Shooting Location:
Niagara, New York, USA.

These contemporary photographs of the location were shot by me in September 2001, 48 years after filming.

Released in 1953, Niagara is a dramatic thriller with film noir elements. It wasn't written as a star vehicle for Marilyn Monroe but she would dominate the film nonetheless. Anne Baxter originally won the role of Polly (which would eventually go to Jean Peters). Unlike other film noir movies of the time, Niagara was shot in Technicolor and was one of 20th Century Fox's biggest box office hits of the year and, along with Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and How to Marry a Millionaire, solidified Monroe's status as a bona fide box-office draw.

Niagara Falls is a set of massive waterfalls located on the Niagara River in eastern North America, on the border between the United States and Canada. Niagara Falls (French: les Chutes du Niagara) comprises three separate waterfalls: the Horseshoe Falls (sometimes called the Canadian Falls), the American Falls, and the smaller, adjacent Bridal Veil Falls. While not exceptionally high, Niagara Falls is very wide. With more than 6 million cubic feet (168,000 m³) of water falling over the crestline every minute it is the most powerful waterfall in North America and possibly the best-known in the world.

Niagara Falls is renowned for its beauty, and is both a valuable source of hydroelectric power and a challenging project for environmental preservation. A popular tourist site for over a century, the natural wonder is shared between the twin cities of Niagara Falls, New York and Niagara Falls, Ontario.

From the American side, the American Falls can be viewed from walkways along Prospect Park, which also features an observation tower. Nearby, the Cave of the Winds trail leads hikers down some three hundred steps to a point beneath Bridal Veil Falls. The Niagara Scenic Trolley offers guided trips along the American Falls. This is the only Marilyn Monroe movie in which her character dies.

"Niagara" was directed by Henry Hathaway, who directed many great noirs, including "Johnny Apollo" (1940), "Dark Corner" (1946), "The House on 92nd Street" (1946), "Kiss of Death" (1947), and "Call Northside 777" (1948). While this isn't one of his best noir entries, it is still well worth watching. 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 motel used in the movie, the Rainbow Cabins, was a set that was built for $48,000, overlooking the Falls. It became a real hotel after the movie was completed, and the promotion was "Marilyn Monroe slept here!". The exterior shots were done on location and the interiors were done at 20th Century Fox's West Los Angeles backlot.

Plot: On their second honeymoon, Peters and Casey Adams arrive at their Niagara cottage and meet another couple, Cotten and Monroe. Monroe, from the beginning, confides about her husband being considerably older than she. Cotten's character George is always depressed and may have just been released from a mental hospital. Peters's character Poll later sees Monroe's character Rose kissing a young man, played by Richard Allan, and it is later discovered that the couple are in on a murder scheme and George is the victim.

I have visit the location two times: 1993 and 2001.

On the Canadian side, Queen Victoria Park features manicured gardens, platforms offering spectacular views of both the American and Horseshoe Falls, and underground walkways leading into observation rooms which yield the illusion of being within the falling waters. The observation deck of the nearby Skylon Tower offers the highest overhead view of the Falls, and in the opposite direction gives views as far as distant Toronto.6 With the Minolta Tower formerly the (Konica Minolta Tower), it is one of two towers in Canada with a view of the Falls.

The highlight of the movie (beyond Monroe) are the Falls themselves, with innumerable shots set amidst its spray. One can only imagine Marilyn's response to having to act under the force of the world's biggest shower.

The scene in the bell tower is classic Hitchcock in its direction and the feel of Monroe's lonely desperation as Cotton stalks her up the staircase. The director to "Niagara," is no slouch, but the acclaimed director of such film noir classics as "Call Northside 777"and "The House on 92nd Street," Henry Hathaway. I realize some reviewers will scoff at the comparison of this film with any of Hitchcock's work, but I still say it's there. As well as another one of my personal suspense favorites, "Midnight Lace" (1960) starring Doris Day and Rex Harrison. This movie is very similar to "Dial M For Murder" and has that Hitchcock feel.

This film is filled with escalating terror and a highly charged ending. The majestic Niagara Falls serves as an appropriate metaphor for the destructive power of runaway carnal lust and its consequences.

Like the Falls themselves, this one's a bit over the top, but no matter, you'll want to take the ride again, as it's got so much going for it: luscious travelogue-like Technicolor photography, Monroe at her sexiest (one man's opinion), a nicely nuanced performance by a haggard, smouldering Joseph Cotton, some very dated Fabulous Fifties dialogue to snicker over (how many times can the second-string actors romping about utter, 'Let's get organized!'?), the hypnotic ditty 'Kiss' and a sinister plot to grab you. Highest honors go to cinematography, with a special nod to the eerie, shuttered mood evoked at the cabins. A real bon bon of a movie.

The film was launched with a memorable ad campaign featuring water cascading over Marilyn Monroe's curvaceous body. Niagara helped to solidify Monroe's status as a sex-goddess, and, more importantly, a box office draw.

The Maid of the Mist cruises, named for an ancient Ongiara Indian mythical character, have carried passengers into the whirlpools beneath the Falls since 1846. The Spanish Aerocar, built in 1916 from a design by Spanish engineer Leonardo Torres y Quevedo, is a cable car which takes passengers over the whirlpool on the Canadian side, below the Falls.

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.


Biography in memoriam of Marilyn Monroe:

June 1, 1926 - August 5, 1962

Her mother was a film-cutter at RKO who, widowed and insane, abandoned her to sequence of foster homes. She was almost smothered to death at two, nearly raped at six. At nine the LA Orphans' Home paid her a nickel a month for kitchen work while taking back a penny every Sunday for church.

At sixteen she worked in an aircraft plant and married a man she called Daddy; he went into the military, she modeled, they divorced in 1946. She owned 200 books (including Tolstoy, Whitman, Milton), listened to Beethoven records, studied acting at the Actors' lab in Hollywood, and took literature courses at UCLA downtown. 20th Century Fox gave her a contract but let it lapse a year later.

In 1948 Columbia gave her a six-month contract, turned her over to coach Natasha Lytess and featured her in the B movie "Ladies of the Chorus" for which she sang two numbers. Joseph Mankiewicz saw her in a small part in The Asphalt Jungle and put her in "All About Eve", because of which 20th Century re-signed her to a seven-year contract. Niagara and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes launched her as a sex symbol superstar.

When she went to a supper honoring her The Seven Year Itch she arrived in a red chiffon gown borrowed from the studio (she had never owned a gown). The same year she married and divorced baseball great 'Joe Dimaggio' (their wedding night was spent in Paso Robles CA). After "Itch" she wanted serious acting to replace the sexpot image and went to New York's Actors Studio.

She worked with director Lee Strasberg and also underwent psychoanalysis to learn more about herself. Critics praised her transformation in Bus Stop and the press was stunned by her marriage to playwright Arthur Miller. True to form, she had no veil to match her beige wedding dress so she dyed one in coffee; he wore one of the two suits he owned.

They went to England that fall where she made "The Prince and the Showgirl" with Lawrence Olivier, fighting with him and falling further prey to alcohol and pills. Two miscarriages and gynecological surgery followed. So did an affair with Yves Montand.

Work on her last picture The Misfits, written for her by departing husband Miller) was interrupted by exhaustion. She was dropped from "Something's Got to Give" due to chronic lateness and drug dependency.

She went into seclusion in her home in L.A. On August 5, 1962, her housekeeper found her dead body, nude and lying face down on her bed, apparently the victim of an overdose of sedatives. She was only 36.

Burial:
Westwood Memorial Park
Los Angeles, Los Angeles County,California, USA
Plot: Corridor of Memories, Crypt 24
GPS (lat/lon): 34.05847, -118.43979.

" Why should the Falls drag me down here at 5 o'clock in the morning? To show me how big they are and how small I am? To remind me they can get along without any help? All right, so they've proved it. But why not? They've had ten thousand years to get independent. What's so wonderful about that? I suppose I could too, only it might take a little more time. "

George Loomis played by Joseph Cotten