Customer Reviews

Monkey Business [VHS]

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This review refers to the Diamond Collection DVD edition(20th Cent Fox) of "Monkey Business".....

So what do we have here? A laugh out loud screwball comedy from 1952, starring Cary Grant, Marilyn Monroe, Ginger Rogers, and Charles Coburn. It was directed by the legendary Howard Hawks,and has a screenplay by greats Ben Hecht, Charles Lederer and I.A.L. Diamond...And there's more...20th Century Fox has restored this black and white comedy and has made a wonderful transfer to DVD, so we may enjoy all these immense talents more than 50 years later.

The film is a lot of fun, and the stars look like they had fun making it. And, you can blame all this fun on "Esther". Esther is a six month old chimp who mixes up a batch of youth serum and dumps it in the water cooler at the lab of the absent minded researcher Dr. Barnaby Fulton(Grant). When Fulton and wife Edwina(Rogers), get a powerful dose of this formula, it's anything goes, as they become youthfully exuberant and a bit on the mischievious side(okay, okay, more than a bit). The more they drink...the younger they act. Fulton's boss(Coburn)is trying desperatley to market this miracle and secretary Laurel(Monroe), adds to all this fun as only Marilyn can do with her mere presence.And yes...Ginger does a little hoofing as well!

A fabulous restoration makes it all the more enjoyable. The full screen picture(1.33:1/academy ratio) and black and white images are sharp and clear. There are a few instances when that rainbow thing is happening, you may notice it on Cary's suit or tie, but not often and it no way interferes with the enjoyment of this film. The audio gives you the choice of Stereo or Mono, and there are subtitles in English and Spanish.
You can also view a restoration comparasion and there's a still gallery with wonderful photos.

What we have here is a 5 star package deal for anyone who loves old Hollywood, for anyone who loves to laugh, and for anyone who is young...at heart!...enjoy....Laurie

more romantic comedy recommendations:
A Couch in New York
Some Like It Hot
His Private Secretary

Please don't think that MONKEY BUSINESS is a true Marilyn Monroe vehicle, no matter what the box suggests. Her total time in this feature-length movie is on the order of 15-20 minutes, but MM lights up the screen as a dim secretary who is careful to get to work by nine because her boss has asked her to improve her punctuation. (!) Classic line: after boss (played by Charles Coburn) sends Marilyn off in search of someone to type a letter, he steals a look at her "caboose" and remarks, "Anyone can type."

This is not to imply that the rest of the production lacked brilliance. MONKEY BUSINESS is a true screwball comedy of the pre-WWII type that accelerates and spins out of control in ways that the audience cannot anticipate, but will surely enjoy. Released in 1952 just before Monroe became a full-blown star and TV hijacked the mass audience, the film brims with talent and zesty roles. MONKEY BUSINESS reunites Howard Hawks as director and Cary Grant as male lead for the first time since 1938's delightful BRINGING UP BABY.

Cary plays a very middle-aged absent-minded professor who is really a bit of a stick--until he's accidentally dosed with a new Ponce de Leon rejuvenation serum and all youth breaks out. Pretty soon he's got his hair in a buzz cut and driving a new roadster so recklessly he scares even the pretty (and pretty daring) secretary, the aforementioned by Marilyn Monroe. Things get even wackier when wife Edwina (Ginger Rogers) accidentally ingests some of the serum, too.

Now, this excellent film has plenty of performances alongside Marilyn's: manic Cary, flabbergasted Ginger Rogers, the everlovin' monotone of Hugh Marlowe (he of a jillion WWII air-ace movies and the playwright in ALL ABOUT EVE) and as a special treat, George ("Foghorn") Winslow, the seven-year-old Baby Boomer who blatts out "What'sa matter? Don'cha like children?" just before he ties Marlowe to a tree!

Part of the joy of this movie is watching Grant and Rogers give some of their most uninhibited performances ever as the middle-aged couple who revert to youth--and even before. The timing, direction, and dialog are all impeccable, and of course we have MM into the bargain.

Worth keeping a weather eye out for as well are numerous other Fox black-and-white comedies from the late forties/early fifties, not least among them EVERYBODY DOES IT (1947), in which Celeste Holm plays a mediocre talent who's convinced she could have hit the big time with the right support; and A LETTER TO THREE WIVES (1948), with an all-star cast, including Ann Sothern, Jeanne Crain and Linda Darnell as three of postwar suburbia's most "desperate housewives."

This hilarious slapstick comedy stars Cary Grant, Ginger Rogers, and Marilyn Monroe, 3 of the Silvers Screen's greatest stars. Cary Grant, a doctor, develops a syrum that makes him younger. He tests it out and goes for a spin with his young, beautiful secretary, Marilyn Monroe! Later, his wife, Ginger Rogers tries it out, and finally, Grant and Rogers are like 5 year olds. Ginger is great when she goes into her "childlike temper tantrums" and in one scene, after the syrum has worn off on her, she finds a baby, and thinks it's her husband! This stuff is timeless--it was on the American Film Institute's 500 List of the greates comedies, and it is timeless, making it one of my favorite movies.

This one even starts hilarious wiith Grant walking out before his "cue", and stays pretty funny throughout. I just love that little kid with the gruff voice who asks,"Don't ya like chidren?" It's obvious Marilyn Monroe's character wasn't hired for her secretarial skills! And just dig the part where Grant's wife thinks he has turned into a baby! This movie is a lot of fun!

Monkey Business is one of the cutest movies I have ever seen and it's just so funny to see Cary Grant and Ginger Rogers take the youth serum and act like children and they were great and also the monkey were absolutely adorable!

This movie is recommended highly!

I commend Ed Uyeshima for his spot-on 3-star review.

While the film certainly has it's moments, it's one of those movies that doesn't live up to one's fond childhood memories, perhaps because the comedy too often relies on dated pratfall schtick and sped-up camera sequences.

But what's up with this so-called 'restoration'? The copy I watched (The Diamond Collection) presented a comparison of 'before' and 'after' sequences from the film, side by side. To make this short, the 'before' images were far superior to the 'after', which were so devoid of any nuances, that Ginger Roger's black dress often blended in with the background, and even worse, Cary Grant's face was so dark, it looked like he was wearing blackface in many scenes. Seriously...waaaay too much contrast, with almost no subtle in-between tones. Very disappointing and distracting to say the least, almost unwatchable in places.

Someone needs to re-restore it. No doubt techniques have improved since this unfortunate attempt.

I would not describe this magnificent 1952 Howard Hawks' film as a classic Marilyn Monroe movie no matter what the box says. Although the footage was stocked with funny interludes, it lacks in the Monroe style that so appeals to Marilyn's fans. The only mitigating factor is that the movie was made before Monroe's film fame took hold. Cary Grant and Ginger Rogers certainly dress up this comedy. I adore this civilized humor of yester year, a lost art.

The chimp brings the comedy to life when she adds a special ingredient that completes a youth potion that Dr. Barnaby Fulton (Cary Grant) had tried unsuccessfully to concoct, and dumps it into the water cooler when no one was looking. Unknowingly, those who drank from the cooler turned this bland 1950's film into carnival atmosphere. Cary Grant, although a little stiff in the beginning of the film, loosens up once he's been bitten by the youth potion. Ginger Rogers (Fulton's wife, Edwina) manages to get her fingers caught in the cookie jar as well. Then Lois Laurel (Marilyn Monroe, the dumb blond secretary) gets a taste of it and they go off on a rampage, while the boss (Charlie Coburn) tries to figure it all out.

True to the nature of these vintage farces, all the loose ends get tide back together once all the antics are sorted out. Let's not give it away! The viewer is in for a treat as the stage is set for one heck of a splash in the mud. Too bad they don't make 'em like this anymore!

The fountain-of-youth is what every middle-aged adult dreams about from time to time, aahhh, to be young again!

Ginger Rogers plays Edwina, the understanding wife of chemist Barnaby Fulton (Cary Grant). After working on his fountain-of-youth formula for two years, he has finally got it and it is time to do some experimental research. Let the fun begin! Both Edwina and Barnaby take the formula, and revert back to a day when they were full of boisterous energy. Being under the influence of the formula also brings up all sorts of unconscious behaviors and thoughts about each other to the surface, which brings about some tense conversation between the two of them later on.

Marilyn Monroe is incredibly sexy in her role as the boss's secretary. Moving and swaying her body with such precision, the viewer is captivated by her.

It doesn't stop there, more research must be done. More laughs, each comedic event builds on the next. This story does have a happy ending!

This is one of my all time favorite screwball comedies. Cary Grant and Ginger Rogers, with a little Marilyn Monroe tossed in for spice, make a great couple. They are both great comedic actors and to me they had definite chemistry.

Marilyn plays the quintessential Marilyn, ditzy and sexy. Charles Coburn nearly steals the show with his usual gruff demeanor halted by his drinking the "fountain of youth" potion. His chasing Marilyn Monroe around the laboratory is a great scene.

"so i'm careful to get here before nine"...MM has this classic and very funny line in this movie. It's the line that I always remember. That and "Find someone to type this", Charles Coburn says to MM, his secretary.
This is a great comedy from the 1950's that stars Cary Grant and Ginger Rogers. Marilyn is in a supporting role as the secretary to Charles Coburn, but she truly shows her side as a comedic actress in this. I have always been a great fan of Cary Grant, and he is just hilarious as the absent minded doctor who is trying to concoct a youth serum. Little does he know, all it takes is a monkee..this is a fun movie. and it shows the comedic talents of grant, rogers, and monroe..