On this day in history, Marilyn Monroe filmed her iconic subway-grate sequence from The Seven Year Itch, inspiring decades’ worth of imitators and God alone knows how many weirdos.
And so the New York Daily News has reprinted its coverage from September 16, 1954, which opens: “After two hours of having her dress blown above her head, while thousand cheered, Marilyn Monroe, accompanied by her baseball player husband, headed for International Airport last night for an early morning flight back to the Coast.” (Note that Joe DiMaggio is identified by name nowhere in the story.)
For those who weren’t among those thousands, the News explained that, “A crowd of some 2,000, perched on bar stools and atop parked cars, waited patiently for the main attraction.” (First Monroe’s stand-in did some rehearsing.) Then:
Miss Monroe’s exposure, for the sake of the movie which she has been filming here, took place atop a subway grating on Lexington Ave., near 51st St. Fifteen times, a high air blower blew her backless white dress sky high, exposing stockingless legs and ruffled white nylon panties.
Imagine delivering such a famous cinematic moment while reporters and randos were watching your backside for the details of your panties.
