Monologues abound, often the sign of weak screenwriting, these are instead perfectly suited to protagonist Richard Sherman (Tom Ewell). Prone to fantasy, the publishing exec sets out to contain himself from his forbidden desires while his wife and son are away on holiday; namely, smoking, drinking and adultery. Too bad, then, that a beautiful young woman (Monroe, her persona a perfect match for the role) moves in upstairs.

One of Wilder’s more outright crowd-pleasers, the cinemascope production has only a thin veneer separating the constantly teased audience from its narrative. A few throwaway gags breaking the fourth wall, what I found particularly interesting was the lack of definition between reality and fantasy, in part necessitated by the Hays code ban on the presentation of adultery.

Incidentally, the film is very funny.