Niagara

Anybody who says they don’t “get it” when it comes to Marilyn Monroe being a cinematic icon needs to check out this tawdry little thriller from director Henry Hathaway. It’s the story of a young couple (Jean Peters and max Showalter) whose honeymoon at Niagara Falls turns deadly when they meet a troubled Korean War veteran (Joseph Cotton) and his sleazy bombshell wife, Rose (Monroe). The movie is well plotted, with a neat little twist halfway through, but it’s Monroe’s performance that keeps you riveted to the screen. When she comes out of her motel room to crash a teenage record party, wearing a skin-tight vibrant pink dress that is cut so low in front “that you can see her knees,” the electricity that comes off the screen will make your cinematic spine shiver. Her performance is raw enough to be believable, especially when she’s belittling the husband she’s trapped with until death do they part.