Niagara

Two couples are staying at a motel by the falls. One is on honeymoon; in the other, the wife is planning to be rid of her husband. The film reveals the plan early and shifts its tension to how it will play out. The narrative uses the falls not as scenery but as a pressure that never stops; the sound is never cut. Henry Hathaway directed, with Marilyn Monroe and Joseph Cotten. It was shot in Technicolor on location on the Canadian side. Who it's for: those who like nineteen-fifties thrillers shot in colour. Who it's not for: viewers expecting Monroe's comedies; the part here is entirely dark.