The Subway Grate Scene, The Seven Year Itch
Director Billy Wilder originally shot the scene at one in the morning on September 15, 1954, on Lexington Avenue at 52nd Street. But he subsequently reshot it on the 20th Century Fox soundstage, mainly due to the giant (reportedly 5000-strong) crowd of onlookers ruining the location sound with their whistles and cheers. The version that appears in the film combines the two shoots — and, significantly, never shows Monroe in the full-body shot that would become the movie’s poster and famous still image. Monroe’s then-husband, Joe Dimaggio, was on the set that night in New York, and his anger and embarrassment over the shoot was reportedly the beginning of the end for their marriage.
Take a moment to take in one of cinema's most magnetic stars at her iconic best.
