Niagara

While vacationing at Niagara Falls, a woman (Marilyn Monroe) plots to kill her husband (Joseph Cotten).

Niagara features some great cinematography that’s wasted on a miscast would-be film noir. With the exception of Joseph Cotten, not a single performer is right for their role.

Max Showalter (no relation) lacks the charisma to overcome his scripted role as a one-note plot device designed to obstruct his wife’s understanding of what’s going on. Instead, he comes across as a brutish lout that we wish could trade places with Joseph Cotten.

Jean Peters, playing Showalter’s wife, is no better. She also lacks the charisma to overcome her scripted role as the damsel in distress. Unfortunately, we can’t bring ourselves to actually care what happens to her, because we’re too busy wondering what kind of girl would actually marry Showalter’s character.

Finally, there’s Marilyn Monroe. This early in her career, she simply wasn’t up to carrying this kind of drama. She’s unintentionally funny a lot of the time, which further undermines the story’s tension. Granted, she looks the part, but the shrewdness and the cold, calculating ambition, are missing from her eyes.

That said, die-hard Monroe fans will still probably want to give this a look due to her prominent role and top billing, but others can and should stay away.