On September 15, 1954, famed American actress Marilyn Monroe stood over a New York subway grate in her little white dress, fighting an upward breeze as part of a scene for The Seven Year Itch. The photo went down in history as one of Hollywood’s most memorable moments, but few people really know what was going on at the time, nor the consequences this incident held for the future.
On the corner of New York’s 52nd Street and Lexington Avenue, at an hour past midnight, Marilyn Monroe stood over the subway grate to create the famous movie scene. While it seemed like such an easy shot, it actually took three hours to film, with 14 takes needed to get it just right. The iconic scene involved a hundred photographers who were flanked by somewhere between 2,000 and 5,000 spectators.
While the scene was met with much approval from the crowd, DiMaggio, Monroe’s husband, apparently felt she was showing too much, prompting him to stomp off the set while they were filming. After the shoot, there was a violent fight between the two, prompting Monroe to file for divorce from the baseball player once she returned to California.
While the scene is considered racy by some, Monroe made sure that she caught the dress before it blew completely over her head. She also took extra precautions, even wearing two pairs of underwear so that no one would get to see too much.
Despite taking three hours and 14 takes, the crew still wasn’t satisfied with the scene, partly because of the noise the fans on set were making. The scene was re-shot in California on the Fox lot and this was the take subsequently used in the film. The shots from the original location were used to promote the movie.
The white dress, designed by William Travilla, sold for $4.6M at a 2011 auction. The designer never thought that much of his creation, despite the fact that it helped make Monroe’s scene so iconic. Indeed, he dismissed it as a silly little dress.
The auction was organized as part of Debbie Reynolds’ bankruptcy and her assets were sold off to help avoid going into debt. Reynolds’ assets included her collection of memorabilia from Old Hollywood which she hoped to put up in her own museum one day. She acquired Monroe’s dress in 1971 and paid only $200 for it.