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The Seven Year Itch
When Ivy finds her husband, Jack, obviously scratching his seven-year itch, she refuses to listen to any lame excuses. Instead, she decides to even the score by taking their anniversary cruise alone. But Jack wasn't about to be left behind, and soon finds himself a stowaway watching his wife make him crazy.
185 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1953
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
October 1, 2017
Wasn't funny to me. Both were stupid. Both of them kissed other people and I think he would have cheated if she hadn't come home to surprise him. She thought she was sleeping with another man too. Just gross in my totally opinionated opinion. I just didn't like the book at all. Kissing another person while married is a trigger for me. If it doesn't bother you then the book is probably fine just not for me. And if he would have been my husband, he would have totally realized his dream of swimming with the sharks. After I pushed him overboard. Jerk.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 26, 2026
The Seven Year Itch written by George Axelrod and Billy Wilder, directed by the latter is one of The New York Times’ Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made, and one of the best comedies of all time – you find thousands of notes on films from the NYT 1,000 and other web pages on my blog https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20... and YouTube Channel, where my macaws radiate
10 out of 10
Some Like It Hot https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20... was acclaimed as the Best Comedy Ever by a number of critics, and Billy Wilder has worked with Marylin Monroe on this one too, just like they did on The Seven Year Itch -this is the year when Monroe is celebrated
Tom Ewell has the leading role of Richard Sherman, the man who feels The Seven Year Itch, when his wife and son leave town, New York, for the summer holydays near some lake – the son is supposed to have a paddle and canoe, or something else, for the water, and the paddle will be a recuring theme in the plot
Relationships tend to reach a point when Hedonic Adaptation sets in, maybe I will refer to this later, and there could be trouble – I know I am in deep s**t, the spouse even said she thinks of putting me in a home, or hospital the other day – unless they read https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20...
The Seven Principles of Making Marriage Work, a classic of psychology by John Gottman, the one who is quoted by Malcolm Gladwell in another quintessential work, Blink, for his ability to have an accuracy rate of over ninety percent when he hears a couple interacting, Professor Gottman knows if they will stay together, or separate
Marilyn Monroe is ‘The Girl’ – she used to be the epitome of the perfect female – and she moves in the building where Richard Sherman lives, she rings him actually, which is something that happens in Breakfast at Tiffany’s https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20...
A man sees this splendid woman and his glasses break, Sherman himself is stunned – who would not be – but he tries through the comedy to resist the temptation, he knows she has her photo in American Photography (or some such title) at some stage, but he stays away from the image, as long as he can, then he gives in
She drops a flower pot – in a recent Korean movie, the antihero wants to kill a competitor like this – and it comes near an accident, they then talk, she is invited for a drink, and this flat is so much better, because of the air conditioning https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20...
Games People Play is a third classic that came to mind, it looks as if Richard will try to have sex with this angelic creature, but then he sends her upstairs and is fighting the urge, sexual desire with amusing efforts https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20... happiness may be available at the end
10 out of 10
Some Like It Hot https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20... was acclaimed as the Best Comedy Ever by a number of critics, and Billy Wilder has worked with Marylin Monroe on this one too, just like they did on The Seven Year Itch -this is the year when Monroe is celebrated
Tom Ewell has the leading role of Richard Sherman, the man who feels The Seven Year Itch, when his wife and son leave town, New York, for the summer holydays near some lake – the son is supposed to have a paddle and canoe, or something else, for the water, and the paddle will be a recuring theme in the plot
Relationships tend to reach a point when Hedonic Adaptation sets in, maybe I will refer to this later, and there could be trouble – I know I am in deep s**t, the spouse even said she thinks of putting me in a home, or hospital the other day – unless they read https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20...
The Seven Principles of Making Marriage Work, a classic of psychology by John Gottman, the one who is quoted by Malcolm Gladwell in another quintessential work, Blink, for his ability to have an accuracy rate of over ninety percent when he hears a couple interacting, Professor Gottman knows if they will stay together, or separate
Marilyn Monroe is ‘The Girl’ – she used to be the epitome of the perfect female – and she moves in the building where Richard Sherman lives, she rings him actually, which is something that happens in Breakfast at Tiffany’s https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20...
A man sees this splendid woman and his glasses break, Sherman himself is stunned – who would not be – but he tries through the comedy to resist the temptation, he knows she has her photo in American Photography (or some such title) at some stage, but he stays away from the image, as long as he can, then he gives in
She drops a flower pot – in a recent Korean movie, the antihero wants to kill a competitor like this – and it comes near an accident, they then talk, she is invited for a drink, and this flat is so much better, because of the air conditioning https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20...
Games People Play is a third classic that came to mind, it looks as if Richard will try to have sex with this angelic creature, but then he sends her upstairs and is fighting the urge, sexual desire with amusing efforts https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20... happiness may be available at the end
August 23, 2019
I don't mind idiots in my books and movies. Richard is definitely a complete idiot. His vanity is showing almost immediately: when his wife and kid are leaving for a holiday, he thinks it's flattering that his kid is upset. He also thinks his wife is right to be worried about losing her looks (although he doesn't know if she's worried or not), because he himself doesn't look any different than what he looked like when he was twenty-eight, so when she gets older, everybody will think she's his mother.
However, idiots need to be interesting. Even if the characters are trash or the sexual politics are old-fashioned etc., I'm willing to get on board if the writing/plot are good or there's a point to all the messiness. The Seven Year Itch doesn't do anything for me in that regard. Richard is just boring and there's no payoff, or at least any that I can see or appreciate. I never truly cared about anything that happened.
I do like the fact that Richard underestimates The Girl, thinking all the things that men presume about women's behavior, yet in the end he not only feels old because of what she's saying to him, but gets a reality check in other ways as well. I kind of get what Axelrod is trying to do by making Richard seem like a fool, but if he's trying to make an argument about marriages, I can't tell what it is.
I also re-watched the movie and didn't find it particularly funny either (I was very young when I saw it the first time, so I don't remember if I liked it back then), but at least it has beautiful colors and vintage fashion going for it.
However, idiots need to be interesting. Even if the characters are trash or the sexual politics are old-fashioned etc., I'm willing to get on board if the writing/plot are good or there's a point to all the messiness. The Seven Year Itch doesn't do anything for me in that regard. Richard is just boring and there's no payoff, or at least any that I can see or appreciate. I never truly cared about anything that happened.
I do like the fact that Richard underestimates The Girl, thinking all the things that men presume about women's behavior, yet in the end he not only feels old because of what she's saying to him, but gets a reality check in other ways as well. I kind of get what Axelrod is trying to do by making Richard seem like a fool, but if he's trying to make an argument about marriages, I can't tell what it is.
I also re-watched the movie and didn't find it particularly funny either (I was very young when I saw it the first time, so I don't remember if I liked it back then), but at least it has beautiful colors and vintage fashion going for it.
"The girl upstairs almost kills me with a cast iron bucket. So I ask her down for a drink. What's wrong with that? If Helen was here, she'd do the same thing."
July 17, 2009
The script for the play on which the Tom Ewell/Marilyn Monroe movie is based is an improvement on the widley known movie. While there is no "subway grate blowing the skirt up" scene in the original play, the story line is more creative and adult than what was allowed by Hollywood studio execs in 1953. It would have been a complete gas to see the play faithfully recreated in the movie. Great fun.
March 25, 2026
My slow progress with this was based on me having to corect the OCR errors as I was going along. Yes, I bought a copy and transformed it into another medium. So, sue me.
Anyway, I love the movie and I also liked the play Goodbye Charlie by the same playwright.
Anyway, it's a play that is shaped by its times. With a somewhat more relaxed attitude to extramarital affairs, it's a little harder to see whyRichard Sherman doesn't sleep with The Girl in the movie. In the play, however, it fades to black and he does sleep with the girl, so the third act deals with his guilt about cheating on his wife. This was elided in the movie and you can see why—the third act is a bit weaker than the first two.
George Axelrod is clearly writing a play that looks as close as possible to a movie, with music and lighting changes and some of the most complex stage directions I've ever read. Think of Shakespeare: Exits, pursued by bears and compare it to:
Tom Ewell, who played Richard Sherman on Broadway (and in the film) deserves an sward for going through all that. (I shamefully admit that some of my corrections to the OCR are not best exemplified in that bit.)
Still, a good play that someone should put on one day, if only to show how complex stage directions can bring a play very much of its time to life.
Anyway, I love the movie and I also liked the play Goodbye Charlie by the same playwright.
Anyway, it's a play that is shaped by its times. With a somewhat more relaxed attitude to extramarital affairs, it's a little harder to see whyRichard Sherman doesn't sleep with The Girl in the movie. In the play, however, it fades to black and he does sleep with the girl, so the third act deals with his guilt about cheating on his wife. This was elided in the movie and you can see why—the third act is a bit weaker than the first two.
George Axelrod is clearly writing a play that looks as close as possible to a movie, with music and lighting changes and some of the most complex stage directions I've ever read. Think of Shakespeare: Exits, pursued by bears and compare it to:
Good-bye. . . . (He closes hall door. Then, after a moment silently opens it again and peers out, craning his neck to look up the stairs. He comes back inside, closes the door. Tie is shaking bis bead. Crossing d. to c.) Where did that come from! 1 didn’t know they made them like that any more. She must be the one who sublet the Kaufmans’ apartment.... I should have asked her in for a drink or something. Oh, no! Oh, no, I shouldn’t have. Not me, kid. (The telephone rings. It is on table behind sofa L. He looks quickly at his watch. bis ^cb goes t0 phone . . . puts He loob c2,e Eagerly) Hello? Oh. Hello, Helen. i , [Crosses to R. end of sofa, taking phone with him.) . . . 1 wasn’t expecting you to call till ten. Is everything okay? Good. I was just expecting you o they were two runs Shere Z ent Hodges up to bunt ... huh? Yeah, I’m behind . • ■ “’ey onlo jOjfl ovcr R. ann. J>uls phone on S1'iPy ‘Xlds receiver.) Yeah ... the old place is pretty empty sofa and holds rece u Rjcky without you. •• • hasn,( done that for a iong time. It was Go°d,,' excitement. He’s all right now? That’s nice. PrObaMy fd n’t Who DID you meet at he A & P? What’s T ■ M0,'rKen-ie’doing up there? (Sitting up straight.) Look, my Xe to you is avoid Tom Mackenzie like the plague. If you keep on meeting him in the A & P switch to Bohack s. Look, are you sure everything else is all right? Good. . . . Me too. I’m pretty tired myself. Good night. Night. (He hangs up phone . . .Lis it on sofa table . . . sighs.) I might as well go to sleep my self But I’m not sleepy. 1 suddenly realize that 1 am not even a little bit sleepy. (Picking up telephone and putting it m lap.) Maybe I could call up Charlie Peterson. ... No. That’s a real bad idea. (Puts telephone beside hint on sofa.) Under no circumstance should I call up Charlie Peterson. I’ll get in bed and read. I’ve got enough junk here I’m supposed to read. (He picks up briefcase from sofa table and puts it on coffee table. Crosses to piano for galleys. Sits R. end of sofa.) I’ve got a conference with Dr. Brubaker tomorrow night. It might be amusing if I’d finished his miserable book before I talked to him about it. I don’t know why every psychiatrist in America feels he has to write a book. (Opens briefcase, takes out "The Scarlet Letter.") And let’s see what else. “The Scarlet Letter.” I read that in school. I don’t have to read that again. But I better. (Holds up galleys and "Scarlet Letter"—one in each band.) Dr. Brubaker and “The Scarlet Letter.” It looks like a big night. (Picks up soda from coffee table.) One more of these for a night cap and we’re all set. (Rises, crosses to kitchen, carrying empty bottle of soda. Mumbles:) Citric acid, corn, syrup, artificial raspberry flavor. . . . (Leaves empty bottle on window-sill, taking another bottle of soda from refrigerator. Opening it on wall bottle-opener, mumbles:) If you don’t get ulcers one way, you get them another. (Walks back toward the terrace, sits on chaise, turns on radio.)
Tom Ewell, who played Richard Sherman on Broadway (and in the film) deserves an sward for going through all that. (I shamefully admit that some of my corrections to the OCR are not best exemplified in that bit.)
Still, a good play that someone should put on one day, if only to show how complex stage directions can bring a play very much of its time to life.
January 14, 2021
I’ve had this script for a couple of years now, intending to read it as a possible suggestion for the Lincoln Community Playhouse, since I was on the play reading committee for them in the past. I finally got around to it. If you think you know this play because you’ve seen the Marilyn Monroe film — you’re wrong! That film is a very sanitized version of this stage story. I don’t think I’d recommend it for LCP but it would still make for a great stage production — full of whimsy, introspection and flights of imagination. But also rather blatant sexism, which in an era of #MeToo is probably pushing too many “hot buttons”. Still, I’d love to see it performed somewhere! “The Girl” is really not much like Marilyn’s version at all!
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January 14, 2025The Brubaker Steigel theory The Brubaker Steigel theory of the sporadic infidelity pattern in the married male or the seven year itch. A thorough study of 18,000 marriages conducted by Dr. Steigel and mysel leads us to believe that the urge curve in the middle age husband rises sharply during the seventh year of marriage.
No man's an island.
No man's an island.
July 28, 2020
Uncle Richard described this okay as an extended Harvey Korman sketch with a lot of Walter Mitty sprinkled in. I don’t think it pretends to be anything but an escapist comedy. Not sure why its run was so long on Broadway; it is mildly amusing at best.
February 24, 2025
🖊 Fun abounds. Why wouldn't it?
જ⁀🔵 Read the 1952 three-act play script on Internet Archive.
🎥 1955 movie version with Marilyn Monroe, Carolyn Jones, Tom Ewell.
༻ ༺ ༅ ✬ ༅ ༻ ༺ ༅ ✬ ༅ ༻༺ ༅ ✬ ༅ ༻ ༺
જ⁀🔵 Read the 1952 three-act play script on Internet Archive.
🎥 1955 movie version with Marilyn Monroe, Carolyn Jones, Tom Ewell.
༻ ༺ ༅ ✬ ༅ ༻ ༺ ༅ ✬ ༅ ༻༺ ༅ ✬ ༅ ༻ ༺
June 1, 2011
This is the script of the play as it ran in 1952 with the original cast, including Tom Ewell as Richard Sherman.
Thirty-eight years old and married for seven years, Richard Sherman's wife and boy leave him alone with his vivid imagination for the summer. What no one was expecting is that a new girl has taken the upstairs apartment for the summer and Mr. Sherman can't stop thinking about his waning youth or his marriage, which has become so comfortable.
Funny, charming and not as innocent as the movie. Not to compare it to the movie, which I really love, but the whole play takes part in the Sherman's apartment, with Sherman's fantasy scenes played out with "dream lighting" and actors offstage providing the inner dialogue. Also, the relationship with the girl upstairs is more complicated.
Some of my favorite characters in the movie, such as the janitor and Sherman's boss, are only referred to here, but the brusque psychiatrist has a bigger part.
If you like the movie, you'd like the play.
Thirty-eight years old and married for seven years, Richard Sherman's wife and boy leave him alone with his vivid imagination for the summer. What no one was expecting is that a new girl has taken the upstairs apartment for the summer and Mr. Sherman can't stop thinking about his waning youth or his marriage, which has become so comfortable.
Funny, charming and not as innocent as the movie. Not to compare it to the movie, which I really love, but the whole play takes part in the Sherman's apartment, with Sherman's fantasy scenes played out with "dream lighting" and actors offstage providing the inner dialogue. Also, the relationship with the girl upstairs is more complicated.
Some of my favorite characters in the movie, such as the janitor and Sherman's boss, are only referred to here, but the brusque psychiatrist has a bigger part.
If you like the movie, you'd like the play.
April 3, 2020
Just dont buy this
Spoilers: If I could choose a no star I would. One: the grounds that she thought he cheated were flimsy. And she had already cheated to a degree and not once took responsibility. I personally don't like reading a.romance where she thinks she's slept with someone other than her husband and enjoyed it and once finds out it was him covers it up. Makes him jump through the hoops when she's done the same thing. It was just dumb and the heroine comes off as unstable. I skipped most of this book. Story had no substance Too much money for this kind of writing. I guess the joke was on me.
Spoilers: If I could choose a no star I would. One: the grounds that she thought he cheated were flimsy. And she had already cheated to a degree and not once took responsibility. I personally don't like reading a.romance where she thinks she's slept with someone other than her husband and enjoyed it and once finds out it was him covers it up. Makes him jump through the hoops when she's done the same thing. It was just dumb and the heroine comes off as unstable. I skipped most of this book. Story had no substance Too much money for this kind of writing. I guess the joke was on me.
February 9, 2015
This is a truly great play.I wish I could have seen it on Broadway rather then on the screen with Marilyn Monroe. Ms. Monroe's presentation of the young female character gave that character no depth. "That Girl", as she is refered to in the play script, is really the Summer character from 500 Days of Summer sixy years earlier.Tom Ewell played the main male character in the play and in the movie. He was perfect for the part. And the lesson learned by Ewell's character is a lesson every husband should learn. Read or see this play. It is truly a classic.
November 10, 2014
Wow is this play a throwback to mid-century America. Everything about it has a very 1950s / 1960s feel, more than other plays I’ve read from the same time period.
His wife gone for the summer, a man struggles with acting on his attraction to his ditzy upstairs neighbor (an attractive young woman). I’m honestly not sure if The Seven Year Itch a smart commentary on marriage or horribly misogynistic. But it’s fun. Recommended.
His wife gone for the summer, a man struggles with acting on his attraction to his ditzy upstairs neighbor (an attractive young woman). I’m honestly not sure if The Seven Year Itch a smart commentary on marriage or horribly misogynistic. But it’s fun. Recommended.
March 24, 2021
I would have much preferred a run-of-the-mill typical MB story but this one was incorrigible! Hated the character of Ivy - who from the beginning is calling her husband a cheater while she's been the one cheating him in thoughts and actions both and calling herself morally superior! If there were more women fraudsters like her, the whole system of marriage would crash.
November 30, 2007
An enjoyable script. Remarkably in line with the movie (unlike today in which they change things around for no apparant reason).
It stikes me as quite sophisticated and much more surreal than I would have anticipated for it's era.
I'd be excited to see a theatre produce this for the stage.
It stikes me as quite sophisticated and much more surreal than I would have anticipated for it's era.
I'd be excited to see a theatre produce this for the stage.
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February 26, 2021"I don't go out with most people who ask me. I know it sounds silly but people are always falling desperately in love with me and everything and it makes it so complicated. I mean it's just easier to pay fifty-five cents and go to the movies by yourself." - The Girl, p. 46
November 25, 2010
I can't say I liked the characters much in this busy sex-comedy. I was actually surprised by how racy this play was for its era.
July 17, 2012
Achei muito engraçada a história e dei boas risadas!
Recomendo!
Recomendo!
August 19, 2013
This play is full of a number of charming theatrical moments, so its a shame that its sexual politics are almost irredeemably dated.
August 26, 2013
This was supposed to be humorous, I just found it pretty blah and silly. My rating is based on the tale, which was weak, and my dislike of the hypocritical heroine.
October 3, 2015
Cute play overall.
August 24, 2016
Axelrod treated adultery too lightly in this play, but his understanding of human nature and use of humor in words was quite profound and enjoyable.
April 11, 2021
Was interestingly written, describing things in a subtle detail. Unexpected ending but I liked it so much, that was what I wanted to be in the end. I’m satisfied with the ending super satisfied.
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews