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[[caption-width-right:307:Isn't it delicious?]]
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[[quoteright:307:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/thesevenyearitch-posterart_4181.jpg]]
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[[caption-width-right:307:"Isn't it delicious?"]]
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Richard Sherman (Tom Ewell) is a wealthy book publisher who lives with his wife and young son in a large apartment in [[BigApplesauce the Gramercy Park neighborhood of New York City]]. It gets [[HeatWave so hot one summer]] that the wife and kid decide to take a vacation up to Maine, with Richard staying behind to hold down the fort.
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Richard Sherman (Tom Ewell) is a wealthy middle-aged book publisher who lives with his wife and young son in a large apartment in [[BigApplesauce the Gramercy Park neighborhood of New York City]]. It gets [[HeatWave so hot one summer]] that the wife and kid decide to take a vacation up to Maine, with Richard staying behind to hold down the fort.
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[[caption-width-right:307:"Isn't it delicious?"]]
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** In another Imagine Spot, Richard's wife tells him Kruhulik is actually a detective she hired named Johnny Dollar. ''Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar'' was a popular radio series of the era.
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** In another Imagine Spot, Richard's wife tells him Kruhulik is actually a detective private eye she hired named to watch him and that his real name is Johnny Dollar. ''Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar'' was a popular radio series detective show of the era.
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* NewhartPhonecall: Richard has a couple of these with his wife.
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** Richard and the Girl go to the movies and see ''Film/TheCreatureFromTheBlackLagoon''.
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** Richard and the Girl go to the movies and see ''Film/TheCreatureFromTheBlackLagoon''.''Film/CreatureFromTheBlackLagoon'' together.
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* SexySecretary: Miss Morris.
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* SexySecretary: Miss Morris.
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** Richard and the Girl go to the movies and see ''Film/TheCreatureFromTheBlackLagoon''.
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* TheFifties: Choose just about any frame of this film, and you're looking at it undiluted. Interestingly, being made almost smack in the middle of the decade, ''The Seven Year Itch'' appears to strike an aesthetic and ideological balance between the more "traditional" early years of the decade and the "hipness" of its later years.
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* TheFifties: Choose just about any frame of this film, and you're looking at it them undiluted. Interestingly, being made almost smack in the middle of the decade, ''The Seven Year Itch'' appears to strike an aesthetic and ideological balance between the more "traditional" early years of the decade and the "hipness" of its later years.
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* FollowTheLeader: At the time, very few movies opened with ArtisticTitle sequences. Saul Bass supplied the zany credits sequence here, and its success with audiences pretty much made his career. And in the 1960s and '70s, it seemed like ''every'' movie comedy opened with a cartoonish sequence of some sort.
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* FollowTheLeader: At the time, very few movies opened with ArtisticTitle sequences. Saul Bass supplied the zany [[http://www.artofthetitle.com/title/the-seven-year-itch/ credits sequence sequence]] here, and its success with audiences pretty much made his career. And in the 1960s and '70s, it seemed like ''every'' movie comedy opened with a cartoonish sequence of some sort.
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* WolfWhistle: The trailer has one play during the MarilynManeuver.
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* CommercialSwitcheroo: Richard worriedly imagines the Girl turning her Dazzledent toothpaste ad into a detailed warning for other young women not to get involved in his nearly-adulterous activities.
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* CommercialSwitcheroo: Richard worriedly imagines the Girl turning her Dazzledent toothpaste ad into a detailed warning for other young women not to get involved in his nearly-adulterous activities. The daydream goes FromBadToWorse as Richard imagines his wife and son watching this commercial on a portable TV.
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* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: The waitress at the vegetarian restaurant Richard visits.
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* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: The pro-nudism waitress at the vegetarian restaurant Richard visits.visits.
* CommercialSwitcheroo: Richard worriedly imagines the Girl turning her Dazzledent toothpaste ad into a detailed warning for other young women not to get involved in his nearly-adulterous activities.
* CommercialSwitcheroo: Richard worriedly imagines the Girl turning her Dazzledent toothpaste ad into a detailed warning for other young women not to get involved in his nearly-adulterous activities.
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* DumbBlonde: The Girl is arguably the TropeCodifier here, although even she shows some cleverness - particularly in her final line of the film.
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* DumbBlonde: The Girl is arguably the TropeCodifier here, although even she shows some cleverness - particularly in her final line lines of the film.
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* CatchPhrase: The Girl makes frequent use of the word, "elegant."
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* FollowTheLeader: At the time, very few movies opened with gimmicky main title sequences. Saul Bass supplied the zany credits sequence here, and its success with audiences pretty much made his career. And in the 1960s and '70s, it seemed like ''every'' movie comedy opened with a cartoonish sequence of some sort.
to:
* FollowTheLeader: At the time, very few movies opened with gimmicky main title ArtisticTitle sequences. Saul Bass supplied the zany credits sequence here, and its success with audiences pretty much made his career. And in the 1960s and '70s, it seemed like ''every'' movie comedy opened with a cartoonish sequence of some sort.
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* BreakingTheFourthWall: Averted: Richard talks a lot when he's by himself, but not to us. More like ''Snubbing'' The Fourth Wall.
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* {{Spiritual Successor}}s: Somewhat surprisingly, this film has yet to be remade for modern-day cinematic audiences. (An attempted remake in the 1980s came to nothing after AlPacino turned down the Richard Sherman role; meanwhile, it was remade as a TV movie in Germany no less than twice, and an unidentified project called ''Seven Year Switch'' is supposedly in development.) However, its basic themes have inspired quite a few films in its wake, including 1984's ''The Woman In Red'' (which even paid tribute to the MarilynManeuver scene) and 1999's Best Picture Oscar winner ''AmericanBeauty'' (which took the basic theme, made it even kinkier, and wrapped it up with a DownerEnding).
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* {{Spiritual Successor}}s: Somewhat surprisingly, this film has yet to be remade for modern-day cinematic audiences. (An attempted remake in the 1980s came to nothing after AlPacino turned down the Richard Sherman role; meanwhile, it was remade as a TV movie in Germany no less than twice, and an unidentified project called ''Seven Year Switch'' is supposedly in development.) However, its basic themes have inspired quite a few films in its wake, including 1984's ''The Woman In Red'' (which even paid tribute to the MarilynManeuver scene) and 1999's Best Picture Oscar winner ''AmericanBeauty'' ''Film/AmericanBeauty'' (which took the basic theme, made it even kinkier, and wrapped it up with a DownerEnding).
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was cut, apparently
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* CostumePorn: It's a real shame this movie didn't even get nominated for an Academy Award for costumes. Among William Travilla's many creations for Marilyn, particular standouts include an absurdly famous billowing off-white dress (see MarilynManeuver below) and a spangled gown with zigzagging tiger stripes. ''Meow''. (See also [[HotChickInABadassSuit Hot Chick in a Snazzy Suit]] below.)
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* CostumePorn: It's a real shame this movie didn't even get nominated for an Academy Award for costumes. Among William Travilla's many creations for Marilyn, particular standouts include an absurdly famous billowing off-white dress (see MarilynManeuver below) and a spangled gown with zigzagging tiger stripes. ''Meow''. (See also [[HotChickInABadassSuit Hot Chick in a Snazzy Suit]] below.)
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* [[HotChickInABadassSuit Hot Chick in a Snazzy Suit]]: The Girl is briefly seen wearing a light pink blouse and slacks with a matching belt, and some white high-heeled sandals.
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* AluminumChristmasTrees: Believe it or not, champagne ''is'' recommended as an accompaniment to snack foods, since the carbonation cleanses the palate of salt and grease. The Girl almost certainly didn't know this, though, making her discovery more a case of GeniusDitaz.
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* AluminumChristmasTrees: Believe it or not, champagne ''is'' recommended as an accompaniment to snack foods, since the carbonation cleanses the palate of salt and grease. The Girl almost certainly didn't know this, though, making her discovery more a case of GeniusDitaz.GeniusDitz in action.
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* AluminumChristmasTrees: Believe it or not, champagne ''is'' recommended as an accompaniment to snack foods, since the carbonation cleanses the palate of salt and grease. The Girl almost certainly didn't know this, though, making her discovery more a case of AchievementsInIgnorance.
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* AluminumChristmasTrees: Believe it or not, champagne ''is'' recommended as an accompaniment to snack foods, since the carbonation cleanses the palate of salt and grease. The Girl almost certainly didn't know this, though, making her discovery more a case of AchievementsInIgnorance.GeniusDitaz.
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* AluminumChristmasTrees: Believe it or not, champagne ''is'' recommended as an accompaniment to snack foods, since the carbonation cleanses the palate of salt and grease. The Girl almost certainly didn't know this, though, making her discovery more a case of AchievementsInIgnorance.
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no longer fits changed trope
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* NaughtyNurseOutfit: Miss Finch is both a literal and a figurative example (at least in Richard's imagination).
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Foot Focus was turned into a redirect to These Tropes Are Made For Walking, and is no longer a trope. Performing wick cleanup.
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* FootFocus: The Girl uses her toes to retrieve her shoes at one point. She also mentions getting her big toe stuck in the faucet while taking a bath. She says she felt embarrassed when the plumber arrived not because she was naked, but because she didn't have her toenails painted.
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[[quoteright:236:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/marilyn_white_dress.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:236: Pop-culture immortality in three....two....]]
[[caption-width-right:236: Pop-culture immortality in three....two....]]
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[[quoteright:307:http://static.tvtropes.
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'''This film provides examples of:'''
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* ShoutOut: One of Richard's {{Imagine Spot}}s spoofs the famous beach scene from ''FromHereToEternity''.
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* ShoutOut: One of Richard's {{Imagine Spot}}s spoofs the famous beach scene from ''FromHereToEternity''.''Film/FromHereToEternity''.
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* BeachKiss: Appears in one of Richard's {{Imagine Spot}}s, spoofing ''FromHereToEternity''.
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* BeachKiss: Appears in one of Richard's {{Imagine Spot}}s, spoofing ''FromHereToEternity''.''Film/FromHereToEternity''.
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[[quoteright:236:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/marilyn_white_dress.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:236: Pop-culture immortality in three....two....]]
->''"When something itches, my dear sir, the natural tendency is to scratch."''
The 1955 Creator/BillyWilder-directed film that marked the arguable high point of MarilynMonroe's popularity - and a fair contender for the title of the most famous American film [[PopculturalOsmosis you've probably never seen]].
Richard Sherman (Tom Ewell) is a wealthy book publisher who lives with his wife and young son in a large apartment in [[BigApplesauce the Gramercy Park neighborhood of New York City]]. It gets [[HeatWave so hot one summer]] that the wife and kid decide to take a vacation up to Maine, with Richard staying behind to hold down the fort.
Richard has been having disagreements with his wife lately, and feels repressed. Even so, he agrees (at first) not to smoke, drink alcohol, or eat meat for the duration of his time alone. But one evening, as he is returning home from dinner at a vegetarian restaurant, he slips on one of his son's roller skates, hits his head....and, in the form of the blonde, curvy Girl (guess who), HilarityEnsues.
Actually based on a 1952 stage comedy in which Ewell also appeared - and which included an actual extramarital affair between Richard Sherman and The Girl, which was censored out in the film version.
Also is famous for popularizing the MarilynManeuver, which is discussed in more detail below.
----
'''This film provides examples of:'''
* AllPsychologyIsFreudian: Played to the hilt. There's even a stereotypically Germanic professor on the subject - and, [[ClicheStorm yes]], he has Richard [[FreudianCouch lie on a couch as he questions him]].
* AllThereInTheManual: The publicity shots of Marilyn's "subway scene" are a lot more revealing (and famous) than those in the film itself (which were edited heavily to appease the censors).
* AmusingInjuries: Richard keeps getting a crick in his neck.
* AskAStupidQuestion: Richard's wife always asks him what happened at the office when he comes home. When he's alone, he considers answering this: "I shot Mr. Brady in the head, made violent love to Miss Morris and set fire to 300,000 copies of ''LittleWomen''. That's what happened. What can happen at the office?"
* BareYourMidriff: The Girl lifting her blouse as she enjoys the Shermans' air conditioner (no navel, though).
* BeachKiss: Appears in one of Richard's {{Imagine Spot}}s, spoofing ''FromHereToEternity''.
* BlondGuysAreEvil: At least, that's how Richard views Tom [=MacKenzie=].
* CelebrityParadox:
-->'''Tom [=MacKenzie=]:''' What blonde in the kitchen?
-->'''Richard:''' Wouldn't you like to know! Maybe it's Marilyn Monroe!
* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: The waitress at the vegetarian restaurant Richard visits.
* ContemptibleCover: Richard's job is to publish books with such covers — even classic literature, such as ''LittleWomen'' (retitled as ''The Secrets of a GIRLS DORMITORY'').
** Interestingly, the famous poster image for the film [[LateArrivalSpoiler (and yes, you know which one I'm talking about)]] could itself be considered an example.
* CostumePorn: It's a real shame this movie didn't even get nominated for an Academy Award for costumes. Among William Travilla's many creations for Marilyn, particular standouts include an absurdly famous billowing off-white dress (see MarilynManeuver below) and a spangled gown with zigzagging tiger stripes. ''Meow''. (See also [[HotChickInABadassSuit Hot Chick in a Snazzy Suit]] below.)
* CrazyPrepared: Tom Mackenzie's hayride with Helen Sherman. ("Even the horses are wearing blinkers.")
* CuttingTheKnot: There's a boarded-up trapdoor between Richard and the Girl's apartments. The Girl just uses the claw of a hammer to pull out the nails, and the trapdoor falls away.
* DumbBlonde: The Girl is arguably the TropeCodifier here, although even she shows some cleverness - particularly in her final line of the film.
* FakeOutOpening: The film opens with this narration:
-->'''Narrator:''' The island of Manhattan derives its name from its earliest inhabitants - the Manhattan Indians. They were a peaceful tribe, setting traps, fishing, hunting. And there was a custom among them. Every July when the heat and the humidity on the island became unbearable, they would send their wives and children away for the summer, up the river to the cooler highlands, or if they could afford it, to the seashore. The husbands of course, would remain behind on the steaming island to attend to business - setting traps, fishing, and hunting. Actually, our story has nothing whatsoever to do with Indians. It plays 500 years later. We only brought up the subject to show you that in all that time, nothing has changed.
* TheFifties: Choose just about any frame of this film, and you're looking at it undiluted. Interestingly, being made almost smack in the middle of the decade, ''The Seven Year Itch'' appears to strike an aesthetic and ideological balance between the more "traditional" early years of the decade and the "hipness" of its later years.
* FollowTheLeader: At the time, very few movies opened with gimmicky main title sequences. Saul Bass supplied the zany credits sequence here, and its success with audiences pretty much made his career. And in the 1960s and '70s, it seemed like ''every'' movie comedy opened with a cartoonish sequence of some sort.
* FootFocus: The Girl uses her toes to retrieve her shoes at one point. She also mentions getting her big toe stuck in the faucet while taking a bath. She says she felt embarrassed when the plumber arrived not because she was naked, but because she didn't have her toenails painted.
* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: A number of examples, including some where the radar apparently wasn't working at all!
* GoofyPrintUnderwear: Richard is seen undressing, and we get a good look at his polka-dotted boxer shorts.
* HappilyMarried: Richard and his wife.
* HenpeckedHusband: Richard sees himself as one (even though he really isn't), and uses this characterization as a persecution complex to justify all his (mostly imagined) indiscretions.
* [[HotChickInABadassSuit Hot Chick in a Snazzy Suit]]: The Girl is briefly seen wearing a light pink blouse and slacks with a matching belt, and some white high-heeled sandals.
* HypocriticalHumor: Near constantly.
-->'''Richard:''' Let me tell you, Helen loves me.
-->'''Tom [=MacKenzie=]''' Sure, she loves you!
-->'''Richard:''' She loves me because I'm sweet and gentle and worried, and nervous and shy and tender! ''(knocks him out)''
* ImagineSpot: Richard conjures up several.
* LipstickMark: The Girl deliberately leaves one on Richard's collar at the end, all for the purpose of making Helen jealous. Apparently, [[MoralDissonance we're supposed to feel happy that Richard is finally "standing up for himself" to his "mean, bitchy wife."]]
* ManicPixieDreamGirl: The Girl proves to be one for Richard (although unintentionally, and without the "manic" part).
* MarilynManeuver: With the subway grate on the corner of Lexington and 52nd Streets. (It's not quite as revealing as it could have been, though; see AllThereInTheManual above.)
* MonsterSobStory: In-story example: Richard and the Girl watch ''Film/CreatureFromTheBlackLagoon'' together, and she says she felt sorry for the Creature: "He was kinda scary-looking, but he wasn't really all bad. I think he just craved a little affection - you know, a sense of being loved and needed and wanted."
** And the genius of this seemingly throwaway speech is that [[SchrodingersGun we have no way of knowing whether the Girl is speaking metaphorically about Richard or herself]]! Who is "the Creature" here? Is it Richard, who feels self-conscious about growing old and no longer being appealing to women (like a "creature")? Or is it the Girl, whom one can imagine often feeling like a freak (that is, a "monster") due to being ogled as a sex object. Or perhaps we could TakeAThirdOption here, and maintain that both characters feel themselves part of this analogy and therefore - despite literally being strangers - are drawn to each other.
* MoralGuardians: The Legion of Decency (a Roman Catholic pressure group) demanded the removal of a large cutout of The Girl pushing down her blowing skirt that was used to promote the premiere.
* MrImagination: Richard has an overactive imagination - he once imagines his wife telling him this.
* NaughtyNurseOutfit: Miss Finch is both a literal and a figurative example (at least in Richard's imagination).
* NoNameGiven: The Girl's name is never revealed.
* NotSoAboveItAll: Richard, after the first half-hour of the movie.
* OhCrap: Richard many times, especially when he imagines his wife coming home to literally murder him. Even culminates in a HeroicBSOD as Richard drops the toast he is buttering and ''inadvertently butters his own hand''!
* OperaGloves: Richard imagines the Girl in glittery black Opera Gloves with a strapless tiger-stripe gown.
* SayingTooMuch:
-->'''Richard''': I can explain everything: the stairs, the cinnamon toast, the blonde in the kitchen!
-->'''Tom Mackenzie''': Wait! Wait a minute, Dicky-boy! What blonde in the kitchen?
* ShoutOut: One of Richard's {{Imagine Spot}}s spoofs the famous beach scene from ''FromHereToEternity''.
* SexySecretary: Miss Morris.
* SmokingIsCool: Subverted at first, when Richard mentions that one of his doctors has ordered him not to smoke during periods of hot weather, and he locks his cigarettes away in a table drawer. But after the Girl shows up and (inadvertently) encourages him to rebel, he unlocks the drawer and helps himself to a cigarette - and suffers no ill effects from it.
* {{Spiritual Successor}}s: Somewhat surprisingly, this film has yet to be remade for modern-day cinematic audiences. (An attempted remake in the 1980s came to nothing after AlPacino turned down the Richard Sherman role; meanwhile, it was remade as a TV movie in Germany no less than twice, and an unidentified project called ''Seven Year Switch'' is supposedly in development.) However, its basic themes have inspired quite a few films in its wake, including 1984's ''The Woman In Red'' (which even paid tribute to the MarilynManeuver scene) and 1999's Best Picture Oscar winner ''AmericanBeauty'' (which took the basic theme, made it even kinkier, and wrapped it up with a DownerEnding).
* ThisLoserIsYou: Richard, arguably.
* WhatYouAreInTheDark: Comedic variant, as Richard, in one of his awkward monologues, muses that [[VaguenessIsComing "Something happens to this town in the summer...."]] and then elaborates a bit by describing all the mischief that "summer bachelors" in New York get into when their families are gone and nobody knows what they're up to.
* WomanInWhite: Well, who do ''you'' think?
----
[[caption-width-right:236: Pop-culture immortality in three....two....]]
->''"When something itches, my dear sir, the natural tendency is to scratch."''
The 1955 Creator/BillyWilder-directed film that marked the arguable high point of MarilynMonroe's popularity - and a fair contender for the title of the most famous American film [[PopculturalOsmosis you've probably never seen]].
Richard Sherman (Tom Ewell) is a wealthy book publisher who lives with his wife and young son in a large apartment in [[BigApplesauce the Gramercy Park neighborhood of New York City]]. It gets [[HeatWave so hot one summer]] that the wife and kid decide to take a vacation up to Maine, with Richard staying behind to hold down the fort.
Richard has been having disagreements with his wife lately, and feels repressed. Even so, he agrees (at first) not to smoke, drink alcohol, or eat meat for the duration of his time alone. But one evening, as he is returning home from dinner at a vegetarian restaurant, he slips on one of his son's roller skates, hits his head....and, in the form of the blonde, curvy Girl (guess who), HilarityEnsues.
Actually based on a 1952 stage comedy in which Ewell also appeared - and which included an actual extramarital affair between Richard Sherman and The Girl, which was censored out in the film version.
Also is famous for popularizing the MarilynManeuver, which is discussed in more detail below.
----
'''This film provides examples of:'''
* AllPsychologyIsFreudian: Played to the hilt. There's even a stereotypically Germanic professor on the subject - and, [[ClicheStorm yes]], he has Richard [[FreudianCouch lie on a couch as he questions him]].
* AllThereInTheManual: The publicity shots of Marilyn's "subway scene" are a lot more revealing (and famous) than those in the film itself (which were edited heavily to appease the censors).
* AmusingInjuries: Richard keeps getting a crick in his neck.
* AskAStupidQuestion: Richard's wife always asks him what happened at the office when he comes home. When he's alone, he considers answering this: "I shot Mr. Brady in the head, made violent love to Miss Morris and set fire to 300,000 copies of ''LittleWomen''. That's what happened. What can happen at the office?"
* BareYourMidriff: The Girl lifting her blouse as she enjoys the Shermans' air conditioner (no navel, though).
* BeachKiss: Appears in one of Richard's {{Imagine Spot}}s, spoofing ''FromHereToEternity''.
* BlondGuysAreEvil: At least, that's how Richard views Tom [=MacKenzie=].
* CelebrityParadox:
-->'''Tom [=MacKenzie=]:''' What blonde in the kitchen?
-->'''Richard:''' Wouldn't you like to know! Maybe it's Marilyn Monroe!
* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: The waitress at the vegetarian restaurant Richard visits.
* ContemptibleCover: Richard's job is to publish books with such covers — even classic literature, such as ''LittleWomen'' (retitled as ''The Secrets of a GIRLS DORMITORY'').
** Interestingly, the famous poster image for the film [[LateArrivalSpoiler (and yes, you know which one I'm talking about)]] could itself be considered an example.
* CostumePorn: It's a real shame this movie didn't even get nominated for an Academy Award for costumes. Among William Travilla's many creations for Marilyn, particular standouts include an absurdly famous billowing off-white dress (see MarilynManeuver below) and a spangled gown with zigzagging tiger stripes. ''Meow''. (See also [[HotChickInABadassSuit Hot Chick in a Snazzy Suit]] below.)
* CrazyPrepared: Tom Mackenzie's hayride with Helen Sherman. ("Even the horses are wearing blinkers.")
* CuttingTheKnot: There's a boarded-up trapdoor between Richard and the Girl's apartments. The Girl just uses the claw of a hammer to pull out the nails, and the trapdoor falls away.
* DumbBlonde: The Girl is arguably the TropeCodifier here, although even she shows some cleverness - particularly in her final line of the film.
* FakeOutOpening: The film opens with this narration:
-->'''Narrator:''' The island of Manhattan derives its name from its earliest inhabitants - the Manhattan Indians. They were a peaceful tribe, setting traps, fishing, hunting. And there was a custom among them. Every July when the heat and the humidity on the island became unbearable, they would send their wives and children away for the summer, up the river to the cooler highlands, or if they could afford it, to the seashore. The husbands of course, would remain behind on the steaming island to attend to business - setting traps, fishing, and hunting. Actually, our story has nothing whatsoever to do with Indians. It plays 500 years later. We only brought up the subject to show you that in all that time, nothing has changed.
* TheFifties: Choose just about any frame of this film, and you're looking at it undiluted. Interestingly, being made almost smack in the middle of the decade, ''The Seven Year Itch'' appears to strike an aesthetic and ideological balance between the more "traditional" early years of the decade and the "hipness" of its later years.
* FollowTheLeader: At the time, very few movies opened with gimmicky main title sequences. Saul Bass supplied the zany credits sequence here, and its success with audiences pretty much made his career. And in the 1960s and '70s, it seemed like ''every'' movie comedy opened with a cartoonish sequence of some sort.
* FootFocus: The Girl uses her toes to retrieve her shoes at one point. She also mentions getting her big toe stuck in the faucet while taking a bath. She says she felt embarrassed when the plumber arrived not because she was naked, but because she didn't have her toenails painted.
* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: A number of examples, including some where the radar apparently wasn't working at all!
* GoofyPrintUnderwear: Richard is seen undressing, and we get a good look at his polka-dotted boxer shorts.
* HappilyMarried: Richard and his wife.
* HenpeckedHusband: Richard sees himself as one (even though he really isn't), and uses this characterization as a persecution complex to justify all his (mostly imagined) indiscretions.
* [[HotChickInABadassSuit Hot Chick in a Snazzy Suit]]: The Girl is briefly seen wearing a light pink blouse and slacks with a matching belt, and some white high-heeled sandals.
* HypocriticalHumor: Near constantly.
-->'''Richard:''' Let me tell you, Helen loves me.
-->'''Tom [=MacKenzie=]''' Sure, she loves you!
-->'''Richard:''' She loves me because I'm sweet and gentle and worried, and nervous and shy and tender! ''(knocks him out)''
* ImagineSpot: Richard conjures up several.
* LipstickMark: The Girl deliberately leaves one on Richard's collar at the end, all for the purpose of making Helen jealous. Apparently, [[MoralDissonance we're supposed to feel happy that Richard is finally "standing up for himself" to his "mean, bitchy wife."]]
* ManicPixieDreamGirl: The Girl proves to be one for Richard (although unintentionally, and without the "manic" part).
* MarilynManeuver: With the subway grate on the corner of Lexington and 52nd Streets. (It's not quite as revealing as it could have been, though; see AllThereInTheManual above.)
* MonsterSobStory: In-story example: Richard and the Girl watch ''Film/CreatureFromTheBlackLagoon'' together, and she says she felt sorry for the Creature: "He was kinda scary-looking, but he wasn't really all bad. I think he just craved a little affection - you know, a sense of being loved and needed and wanted."
** And the genius of this seemingly throwaway speech is that [[SchrodingersGun we have no way of knowing whether the Girl is speaking metaphorically about Richard or herself]]! Who is "the Creature" here? Is it Richard, who feels self-conscious about growing old and no longer being appealing to women (like a "creature")? Or is it the Girl, whom one can imagine often feeling like a freak (that is, a "monster") due to being ogled as a sex object. Or perhaps we could TakeAThirdOption here, and maintain that both characters feel themselves part of this analogy and therefore - despite literally being strangers - are drawn to each other.
* MoralGuardians: The Legion of Decency (a Roman Catholic pressure group) demanded the removal of a large cutout of The Girl pushing down her blowing skirt that was used to promote the premiere.
* MrImagination: Richard has an overactive imagination - he once imagines his wife telling him this.
* NaughtyNurseOutfit: Miss Finch is both a literal and a figurative example (at least in Richard's imagination).
* NoNameGiven: The Girl's name is never revealed.
* NotSoAboveItAll: Richard, after the first half-hour of the movie.
* OhCrap: Richard many times, especially when he imagines his wife coming home to literally murder him. Even culminates in a HeroicBSOD as Richard drops the toast he is buttering and ''inadvertently butters his own hand''!
* OperaGloves: Richard imagines the Girl in glittery black Opera Gloves with a strapless tiger-stripe gown.
* SayingTooMuch:
-->'''Richard''': I can explain everything: the stairs, the cinnamon toast, the blonde in the kitchen!
-->'''Tom Mackenzie''': Wait! Wait a minute, Dicky-boy! What blonde in the kitchen?
* ShoutOut: One of Richard's {{Imagine Spot}}s spoofs the famous beach scene from ''FromHereToEternity''.
* SexySecretary: Miss Morris.
* SmokingIsCool: Subverted at first, when Richard mentions that one of his doctors has ordered him not to smoke during periods of hot weather, and he locks his cigarettes away in a table drawer. But after the Girl shows up and (inadvertently) encourages him to rebel, he unlocks the drawer and helps himself to a cigarette - and suffers no ill effects from it.
* {{Spiritual Successor}}s: Somewhat surprisingly, this film has yet to be remade for modern-day cinematic audiences. (An attempted remake in the 1980s came to nothing after AlPacino turned down the Richard Sherman role; meanwhile, it was remade as a TV movie in Germany no less than twice, and an unidentified project called ''Seven Year Switch'' is supposedly in development.) However, its basic themes have inspired quite a few films in its wake, including 1984's ''The Woman In Red'' (which even paid tribute to the MarilynManeuver scene) and 1999's Best Picture Oscar winner ''AmericanBeauty'' (which took the basic theme, made it even kinkier, and wrapped it up with a DownerEnding).
* ThisLoserIsYou: Richard, arguably.
* WhatYouAreInTheDark: Comedic variant, as Richard, in one of his awkward monologues, muses that [[VaguenessIsComing "Something happens to this town in the summer...."]] and then elaborates a bit by describing all the mischief that "summer bachelors" in New York get into when their families are gone and nobody knows what they're up to.
* WomanInWhite: Well, who do ''you'' think?
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