Transcript
Host/Advertiser (0:00)
This is an I Heart podcast.
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Dana Schwartz (0:34)
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Lowe's Advertiser (0:38)
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Dana Schwartz (1:00)
Visit your nearby Lowes.
Live Nation Advertiser (1:07)
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Host/Advertiser (1:36)
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Dana Schwartz (2:11)
It's a night out in New York City in 1954. You could be doing well, anything. There are movies, theaters, parties, bars, restaurants. You could be at the opera or the ballet. You could be dancing among the young and beautiful at El Morocco, the Stork Club, or the Copacabana. Instead, you're standing on a street corner, elbow to elbow with strangers, just waiting. Because in just a few minutes, you've been promised. You're about to get the best show in town. And so you shove your hands in your pockets to warm them and try not to get elbowed by an overly aggressive photographer next to you you watch as burly men carrying equipment set up for a movie scene they're about to shoot. Maybe you get a glimpse of the actor Tom Ewell, but everyone knows that despite his recently celebrated turn on Broadway, he's not the one who anyone is here to see. Finally, you get a glimpse of white fabric, a flash of a blond bob, a smile that sets the world sideways. The crowd comes to life with shouts and cheers around you. Marilyn Monroe is here to shoot what will become the most iconic scene in her career today. There's nothing extraordinary about the corner of Lexington and 52nd street in 2026. There are three lanes of fast moving traffic. There's a halal cart on the sidewalk and a Paris baguette at the intersection where in a pinch you can get a fairly generic sandwich. On the sidewalk on the southwestern side of the intersection, there's a mundane looking office building. It's the site of a moment that redefined celebrity a few decades earlier. And there's not even a plaque. Even if you've never seen the Billy Wilder movie the Seven Year Itch, I can almost guarantee you're aware of its most indelible image, immortalized on the movie's poster and in recreations and parodies in the decades since. In the movie, Marilyn Monroe, playing the character credited only as the girl, leaves the trans luxe movie theater on 52nd street with Tom Ewell's character, Richard Sherman, after seeing the creature from the Black Lagoon. And then Monroe's character, in a white halter dress with accordion pleats, stands on a subway grate to enjoy the breeze from a passing train below, her dress lifting around her. The scene was scheduled to shoot on September 15, 1954. 20th Century Fox, the studio behind the picture, smelled an opportunity for publicity. They got word out to the public about when and where that scene would be filming and what exactly the scene would be. Fans and photographers descended, all jockeying for position to get a glimpse of the movie star's legs and whatever else they might see. And it was quite the crowd. Anywhere from 2000 to 5000 people were shouting and screaming every time. Wilder cued the special effects man below the grate to turn on the giant fan. Cameras flashed and snapped and Marilyn's dress blew up around her again and again and again. The crew shot the scene 14 times as the crowds roared. The truth was, the crowds were never going to see what they were probably hoping for. In her biography, Marilyn noted that she wore two pairs of white underwear beneath the dress to prevent a wardrobe malfunction. But still, the Sexy little scene was a sensational. As it turns out, all that noise from the crowds screaming and shouting and trying to get close enough to see whatever Marilyn's underwear wasn't hiding. Well, it kind of made the footage unusable. They had to reshoot that scene on a studio lot in California, a set dressed up to look like New York City. That's the shot that actually appears in the movie the Seven Year Itch, not the one where hordes of fans and opportunists were shouting just beyond the camera's sight line. But that night in New York wasn't a total wash. It created plenty of buzz, and photos they took became publicity pictures for the movie. Pictures that would arguably become the most iconic images of a woman who was already an American icon. And that night in New York City with the fan below her and the fans surround, would change Marilyn's life forever. In a more personal way, it wasn't just strangers in the crowd watching as Billy Wilder told her to pretend to feel the subway breeze over and over again. Her husband was also on set that day. Joe DiMaggio, the Yankee Clipper himself. The guy who set a record for the longest ever hitting streak in Major League Baseball world, which still stands to this day. At this point, he was just a few years into retirement and only a few months into their marriage. He stood there just waiting and watching every time Billy Wilder called action and the crowd cheered and jeered, heckling his wife, their eyes glued to her legs. Joe DiMaggio was a jealous man. And he had a temper. Now, it's impossible to know exactly what occurred in the privacy of a marriage, but according to sources, that night, the couple argued loudly in the St. Regis Hotel where they were staying while they were in New York. There are some accounts that DiMaggio was physically abusive. Less than three weeks later, the couple announced their divorce. The Daily News put it plainly, quote, marilyn splits with Joe over sexy pictures. These days, the Trans Luxe theater is long gone, and even the original subway grates themselves have been replaced. There's no plaque, but still you can stand on the site of the most successful publicity photoshoot in history. The place where an American icon revealed her legs and her husband revealed his insecurities. Welcome to a very special episode of Very Special Episodes, an I Heart original podcast. I'm your host, Dana Schwartz, and this is Very Special Places nyc. Today, we'll be taking you through some of our favorite stories of New York City's secret historical stories that prove that the world is a very interesting place. If you know where to look.
