SENSATIONALLY FUNNY ā RECOMMENDED FOR ADULTS.
A young actress (Maggie McNamara) meets an architect (William Holden) on the top of the Empire State Building and decides to join him in his apartment for dinnerā¦ but they won’t be alone. Along with The Man With the Golden Arm (1955), also directed by Otto Preminger, this comedy helped break the Production Code and was controversial for its sometimes frank sexual content. Very tame, and dated, by today’s standards, but interesting for the way it depicts mores of the day. Very obviously based on a play, but the dialogue is fun, McNamara charming, and David Niven is perfectly cast.Ā
1953-U.S. 99 min. Color.Ā Produced and directed byĀ Otto Preminger.Ā Screenplay, Play:Ā F. Hugh Herbert.Ā Song:Ā “The Moon Is Blue” (Herschel Burke Gilbert, Sylvia Fine).Ā Cast:Ā William Holden (Donald Gresham), David Niven (David Slater), Maggie McNamara (Patty O’Neill), Tom Tully, Dawn Addams, Gregory Ratoff.
Trivia:Ā Preminger also shot a German version of the same story, with partly the same cast, released as Die Jungfrau auf dem Dach (1953).
Golden Globe: Best Actor (Niven).
