailer for Niagara (1953), the narrator describes Marilyn Monroe’s character as “flaunting her charms as she lured men on and on to their eternal destruction…” A close-up of Monroe is superimposed... Read full article

Niagara (1953, Henry Hathaway)

on Dec 14, 2019 From The Stop Button

Niagara has some noir-ish elements to it—femme fatale wife Marilyn Monroe stepping out on war veteran husband Joseph Cotten—but it’s not about the darkness, it’s about the light. And its location shooting. Niagara takes full advantage of the falls, not just for scenery but for multiple story... Read full article

Niagara (1953)

By 4 Star Film Fan on Dec 27, 2016 From 4 Star Films

Rainbows, the soft misting of waterfalls, and honeymooning couples going through the tunnel of love. It hardly feels threatening at all, but that’s what makes film-noir so delicious. As the film style most reflective of the human condition, it proves that the dark proclivities and jealousies ... Read full article

Niagara (1953)

By 4 Star Film Fan on Dec 27, 2016 From 4 Star Films

Rainbows, the soft misting of waterfalls, and honeymooning couples going through the tunnel of love. It hardly feels threatening at all, but that’s what makes film-noir so delicious. As the film style most reflective of the human condition, it proves that the dark proclivities and jealousies ... Read full article

Niagara (1953)

By Beatrice on Oct 31, 2015 From Flickers in Time

Niagara Directed by Henry Hathaway Written by Charles Brackett, Walter Reisch, and Richard Breen 1953/USA Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation Repeat viewing/Amazon Instant Polly Cutler: Listen. For a dress like that, you’ve got to start laying plans when you’re about thirteen. This... Read full article

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Niagara Quotes:

George Loomis: Let me tell you something. You're young, you're in love. Well, I'll give you a warning. Don't let it get out of hand, like those falls out there. Up above... d'you ever see the river up above the falls? It's calm, and easy, and you throw in a log, it just floats around. Let it move a little further down and it gets going faster, hits some rocks, and... in a minute it's in the lower rapids, and... nothing in the world - including God himself, I suppose - can keep it from going over the edge. It just - goes.
Polly Cutler: Don't worry. I'm one of those logs that just hang around in the calm.
[First line, voiceover as we watch him at the base of the Falls]
George Loomis: Why should the Falls drag me down here at 5 o'clock in the morning? To show me how big they are and how small I am? To remind me they can get along without any help? All right, so they've proved it. But why not? They've had ten thousand years to get independent. What's so wonderful about that? I suppose I could too, only it might take a little more time.
[Upon seeing Rose Loomis in a low-cut, tight-fitting red dress]
Ray Cutler: Hey, get out the firehose!
[to Polly]
Ray Cutler: Why don't you ever get a dress like that?
Polly Cutler: Listen. For a dress like that, you've got to start laying plans when you're about thirteen.
George Loomis: You smell like a dime store. I know what that means.
Rose Loomis: Sure. I'm meeting somebody, just anybody handy, as long as he's a man! How 'bout the ticket seller himself? I could grab him on the way out, or one of the kids with the phonograph. Anybody suits me. Take your pick.
Polly Cutler: Fine thing. I tell him we're on our honeymoon and you drag out a copy of Winston Churchill! He must think I'm a pretty hard article.
Ray Cutler: You should have told him we're on a delayed honeymoon.
Polly Cutler: Delayed or not, we agreed to treat it like a regular one, didn't we?
[quick kiss]
Ray Cutler: I'm game. And it'll be just as good as a regular honeymoon.
Polly Cutler: Well, it should be better. I've got my union card now.
[Lascivious glance]
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Niagara Facts
Film debut of Arch Johnson.
Rose (Marilyn Monroe)'s walk across some cobblestones holds the record for the longest walk in cinema history - 116 feet of film.
Even though she had a starring role, Marilyn Monroe was still under contract to 20th Century-Fox as a stock actor at a fixed salary, so she actually made less money than her make-up man did.
The model car that George Loomis (Joseph Cotten) is making in the film is a 1907 Maxwell. This is a nod to co-star Don Wilson, who plays the boisterous businessman J.J. Kettering. Wilson was the longtime announcer on Jack Benny's radio show. On the show, Jack Benny's car was a 1907 Maxwell. It's sputtering, coughing, wheezing engine (a vocal sound effect provided by Mel Blanc) was a well-known recurring gag on the show.
Curiously, the trailer for this Technicolor production was in black-and-white.
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