Niagara

Niagara
1953 - 20th Century Fox
Directed by Henry Hathaway



SYNOPSIS
The Cutlers (Jean Peters and Max Showalter) honeymoon at a Niagara Falls motel. There, they meet George and Rose Loomis (Joseph Cotten and Marilyn Monroe.) Rose also has a lover and they hatch a scheme to kill her new husband. George winds up killing the lover and seeks out Rose for revenge. He kills her and tries to escape to the U.S. side of the falls by boat. The boat was to be rented by the Cutlers for fishing and Mrs. Cutler is on board. The boat drifts perilously close to the falls.



MY THOUGHTS

It's not technically a film noir, with all of it's Techicolor glory, but Niagara sure fits the mold with it's grim subject matter: betrayal, murder, and one bad femme fatal.

Joseph Cotten was always a fine actor and this is no exception. His intensity and vague creepiness reminded me of his performance in Hitchcock's 'Shadow of a Doubt.'

Marilyn Monroe surprised me in the film. I have only seen her previously in light comedic films like 'Some Like It Hot' and 'Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.' She had strong dramatic chops and plays a bad girl very well. She is radiantly beautiful in the film, but when wasn't she?

Showalter and Peters give solid supporting performances as the idealized prototypical 50's husband and wife who are thrown out of that world and into mayhem. The four main characters have great chemistry.

Henry Hathaway's direction helped put a lot of suspense into the chase scenes. The bell tower scene where Cotten stalks Monroe up the stairs and the boat's race against time at the end are excellent examples. Hathaway seems to be trying to ape Alfred Hitchcock's style and succeeds, but I think Hitch would have made it better.

The tight editing keeps Niagara moving like the water over the falls... fast.

Plus the Technicolor cinematography is beautiful. I've never been to Niagara Falls before, but the film makes me want to visit... as long as I don't meet anyone named Loomis.

Overall the film is solid and entertaining and definitely worthy to see, if not for just Monroe playing a different kind of role than usual.