NIAGARA

DIRECTOR:
Henry Hathaway

WRITERS:
Charles Brackett
Walter Reisch
Richard L. Breen

CAST:
Marilyn Monroe
Joseph Cotten
Jean Peters
Max Showalter
Richard Allan
Don Wilson
Lurene Tuttle
Russell Collins
Denis O'Dea


Rose Loomis ( Marilyn Monroe ) is George's wife. Rose is just as beautiful AND thorny as her namesake. She's a betrayful, malevolent, superficial slut.


George Loomis ( Joseph Cotten ) is Rose's husband. George is an insecure, jealous and bitter fool. He can't get rid of his addiction to Rose.


Polly Cutler ( Jean Peters ) is Ray's wife. She's way too smart and cute for him.


Ray Cutler ( Max Showalter ) is Polly's husband. He works for a cereal company and is a bit of a dip-shit. He's also very creative with shredded wheat.


Rose's lover ( Richard Allan ) is lowlife bastard.

Ray and Polly Cutler cross the Canadian border and head towards a Niagara Falls motel. It's a working honeymoon for them. Ray works for a breakfast cereal company and his boss Mr. Kettering is supposed to meet him there.

When Polly and Ray get to the motel, they're disappointed. Rose and George Loomis still have not vacated the cabin that the Cutlers reserved. The manager informs Polly and Ray that everything will be worked out in a few days.

Soon after, Polly finds out that George was in a mental institution.

While sightseeing at the falls, Polly spots Rose playing tonsil hockey with a guy that is not her husband. She quickly informs Ray of her discovery.

While Rose is in the bathroom, George looks for cigarettes in her jacket pocket. He finds them, but he also finds a ticket stub for the scenic tunnel. A red flag immediately goes up in George's head.

Rose takes a record to a group of young folks that are dancing in front of all the cabins. A song named KISS begins to play. moments later, George goes ballistic. He marches outside and heads straight to the record player. Then he picks up the record and breaks it with his bare hands ( cutting himself in the process ). Minutes later, he's spilling his guts to Polly and Ray about his tumultuous relationship with Rose. Meanwhile, Rose is on a payphone speaking to her lover. She tells him George's murder is set for tomorrow.

The next morning, George and Rose happily talk about going to Chicago, but the conversation soon turns sour. Rose goes out to buy bus tickets and meet her lover at a souvenir shop. She doesn't know, that George is following her. While at the souvenir shop, Rose spots George and signals her lover to take action. Her lover follows George into the elevator. Hours later nobody has seen or heard from George.

The next day, a man's body is found. Detective Starkey escorts Rose to a room to identify the corpse. As soon as Rose sees the it, she faints.

At the hospital, a doctor injects Rose with medication that knocks her out.

The Cutlers and Ketterings go to the falls. George shows up. He grabs Polly and pleads for help. Polly is the only person that knows George isn't dead and that he killed Rose's lover in self defense.

As Rose lies on a hospital bed, she's awaken by the bell tower playing the song KISS.

At the Cutler's cabin, Detective Starkey tells Polly and Ray that Rose left the hospital.

Rose goes to the bus station, but quickly finds out that the police are looking for her. She asks a taxi driver if there is another way across the border. Unfortunately, she spots George. Rose's malevolent plans have collapsed, and she proceeds to panic. She feels trapped. Out of desperation she runs into the bell tower. She spots a payphone and tries to call the police, but fails.

The chase is on, as George runs up the stairs after Rose. He corners her in the bell room, and proceeds to strangle her. The evil Rose dished-out, came back to her a hundredfold.

Meanwhile, Polly and Ray are spending time with the Ketterings on their boat. They dock and leave to get gas and other supplies. Polly comes back, and catches George as he steals the kettering's boat. She is unintentionally knocked unconscious. So George is forced to take her with him. After Polly regains consciousness, she unsuccessfully tries to talk George into turning himself in.

The boat runs out of gas and starts to drift towards the falls. George unsuccessfully tries to scuttle the boat, but manages to get Polly onto a rock before he goes over the falls to his death. Moments later, a helicopter rescues Polly and she is reunited with Ray.


Best view in town....



QUOTES:
Ray: "Hey. Get out the fire hose"

Rose: "Thrill... thrill me, thrill me, take me, take me in your arms and make my life, perfection"

George: "Parading around, showing herself off in that dress, cut down so low in front you can see her kneecaps"

Polly: "You love her very much, don't you?"

George: "I met her in a big beer hall. She was the most popular waitress they had"

Ray: "Everybody gets a run of bad luck"

Rose: "Listen, it's got to be tomorrow. Do you hear me? Tomorrow"

Rose: "George, this is quite a change. What brought this on?"

George: "You smell like a dime store. I know what that means"

Jess Kettering: "What a boy! Turkey stuffed with shredded wheat!"

George: "I could put on his shoes and walk out of there officially dead"

Rose: "I bought two tickets for Chicago. Can I get a refund on one?"

George: "To bad. They can't play it for you now, Rose"



VIDEO INFO:
DVD
FULLscreen
Color
Region one
Company - Fox
NOT rated
Extra #1 - Restoration comparison
Extra #2 - Still gallery
Extra #3 - Trailer for NIAGARA
Extra #4 - Trailer for LET'S MAKE LOVE
Extra #5 - Trailer for DON'T BOTHER TO KNOCK
Extra #6 - Trailer for MONKEY BUSINESS
Extra #7 - Trailer for RIVER OF NO RETURN
Inserts - Yes. Contains a six sided folder with black and white photos.



QUOTES FROM THE TRAILER:
"She sang of love, just as she lived for love... like a lorelei, flaunting her charms, as she lured men on and on, to their destruction... and her own husband was no exception"

"It's Marilyn Monroe, skyrocketing to new dramatic heights"

"When a man took her loveliness into his arms, he took his life in his hands"

"Joseph Cotten, helpless in her sirens spell"

"Jean Peters, caught in the destructive whirlpool of another's deceit"

"She could never be his, or any man's, completely... and that thought whipped him into a frenzy that makes the screen thunder with unparalleled suspense"



OBTAINED AT - CD Universe

PRICE - $10.49

DO I WANT MY MONEY BACK?:
NO!... I do NOT give a fuck about anybody else's definition of "film noir"... Most "film noir" SNOBS think the genre ended with "black and white" films. My response to that is, BULLSHIT!... It's the equivalent of saying the horror genre also ended with black and white films... Ok, now that I got that off my chest...

This is one of my favorite NOIRS of all time, and Marilyn Monroe looks fucking hot in it. However, I think her singing scene does come across as somewhat goofy. I've always preferred seeing her portray morally challenged charaters.

Jean Peters deserves more praise. She really kicks ass in this movie. Plus, she looks freaking adorable and sexy! The first time I ever saw her, was in a movie called PICKUP ON SOUTH STREET ( which is one of my all time favorite flicks ).

Joseph Cotten kicks ass also. Think about this, Mr. Cotten has to act opposite Marilyn Monroe. That means, no matter how great his performance, Marilyn still gets the limelight and that's a shame.

I love the instrumental music that's played before Rose's murder ( and the way they used silence during her murder ).

The camera work during the bell tower scenes is fucking fantastic! The way the bells are shown and the way they use the lights and shadows is incredible. It made a lasting impression on me, when I was a kid and saw this movie on television.



The restoration comparison does show some improvement. The unrestored version is definitely faded and a little blurry.