Niagra (1953)

Niagara is a 1953 American film-noir thriller directed by Henry Hathaway, produced by Charles Brackett, and written by Brackett, Richard L. ...

Niagara is a 1953 American film-noir thriller directed by Henry Hathaway, produced by Charles Brackett, and written by Brackett, Richard L. Breen and Walter Reisch. The film stars Marilyn Monroe, Joseph Cotten, Jean Peters and Max Showalter. It was one of 20th Century Fox's biggest box-office hits that year.{full_page}

Unlike other films noirs of the time, which were typically black-and-white, Niagara was filmed in "three-strip" Technicolor (one of the last films to be made at Fox in that format, as a few months later Fox began converting to CinemaScope, which had compatibility problems with three-strip but not with Eastmancolor).

Monroe was given top billing in Niagara, which elevated her to star status. Her next two films, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (with Jane Russell) and How to Marry a Millionaire (with Betty Grable and Lauren Bacall) were even bigger successes.

Ray and Polly Cutler, on a delayed honeymoon at Niagara Falls, find their reserved cabin occupied by George and Rose Loomis. Rose tells them that George is asleep and has recently been discharged from an Army mental hospital after his war service in Korea. The Cutlers politely but reluctantly accept another, less desirable cabin, and so the two couples become acquainted.

George and Rose have a very troubled and volatile marriage. She is younger and very attractive. He is jealous, depressed and irritable. While touring the Falls the following day, Polly sees Rose passionately kissing another man, her lover Patrick.

That evening, the Cutlers witness George's rage. Rose joins an impromptu party and requests that a particular record be played. George storms out of their cabin and breaks the record, suspecting the song has a secret meaning for Rose. Seeing that George has cut his hand with the record, Polly visits his room to apply mercurochrome and bandages. George confides that he was a sheep rancher whose luck turned for the worse after he married Rose, whom he met when she was a barmaid.

What George does not know is that Rose and Patrick are planning to murder him at one of the Niagara Falls tourist sites. The next day, Rose lures George into following her to the dark tourist tunnel underneath the Falls, where Patrick is waiting to kill him. To let Rose know that George is dead, Patrick will request the Rainbow Tower Carillon play Rose's special song "Kiss". When she hears the tune being played on the carillon bells, Rose concludes George is dead.

In fact, it is George who has killed Patrick, thrown his body into the Falls, and collected Patrick's shoes at the exit instead of his own. This leads the police to believe that George is the victim. The body is retrieved and the police bring Rose to identify George's body. When the cover is lifted from the face and she recognizes the dead man, she collapses before saying anything and is admitted to the hospital.

The motel manager moves the Cutlers' belongings to the Loomises' cabin. George comes to the cabin looking for Rose but finds Polly sleeping there instead. She wakes and sees him before he runs away. She tells the police, who launch a dragnet. During the Cutlers' second visit to the Falls, George finds Polly alone for a moment. Trying to escape, she slips, but he saves her from falling over the edge into the waterfall torrent. He explains to her that he killed Patrick in self-defense and begs her to "let me stay dead". Polly leaves without answering. Later that day, she tells the police detective that she believes George is alive. George has the carillon play "Kiss" again to panic Rose, who flees the hospital, intending to cross the border back to the U.S. Finding George waiting at the border for her, she runs and tries to hide in the carillon bell tower. George catches her and strangles her beneath the bells, which remain silent. Realizing that he is locked in he sits down next to her. Remorsefully he says, "I loved you, Rose. You know that."

The Cutlers go fishing with Ray's boss and his wife in a launch on a section of the Niagara River above the Falls. When the boat moors in Chippawa for gasoline and other supplies, George steals it with Polly on board. She tells him to give himself up as it was self-defense, but he tells her he can't because he's killed Rose. The police set out in pursuit. The boat runs out of gas and drifts towards the Falls. As they near the edge, George scuttles the boat to slow it down and manages to get Polly onto a large rock before he goes over the Falls to his death. Polly is rescued from the rock by a helicopter.

Cast

Marilyn Monroe as Rose Loomis 

Joseph Cotten as George Loomis 

Jean Peters as Polly Cutler 

Max Showalter as Ray Cutler (credited as Casey Adams) 

Denis O'Dea as Inspector Starkey 

Richard Allan as Patrick 

Don Wilson as Mr. Kettering 

Lurene Tuttle as Mrs. Kettering 

Russell Collins as Mr. Qua 

Will Wright as the boatman

Walter Reisch says producer Charles Brackett wanted to make a film set around Niagara Falls and Reisch suggested it be a murder mystery. Reisch says, "Anybody hearing the name Niagara thinks of honeymoon couples and of some sentimental story of a girl walking out on her husband on their wedding night and their getting together again. It would be foolish to start up with Sonja Henie tricks here or Esther Williams-type swimming extravaganzas. I would like to make it a mystery story, with a real murder in it."

Reisch says he came up with the story but he wrote the script with Richard Breen and Brackett.  Head of Fox Daryl F Zanuck wanted to put Monroe in the film. According to Reisch, "we thought that was a nice idea, until there came a second telephone call that he wanted her to be the villainess, not the girl... My God! Here was the prettiest girl in the whole United States of America! But he insisted it was a great idea, so we finally did it. We didn't know whether she would like it, but she had no objection, whatsoever—on the contrary."  Peters replaced Anne Baxter in the role of Polly. Shooting of Niagara took place in the summer of 1952. Peters' character was initially the leading role, but the film eventually became a vehicle for Monroe, who was by that time more successful.

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