On M List of Movie Reviews
(For optimum viewing, adjust the zoom level of your browser to 125%.)
Monkey Business (1952)
Rate:
4
Viewed:
7/25
7/25:
When the opening credits rolled for Monkey Business, I became disappointed after seeing that Ben Hecht,
Charles Lederer, and I.A.L. Diamond wrote the script.
They have a reputation for turning films into overly talky bores sometimes. After twenty minutes of
Monkey Business, my suspicion was confirmed. Then, the chimpanzee showed up and stole the show
effortlessly from everybody including Cary Grant and Marilyn Monroe. Unfortunately, that lasted for ten minutes,
and it's back to the same with the first half being full of talk and rear projection effect during the car scenes.
Finally, Cary Grant displays what he does the best in the screwball comedy genre, but it's too little, too late.
The 40-year-old Ginger Rogers tries to keep up with him, but she's somewhat out of her element and belongs in
musical pictures only. Peter Bogdanovich once asked, "Why not switch her with Marilyn Monroe?" That's an
interesting observation, but I doubt she's capable of pulling it off. By the way, Marilyn Monroe has a total
screen time of probably fifteen minutes and is thus rendered as a wasted valuable asset.
Therefore, Monkey Business isn't funny, and weird things happen during the second half with Cary Grant
applying paint on his face and doing the war cry as if he's Geronimo, Hugh Marlowe being tied to a tree with
a mohawk on his head, the sight of a fully naked baby boy, and Ginger Rogers treating Marilyn Monroe like an
idiot and a pin-up tramp (mucho jealousy in real life, eh Ginger?). Howard Hawks eventually admitted to the failure
of the film which is, believe it or not, more sci-fi in tone.
All in all, it's obvious what everybody should've done in Monkey Business: let the chimpanzee be the
star of the show from start to finish with Cary Grant and Marilyn Monroe on hand for support.