Monkey Business

Movie Review: Monkey Business

Year of Release: 1952
Country of Origin: USA
Director: Howard Hawks
Cast: Cary Grant, Ginger Rogers, Charles Coburn, Marilyn Monroe

Plot outline: A scientist's search for the fountain of youth makes him and his wife regress to childhood (IMDb).

Howard Hawks knows his way around screwball comedy, but Monkey Business pales next to his inimitable classics like His Girl Friday. It has plenty of funny moments, but it didn't make me laugh as much as it should have considering its great cast of Cary Grant, Ginger Rogers, Charles Coburn and Marilyn Monroe - in a scene-stealing supporting role that helped establish her screen persona for all time. The first half of the movie is great. Grant goes from stuffy, absent-minded scientist to hormonal teenager and hilarity ensues. He underplays the part well, making the transition subtle at first, then more pronounced as the segment goes on. Further, his natural chemistry with Monroe makes this part of the story all the more appealing. Right about the time Grant’s character starts reverting to his old self is when you should turn off the movie. Should you stick around, you’ll see the movie’s focus shift from Grant to Rogers. Unfortunately, as with their previous collaboration, Once Upon a Honeymoon (1942), Rogers simply isn’t funny. While Grant’s character seems to change into an adolescent, to judge by Rogers’ performance, her character changes into a crazy person. She overacts from the get-go, exhibiting none of Grant’s restraint, and quickly makes the next fifteen to twenty minutes an exercise in patience. Ironically, the script originally only had Grant’s character taking the formula, but Rogers insisted her character do so as well, and Hawks, unfortunately, gave in. He later regretted it, although apparently not in time to save the movie. Compounding matters, Monroe has all but disappeared. (F)

My judgement: **1/2 out of 4 stars