For all the hype it got I was expecting a lot more!

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Why would the politicians of Niagara Falls (Canada) speak against this film at the time of its release when it depicted their city, especially the magnificent, natural wonder at its core, in such a flattering light? Although I haven't visited the falls since 1951, just before this film was produced, whenever I see this wonderful movie, I have an urge to go again, this time not as a two year old.I'm also very disappointed by the many mediocre and negative recent IMDb user reviews of this film, which was a great achievement by both director Henry Hathaway and cinematographer Joe McDonald. The performances by Joseph Cotten and Jean Peters were especially good. The one very noticeable flaw was in the writing, specifically the insufficient background information behind the character of George Loomis (Cotten). He was apparently a combat veteran of the Korean War, but I would have appreciated more details about his war experience and how he developed his condition, which was apparently PTSD, a wartime malady that was not diagnosed as such at the time. For me, George Loomis represented one more disregarded Korean War veteran. Tragically, there were many others in real life.While Marilyn Monroe's acting may not have been the greatest in this film, her very presence was captivating. The scene of her singing the theme song "Kiss" in her magenta colored dress was so sublime and beautiful that I will think of it very fondly for the rest of my days. And how many times did Hathaway have her walk away from the camera for prolonged periods? I counted four, but I'm not sure that I was thinking clearly enough to count accurately at the time. For a character who should not have been very sympathetic, Rose Loomis made quite an impression on me. And those silent, still bells in the carillon conveyed a deafening message just at the right moment. As he did in another favorite film of mine, Hitchcock's "Shadow of a Doubt", Joseph Cotten successfully played a very dismal, gloomy character. This time, however, he didn't attempt to conceal his deep, internal darkness from a very gullible, imperceptive and even foolish world as he did in Hitchcock's film. His seemingly innocent conversation with Polly Cutler (Peters) at the beginning serves as a a noteworthy premonition of events to follow. Another, even more subtle message is conveyed when Rose's shadow interferes with the photo that Ray Cutler was attempting to take of his wife. Another ominous sign of what will come.While many reviewers did not appreciate Max Showalter's (Casey Adams') character as Ray Cutler, these "happy go lucky" people were far more common in 1953 when times, in many ways, were happier and more go lucky, especially when the Korean War was finally brought to a close, as inconclusive as that was. Showalter (Adams) has over 100 movie and television credits under his belt, so somebody else must have liked him too, at least back in those days of yore, which were my days. I'm sorry that more reviewers did not appreciate "Niagara" as the great film that I believe it is. The sensational cinematography, especially of the falls, the unique and dramatic atmosphere created by the director, the excellent performances of both Cotten and Peters, and the stunning beauty of Marilyn Monroe keeps this on my list of favorites.

A Film-Noir shot in Technicolor and stars Marilyn Monroe as the femme fatale, NIAGARA kick-starts a banner year for Monroe in 1953, with two even bigger splashes following in the same year, GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES and HOW TO MARRY A MILLIONAIRE, she would become one of the most bankable actress of her time, a sex symbol, an eternal icon.The phenomenal Niagara Falls are maximally deployed through director Henry Hathaway's (TRUE GRIT 1969) efforts, the awe-inspiring scenery, not merely serves as a locale in the film, where our protagonists, two couple, George and Rose Loomis (Cotten and Monroe) and Ray and Polly Cutler (Showalter and Peters) frequently visit (where an off-screen murder takes place), but also functions as a metaphor of George's final doom (from the opening scenes) and a perfect template for the final engaging cliff-hanger.The story is not as convoluted as other film-noir exemplars, Rose is determined to get rid of her jaded husband George, so she plots with her young lover Patrick (Allan) to dispatch him and make it look like an accident near the Falls. While Ray and Polly are wide-eyed honeymooners involved with the plan by happenstance. Rose's plan goes awry with a twist of revealing who is the one being murdered? Thanks to a lame plot-hole which allows the survivor to send the same signal to confuse our comprehension. Only within 5 minutes, the truth will reveal itself, and the film changes its orbit to a standard thriller with a vengeful heart, finally, a man must pay the price of killing the woman he loves.It is interesting for viewers to buy the prerequisite that Monroe plays a heartless schemer, well, she pulls off a certain degree of credibility in the course, which is poles apart from her most well-known screen image, yet, we haven't seen too much wit in her murder plan, neither is her prowess in choosing a right muscle to accomplish the job. When the scale being tipped, she fits more dutifully in the victim niche, where she runs away from a man who is resolute in taking her life. Albeit an unsatisfactory character-building, Monroe takes on every opportunity to parade her appeal, a deadly poison will lead any man to his ruination. When she hums the enchanting theme song KISS (written by Lionel Newman and Haven Gillespie), no man can resist that tantalisation.Jean Peters, is set as the antithetical good girl against Monroe's dangerous attraction, a beauty with no thorns, demure, warmhearted and courageous, a perfect wife (as Howard Hughes would prove that) marries to a rather unappealing man Ray, who is gregarious but wanting any personalities. As if the picture was sending a double-standard message: for a man, even you are as ordinary as Ray, you still can marry a girl like Polly, while, for a woman as gorgeous as Polly, you should settle for a man like Ray, he is a complete dull but at least he is bankable. That leaves a bitter taste, the so-called Hollywood-ian brainwashing of gender inequality.Otherwise, it is an acceptable flick, the vision of the Falls alone can be pleasantly overwhelming, in addition to Monroe's unique magnetism, although a stroke of bathos is rendered charmlessly when she is no longer in the picture. When the boat weighs anchor, its destination is predestined, so is the life or death payoff of the two characters aboard, a formulaic endeavour.

"Niagara" is truly problematic film, with many pros and cons.First the pros. The cinematography is truly spectacular. The falls themselves are really the star of the movie, which looks like it was subsidized by the Niagara Falls Chamber of Commerce. The plot is an intriguing one - wife and lover plot to kill wife's husband, who winds up killing the lover instead. Joseph Cotten's presence benefits any movie he stars in. Many of the scenes are shot with a compositional style reminiscent of Hitchcock.Then the cons. Max Showalter, as other users have said, has got to be one of the most irritating screen presences ever. He simply cannot act, and that phony plastic smile makes you grit your teeth. Monroe is nothing to write home about either; she was never a good actress, except in cartoonish farces like "Some Like it Hot." Then are the plot turns that defy believability. Toward the start Cotten's character barges into a noisy party, grabs a record off a phonograph, cuts his hand in breaking it, and then storms off. Jean Peter's character goes for a first aid kit and follows him into his room to tend to his hand. Would anyone in their right mind follow someone into his room after such a display of uncontrollable violence? So it's a mixed bag. Worth a see despite its shortcomings.

Like - WOW!!... Marilyn Monroe has never looked hotter than she does in Niagara. Man, Monroe just sizzles in this flick, especially in her hot-pink dress.This 1953 Thriller offers great fun for the viewer on a variety of levels.(1) Film Noir themes abound (albeit in Technicolor).(2) Oodles of location shooting around Niagara Falls.(3) And, best of all, Freudian Symbolism runs amok.Monroe plays Rose Loomis, an unbelievably ripe femme fatale.Niagara's twisted tale of greed and infidelity has the tantalizing Rose devilishly plotting (with her handsome toy-boy) the murder of her emotionally unstable husband, George. And, what better way to do him in, then a quick, hard push over, into the roaring Falls.Adding to Niagara's thrills - Director Henry Hathaway does an excellent job of squeezing the most out of the spectacular scenery around Niagara Falls.If you're a Marilyn Monroe fan, then you're sure to enjoy this seductively wicked flick.