Making of ‘The Seven Year Itch’ (by Sam Shaw, 1954), 2016

The story behind the photograph…

One of the most famous movie scenes of all time appeared in the romantic comedy The Seven Year Itch, directed by Billy Wilder. Filmed in 1954 and released in 1955, the movie starred screen idol Marilyn Monroe playing the part of an actress and former model. In the film sequence, Monroe and her co-star Tom Ewell exit the Trans-Lux Theater, then located at 586 Lexington Avenue in Manhattan, after watching the 1954 monster movie Creature from the Black Lagoon. A subway train passes underneath a grate in the sidewalk, and Monroe steps onto the grate, saying, ‘Oh, do you feel the breeze from the subway? Isn’t it delicious?’ The wind then blows her dress up, exposing her legs. The scene was originally scheduled to be shot on location at the Trans-Lux Theater on 15 September 1954, but thousands of onlookers and photographers arrived. Wilder had to reshoot on a stage set at 20th Century Fox in Hollywood. The scene was photographed by Sam Shaw (1912–1999). Monroe’s iconic white dress, created by costume designer William Travilla, sold at auction in 2011 for over $5.6 million. The notorious subway grate can still be seen at the corner of Lexington Avenue and 52nd Street.