What is the plot of The Seven Year Itch?

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Billy Wilder poses in a suit and hat, leaning against a streetlamp with a sign reading Sunset Blvd. in a promotional photo for the film Sunset Boulevard. — Billy Wilder Billy Wilder in a promotional photograph for *Sunset Boulevard* (1950), which he directed.

Directed by Billy Wilder, The Seven Year Itch (1955) is a comedy centered on Richard Sherman, a middle-aged book editor left alone in Manhattan for the summer while his family vacations in Maine.1

Shortly after his wife and son depart, Richard meets an attractive young woman, played by Marilyn Monroe, who has moved into the apartment upstairs. As he spends time with her over the next two days, Richard struggles with his libido, constantly battling nerves and guilt. Much of the film’s humor arises from Richard's overactive imagination and his internal monologues, which contrast sharply with his neighbor's apparent obliviousness to her own allure. Ultimately, overwhelmed by his anxieties, Richard decides to leave the city to join his family.1

The film is famously remembered for the iconic scene of Monroe standing over a subway vent, and its success popularized the term "seven-year itch" to describe the perceived urge to stray from a marriage after seven years.1