Rating: 
Summary: Falling in lust.
Review: Short, sweet, and as vicious as a slash of a switchblade. *Niagara* is about an unhappily and unlikely married couple (Marilyn Monroe and Joseph Cotten) hunkered down in a honeymooner's cabin at Niagara Falls. While Cotten deals with his post-Korea depression, Monroe indulges in an affair with a local bohunk. Monroe convinces the bohunk that killing her hubby would be a swell idea. The only explanation for this is that Monroe's character (sweetly named "Rose") gets a sexual charge from the plan. If she simply wanted to be rid of her husband, why doesn't she get a divorce? -- an inconvenient but easy enough matter, even during the 1950's. Wandering into this amoral tableux are Jean Peters and her Shredded-Wheat-salesman husband, Casey Adams, on a delayed honeymoon. Their subplot is nearly as entertaining as the main one: Adams is a scream as the Typical 50's Husband, condescending to his superior-in-every-way wife, concerned more about his career than his wife's well-being, abrasive salesman of both Shredded Wheat and the Eisenhower America that promulgates it. It's no wonder that, late in the film, his wife Peters and Monroe's husband Cotten share an unusually consummated, largely symbolic romance of their own. Indeed, symbols abound in *Niagara*. Director Henry Hathaway takes maximum advantage of the area's suggestive locales: the phallic Bell Tower and the gushing Falls themselves are in almost every shot. The Falls, in particular, become a menacing force, a deafening, titanic cascade of lust that overwhelms any decent impulses. Finally, let me add that *Niagara* also happens to be the only Monroe movie an unbiased movie fan need concern him/herself with. It's a real treat to see Marilyn playing someone who wouldn't be mistaken for a patient in the brain trauma ward; i.e., there's little of the doped, breathy cooing of her later roles. She was on the brink of stardom here, and the studio profiteers had yet to chart her course for her: therefore, she was permitted to actually act. And guys, she's intensely trampy and hot in this one: siren-red lipstick at all times (even in the shower and in bed, for Pete's sake), low-cut dresses, tight skirts . . . then-living proof of the neurotic levels to which sexual repression in the 50's was reaching in this country.
Rating: 
Summary: "There IS no other song!"
Review: So says Marilyn Monroe of "Kiss", the record she's brung out for the college kids to play on their portable record player. She lounges around sexily in her clinging red dress with a gauzy wrap carelessly falling over her shoulders, turning Niagara Falls boiling hot as she purrs along with the record. Then, out of a nearby cabin storms husband Joseph Cotten, who grabs the disk off the turntable and busts it up in his bare hands.oops! But Marilyn doesn't really care, because Joe's histrionics play right into her hands. See, she and her lover have their own plans for Joe, and let's just say roundtrip isn't in the offing. "Niagara" is a pretty entertaining movie, until The Real Climax between Marilyn and Joe. Then, the movie inexplicably continues for what seems an eternity involving Jean Peters, one-time wife of Howard Hughes. She's a lovely woman, but really, this isn't going to work. Part of the movie's problem concerns point of view. Ostensibly, it's about a vacationing newlywed couple--the distaff half of which is Peters--who witness the collapsing marriage of Monroe and Cotten. After Monroe exits the story line, Jean has her own adventures with Joe. In order for the movie to continue on like this after that Climax between Marilyn and Joe, Jean must clearly be the protagonist. That's why we have to follow what happens to her on Niagara Falls. But this cannot be achieved if the better known and more charismatic actress is the one who leaves the movie first. It's unfair to think anyone could follow Marilyn Monroe. So, "Niagara" is doomed to bore its viewers and make them forget about that they liked the first part. And the first part is good! Joseph Cotten has lost any semblance of confidence so evident in the rest of his movies as he shows us the prototype of the Viet Nam Vet; he's a shellshocked Korean Conflict vet who can't make a go of anything. Marilyn is his trollop of a wife, not too far removed from the good-time gal Virginia Mayo played in "The Best Years of Our Life". MM is tired of her loser spouse and is looking for a new life with a younger, more virile man. Many reviewers pan the newlywed husband, but I thought he was well cast as a real jerk, a jerk who doesn't understand the drama unfolding at the nearby bungalow. Peters does a nice job as the newlywed bride, but as stated before, cannot carry the movie after Monroe's exit. If it weren't for that mistake of the movie plotters', I'd have no problem giving "Niagara" 4 or maybe even 5 stars. But tedium is tedious, so with reluctance I award this movie only 3 stars. "Niagara" falls down, on the job.
Rating:
Summary: Scintillating tale of intrigue
Review: Sultry silver screen siren the legendary Marilyn Monroe, in one of her most memorable roles plays bored wife Rose Loomis. Monroe, a former beer hall waitress and her allegedly neurotic and jealous husband George played by underrated veteran actor Joseph Cotten are vacationing in a cabin with a picturesque view of Niagara Falls. Monroe has been stepping out on her husband having a torrid affair with the handsome Richard Allen. Together they scheme to kill Cotten and run away together.
Married couple attractive Jean Peters and Casey Adams are celebrating a delayed honeymoon at the same cabins. They unwittingly get sucked into the plot hatched by Monroe, with some unexpected ramifications.
Director Henry Hathaway does a very proficient job with the plot in crafting a unmistakably Hitchcockian tale replete with twists and intrigue. The backdrop provided by the spectacle of the falls greatly enhances the story. The cinematography was excellent. The camera angle showing a close up of a pair of two toned shoes seemed to also be a lesson learned from the great Alfred Hitchcock. The acting was superlative including an appearance by Jack Benny sidekick Don Wilson playing Adams' overbearing and obnoxious corporate boss.
Rating:
Summary: Marilyn as actress, not eye candy
Review: The cinematography in this film is gorgeous- from the initial scene of Marilyn pretending to sleep, to the grim climax. The cinemascope color seems to create the feeling of the bright, synthetic 1950's offset by the darker undertones. A must see for Marilyn fans!!
Rating:
Summary: The Traumatization of Polly Cutler
Review: The protagonist of Niagara is Polly Cutler. The film is a sadistic document of her unceasing torments. And, even as the credits are rolling, you know that for her its not over. Not by a long sight its not. She's probably in for a whole new round of torments, with that husband of hers, the shredded wheat boy and Mr. Kittering. They'll probably force her to go fishing with them right as she's still waking up screaming from nightmares about boats. Yeah, they'll probably go out for a long fishing trip and then settle down to stuff all the fish with shredded wheat or something. Turkey stuffed with shredded wheat. Please, man, please! Does that sound like a meal to you? Well that won first prize in the shredded wheat contest so that should clue you on the layout a hair. See, the movie on the surface appears to be about Rose Loomis' (Marilyn Monroe) husband murdering her. But the film is really about Mr. Cutler and how Polly Cutler wants to murder him. The whole plot is a mirror image of the real story; as if, in some Freudian transformation, Polly Cutler's repressed murderous ideas about her husband cause her so much inner torment they cause her to hallucinate the crime in reverse. Why in reverse? Come ON people: because if she hallucinated the crime as it really was she'd be too likely to recognize her own unacceptable desires.
Rating: 
Summary: Video Transfer is Top Notch.... Why only Full Screen???
Review: The Video transfer is outstanding. Very sharp, clear and vivid picture. It competes with today's market. I've never seen a transfer this good. But why waste thier time with only 'Full Screen'. Why is there no 'Widescreen Version'? I gave this title 5 stars but only 4 would fit on the screen.
Rating:
Summary: Marilyn in rare form
Review: This film, unlike the majority of Marilyn's films, is definitely one of her best. Marilyn proved that she could do more than just be a dumb blonde. the movie is excellent and has a slight Hitchcok feel to it. I'd recommend it to anyone who loves classic movies.
Rating:
Summary: Best of Marilyn
Review: This is Marilyn at her best and her most beautiful. The story is really great. They don't make them like this anymore. The acting is wonderful. The views of Niagara are the best ever filmed. Joseph Cotton fans won't be disappointed either. One of my all-time favorites.
Rating:
Summary: Wow!
Review: This is my favorite Marilyn Monroe movie! It's hard to believe it since this is a drama and that is not what she is known for. However, the first time I watched this (when I was 10 years old) I knew that I just had to know what happens at the end. When I saw it, I was so surprised (maybe shocked is the word). This is a great movie if you like supsense, murders, and drama!
Rating:
Summary: Marilyn and the Falls
Review: This is one of my favorite movies. It's got Marilyn Monroe at her sexiest and the incredible Niagara Falls for a backdrop. What more could you ask for? Marilyn plays the trashy, bored wife of dull, older Joseph Cotten. He thinks they came to Niagara for a vacation, but Marilyn's lover is planning on tossing Cotten over the falls and running off with her. It doesn't quite work out the way she had hoped, however, and someone else is murdered. There is a big subplot involving a fresh-faced young couple who have won a prize trip to Niagra, but get dangerously involved with Marilyn and Cotten. Marilyn is perfect as the cheap floosie who likes to toy with men. She burns up the screen when she sings a torchy song. This is almost cinema ancient history, because her performance is sooooo 1950's, but it's a fun ride, full of suspense and those beautiful Falls. Joseph Cotten is truly pitiable as a rancher with battle fatigue who wants to be loved. If you've ever been to Niagara Falls, this film will bring back some great memories; you can almost feel the mist! Those who haven't been there will want to go after seeing Niagara. It's a dandy of a thriller, well-written and acted.
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