Marilyn Monroe reshoots iconic“ Seven Year Itch” white dress scene in never-before-seen photos (exclusive)

Kathleen PerriconeMon, April 20, 2026 at 1:00 PM UTC

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Marilyn Monroe starred in 'The Seven Year Itch' opposite Tom Ewell in 1955Credit: EverettKey Points -

Never-before-seen photos give a peek at a reshoot of Marilyn Monroe's iconic white dress scene in The Seven Year Itch.

The provocative scene infuriated her then-husband, Joe DiMaggio, leading to their divorce.

The reshoot, photographed by Bruno Bernard, is featured in a new book, The Marilyn Monroe Century.

Marilyn Monroe's "delicious breeze" scene in 1955's The Seven Year Itch is among the most famous in cinematic history.

How it came about is also one of the most legendary Hollywood stories — and Entertainment Weekly has an exclusive peek from behind the scenes.

The never-before-seen photographs below are featured in the upcoming book The Marilyn Monroe Century by Bruno Bernard with Joshua John Miller and Mark A. Fortin, out May 19 via publisher Abrams Books.

In The Seven Year Itch, Monroe stars opposite Tom Ewell as the object of her married neighbor's desire. And as such, the blonde bombshell has a titillating moment dressed in a low-cut, flimsy white dress as she stands over a New York City subway grate on a muggy summer evening.

Knowing the scene would undoubtedly stop traffic, the studio tipped off the press of its filming location at 52nd Street and Lexington Avenue. Sure enough, thousands of onlookers gathered at the intersection to witness the eye-popping stunt when Monroe's dress blows up to reveal her undergarments.

The provocative scene caused pandemonium, as expected. But the studio didn't anticipate how the cacophony of the crowd would affect the shoot: Billy Wilder's footage was rendered unusable.

Weeks later in Hollywood, Monroe was summoned to 20th-Century Fox to reshoot the scene on a soundstage — where her old friend, photographer Bruno Bernard, captured still images of the history-making scene.

"The photos Bruno took of the reshoots in Los Angeles were the culmination of his relationship with Monroe, whom he'd known since she was a 19-year-old kid trying to break into modeling," Miller and Fortin tell EW. "Back in 1945, they'd connected on several levels: they were both orphans, in love with the movies, and full of a mutually beneficial ambition. They spent their days scheming photo shoots over lunches at Hamburger Hamlet or Barney's Beanery down the street from Bruno's photo studio on Sunset Boulevard."

On the Hollywood set, the chaos of the New York crowd had been silenced. However, Monroe remained haunted by one of the onlookers that September night: her husband of eight months, New York Yankees slugger Joe DiMaggio.

"He disapproved of the scene Monroe was shooting, where her character stands over the wind blowing up out of a subway grate and luxuriates in the breeze as it blows her white skirt up," according to Miller, Bernard's grandson, and Fortin. "She already suffered from stage fright in the best circumstances, but DiMaggio's presence amplified her nerves. She repeatedly fluffed her lines, and DiMaggio grew furious as the catcalls grew louder with each new take, finally leaving the set in a huff."

DiMaggio demanded the "flying skirt" scene be cut from the film, but Monroe refused. A fight ensued, and when the actress returned to Los Angeles, she filed for divorce.

"So, by the time Bruno got to Stage 3 on the Fox lot days later for the reshoots on The Seven Year Itch, he didn't know what sort of state he'd find his friend in," say Miller and Fortin.

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Marilyn Monroe and Tom Ewell during a lighting test for 'The Seven Year Itch' reshootCredit: Bruno Bernard

Bernard recalls the moment in The Marilyn Monroe Century:

"When the green light blinked at the iron door of the huge Stage 3 on the Fox lot, and I could enter the set, I saw an exact replica of the Trans-Lux Theater and the adjoining storefronts. Billy Wilder, this time without his Tyrolean hat but with the inevitable riding crop in his hand, was giving Marilyn some specific suggestions for the 35th retake of the skirt-blowing scene.

"The personified sex kitten was supposed to purr her words contentedly, expressing with each syllable the relief felt from the wind coming through the grate. While her stand-in was wearing long black toreador pants to prevent her from getting a cold, poor Marilyn had nothing on but thin silk panties. Now she was purring for the 36th time, "Isn't it delicious. What a relief!" "Cut. Let's print this one, but one more for perfection," commanded Billy Wilder.

Marilyn Monroe on the set of 'The Seven Year Itch' in 1954Credit: Bruno Bernard

In between takes, as Monroe's hair and makeup were touched up, acting coach Natasha Lytess worked with the actress to perfect the delivery of her lines. Lytess had worked with Monroe for years but was an unwelcome presence on film sets due to her tendency to undermine directors—and to overwhelm their star.

The Seven Year Itch was no different. During the reshoot, Lytess had Monroe "in a trance" as she micromanaged her every syllable, which Bernard recounts in The Marilyn Monroe Century:

"When the camera began to roll, Natasha stood very close but just slightly out of camera range in order to lend moral support to her insecure puppet. This strange entr'acte of [Natasha and Marilyn] resembled more the rehearsal for a marionette show than the shooting of a film scene. In the final analysis, it was 'absurd theater' within the make-believe world of movieland and was infinitely more interesting to watch than the edited film on screen. It gave me the key to understanding Marilyn's complete dependence on Natasha, and later on Paula Strasberg. It was easy to imagine how a creative director like Billy Wilder must have felt toward this encroachment of his direction, yet even the biggest directors had to make this concession for Marilyn, since the end product did not show the labor pains at all.

Marilyn Monroe and Joe Di MaggioCredit: Getty

"On the contrary, Marilyn's performance appeared completely natural and spontaneous, as I later noticed in the projection room while watching the dailies. After the 39th take of the skirt-blowing scene was in the can, the exhausted Billy Wilder commended Marilyn highly for her staying power: 'Great, Marilyn, don't worry one bit. We've printed it, just one more to make it perfect!' Like in a burlesque sketch, everything was repeated from A to Z, the only difference being that the second banana didn't get the meringue pie in his face when the director yelled 'Action.'

"At the 40th take, the director shouted enthusiastically: 'Cut! Print it! This is it!' A nod by Wilder to his assistant brought the megaphone guy into action: 'Let's all wrap it up, boys!' From behind the camera, Natasha came running towards Marilyn, embracing her jubilantly, while the star, looking lost like a helpless child, asked her 'mom': 'Do you really think I got it the last time? Letter perfect, I mean? Or…?'

"'No question in my mind, darling,' assured her Natasha, 'this was it!'

"Only then did Marilyn seem to awake out of her trance and become the bubbling, carefree Norma Jeane of olden days."

The Marilyn Monroe Century: From Norma Jeane to Icon―A Story in Photographs by Bruno Bernard with Joshua John Miller and Mark A. Fortin will be released on May 19 and can be pre-ordered now.

on Entertainment Weekly

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