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Niagara

Niagara

List Price: $14.98
Your Price: $13.48
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Suspenseful entertainment
Review: I consider "Niagara" to be Marilyn Monroe's most interesting movie. Instead of playing a ditzy bimbo, Marilyn portrays a sneaky woman plotting to murder her sick husband. "Niagara" has beautiful location shots, an interesting story, and Marilyn Monroe's great physique. Joseph Cotten does a good job as Marilyn's jealous husband.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: a movie to own
Review: i disagree with the last viewer who says that if you're a marilyn fan, you'll watch it over and over again. That movie is casting such a spell on you - because of the beauty of the niagara falls and the mystery surronding the story- that even if you are not a big marilyn fan, you'll just love it and may be you'll grow into a marilyn fan honnestly. She's excellent as the devious woman, kind of film noir character. A must see.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A Movie as Majestic as the Falls
Review: I first saw Niagara about 5 years ago, and recently decided to add it to my video library. It is a thriller of the first "water", and set in one of the world's most majestic locations. It is hard to say if the excellent acting by all the cast members is my favorite element that keeps me going back for another look, the period (50s) flavor, or the timeless Falls footage.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Marilyn at her best
Review: I had never seen a Marilyn Monroe film before I came across this one,and I really didn't know what to expect.I had heard all the trash talk of Marilyn's lack of acting skills and decided then and there to give her a whirl and see for myself.I was pleasantly surprised to find myself captivated by not only the movie,but moreover,by Marilyn herself.Not only was she beautiful,but her role of the wife scheming to kill off her husband Quickly dispelled any notions that she couldn't act.In short,I found the movie And Marilyn especially to be of first rate and Well worth seeing again!If you have never seen "Niagara",by all means Do so-you won't be disappointed!I certainly wasn't!(But beware-you just might find the song "Kiss" stuck in your head for days after!)

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: This is Marilyn's best film.
Review: I really love this movie. Marilyn actually gets to act, and she does a fabulous job!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Sexy Marilyn movie
Review: 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.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Monroe and Niagara Falls Raising Blood Pressure
Review: In this hugely entertaining pulp thriller, set at a cabin in Niagara Falls, Marilyn Monroe plays Rose Loomis, a sensuous hot tamale (what else?) scheming to do away with her husband, George (Joseph Cotten), an unbalanced Korean War veteran. Honeymooners Polly and Joe Cutler (Jean Peters and Casey Adams) are the couple slated to take the Loomis' cabin, the device used for having the pairs meet, and wind up being drawn into the Loomis' dark web.

First of all, the film is in Technicolor and even so, Monroe stands out in her red dress in one scene like a fallen angel. Cinematographer Joe McDonald did stunning work in capturing the falls, replete with rainbow, and they're a terrific backdrop to the building tension. And Marilyn Monroe is really something to watch, although I confess to being not a Monroe fan. There is something discomforting about her exaggeration of female sexuality -- the wiggle, the twitching mole when she talks in an impossibly breathy voice; it seems to be an image she was trapped inside and perhaps a heavy burden (in any case, she didn't make it past the age of 36). But there's no denying her ability to stop traffic. In one scene, where she comes out of her cabin in the red dress (a pure Hollywood icon) and puts a record on the record player, all the couples stop and stare -- how could they not? Marilyn Monroe exudes a predatory carnality and sensuality.

Although Monroe is the bombshell, Peters is extraordinarily pretty and preferable, in my opinion, to Monroe's artificiality; being exploited for her sexuality, Monroe managed to prove herself capable enough however dramatically. The build up is lots of fun, although a few scenes are rather incongruous, such as when Cotton goes on a wild-eyed rampage about Monroe in the darkened cabin, calling her a "tramp" (what else in the 50's? -- after everyone has enjoyed the electricity she generates, needless to say, assuaging their own guilt) and Peters says, cheerily, "You really love her, don't you?" (Hello?)

Nonetheless, it's all riveting fun. The only weak part is the casting of Casey Adams as Joe Cutler. Even at the story's highest dramatic points, Cutler has the geniality of a Jack Benny. But there's Marilyn, providing enough sizzle to make up for it.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Marilyn as a villainess: what a treat!
Review: 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.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: gripping yet left wanting more
Review: marilyn and the falls are breathtakingly beautiful! the story is rather slow, but interesting and suspenseful enough. marilyn's resless and sensual portrayal is definately worth seeing(if for nothing else). after marilyn's character is killed, you really lose interest in what happens to the other charaters.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: High Voltage!!
Review: Marilyn at her iconic best. Truthfully, not a "great" movie, but entirely worth watching for M.M. alone. Even if you turn off the sound. just watching M.M., on the crest of superstardom, is like a religious experience. In the scene where she gets out of the car and does her famous walk across the cobblestones, well, if you don't feel something akin to out of body experience, then there's something wrong with you! And for all the people who insist that Marilyn wasn't "even pretty", etc... well, you can take every actress & beauty queen who's ever been, make them up til doomsday, and they're STILL not going to come close to the perfection and power of THAT face!My mother saw this movie being filmed in Niagara Falls shortly before I was conceived, maybe that explains why it affects me so strongly. Anyway, watch this movie to worship M.M. alone, or endure a meaningless existance!!


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