#7 year itch actor movie
#7 year itch actor code

Walter Matthau tested for the part along with the then-just-as-unknown Gena Rowlands as The Girl on June 15, 1954. AN UNKNOWN WALTER MATTHAU ALMOST LANDED THE ROLE OF RICHARD SHERMAN. Apparently Wilder couldn't come up with one either. 'The truth is that I could never think of a name to really fit the girl I had in mind,' Axelrod said.

#7 year itch actor code

The Production Code effectively ended on November 1, 1968, with the introduction of the MPAA film rating system. Two decades later, Wilder said the limitations imposed by the Hays Code made The Seven Year Itch a 'nothing picture,' and that he wished he had waited until the 1970s to make it. Instead, Sherman only fantasizes about cheating with The Girl in the film. Zanuck refused to give Wilder-or anyone else-the go-ahead to even suggest the idea to censor Geoffrey Shurlock. However, the Production Code dictated that “adultery must never be the subject of comedy or laughter.” Wilder thought he came up with a workaround and suggested they have Sherman's maid find a hairpin when making up his bed, implying the adulterous act without showing it. In the play, Sherman and The Girl have sex. THANKS TO THE HAYS CODE, THERE WERE KEY DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE PLAY AND THE MOVIE. Axelrod brought his script from the play with him to his first meeting with Wilder, and told Wilder he thought they could use it as a guide.

#7 year itch actor movie

WILDER AND AXELROD HAD A SOMEWHAT CONTEMPTUOUS FIRST MEETING.īoth Wilder and Axelrod worked on the movie adaptation. Zanuck grew impatient, he paid Axelrod another $175,000 to move up the movie debut to June 3, 1955. Part of the 1953 agreement with Axelrod was that the movie could not be released before January 31, 1956, since the play was still making money. THE SCREEN RIGHTS WERE ACQUIRED FOR $255,000. Based on a play by George Axelrod, Billy Wilder co-wrote and directed the movie version of the story of the nerdy, married Richard Sherman (Tom Ewell) who, during one summer, is tempted to cheat on his wife when he meets The Girl (Monroe). Despite being stymied by strict morality guidelines set forth by The Motion Picture Production Code, The Seven Year Itch is best known for the iconic scene in which Marilyn Monroe's dress blows above her knees while she's standing over a subway grate.