Niagara (1953)

Niagara is a 1953 American noir thriller film directed by Henry Hathaway and produced by Charles Brackett. Brackett also wrote the screenplay alongside Walter Reisch and Richard Breen. It stars Marilyn Monroe, Joseph Cotten, Jean Peters, Denis O'Dea, and Max Showalter (credited as Casey Adams). Set in Niagara Falls, the film tells the story of two couples: one, a pair of newlyweds on their honeymoon, and the other, a husband and wife whose turbulent marriage is wracked by jealousy and deceit.

Unlike other films noir of the time, which were typically black-and-white, Niagara was shot in "three-strip" Technicolor (one of the last films to be made at 20th Century Fox in that format, as a few months later the studio began converting to CinemaScope, which had compatibility problems with three-strip but not with Eastmancolor).

Niagara was a box office success and received positive reviews from film critics. It was one of 20th Century Fox's biggest box office hits that year. Monroe was even top billing in Niagara, which elevated her to movie star status. Monroe's next two films, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and How to Marry a Millionaire (both 1953), were even bigger successes commercially.

This was effectively Marilyn Monroe's breakthrough film, where he look had its beginnings- she effectively became the character that she was later expected to be. The birth of a goddess.