Marilyn Monroe’s ‘longest walk’ ever appears in Niagara Falls movie
Published March 8, 2023 at 2:25 pm
Volumes have been written about starlet Marilyn Monroe’s turn in the film that catapulted her to stardom – “Niagara,” which was filmed in Niagara Falls for two weeks in June 1952.
The murder-mystery thrust Monroe into the Hollywood spotlight at the time. That said, by its release at the beginning of 1953, the actress, already a well-known pin-up girl, had gained her fair share of attention and was renowned for her sexuality.
Marilyn Monroe in a publicity shot for the film “Niagara.”
However, there’s a lesser-known record-breaking fact about the movie’s ending.
As her character Rose Loomis is about to get into a car with costars Jean Peters and Max Showalter, she suddenly stops, looks into the distance and starts to walk away. In a bright red top and black pencil shirt, it’s unmistakably Monroe even from behind.
An overhead shot of the cast and crew getting ready to shoot the final scene with the famous walk.
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However, the final scene was famous for having the “longest walk” in cinema history. It seems 116 feet of film was dedicated to a single shot of Marilyn Monroe walking away from the camera.
Sources says she cursed the film’s director Henry Hathaway because he asked her to walk in heels along that cobblestone road. Hathaway readily admitted afterwards he did it because it was “all about the walk.”
Regardless, here’s the final scene from Niagara with snippets from Monroe’s last interview given in July 1962 over top of the orchestration.
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