Monkey Business (1952)

Director:

Howard Hawks

Writers:

Ben Hecht (screenplay) &
Charles Lederer (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

September 1952 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Sci-Fi

Plot:

Barnaby Fulton is a research chemist working on a fountain of youth pill for a chemical company. While trying a sample dose on himself...

Plot Keywords:

Water Cooler | Youth | Chemist | Water | Boss

Awards:

Nominated for Golden Globe.

Cast

Cary Grant	...	Dr. Barnaby Fulton
Ginger Rogers	...	Mrs. Edwina Fulton
Charles Coburn	...	Mr. Oliver Oxley
Marilyn Monroe	...	Miss Lois Laurel
Hugh Marlowe	...	Hank Entwhistle
Henri Letondal	...	Dr. Jerome Kitzel
Robert Cornthwaite	...	Dr. Zoldeck
Larry Keating	...	G.J. Culverly
Douglas Spencer	...	Dr. Brunner
Esther Dale	...	Mrs. Rhinelander
George Winslow	...	Little Indian

Also Known As:

Howard Hawks' Monkey Business (UK) (complete title) (USA) (complete title)
Be Your Age
Darling I Am Growing Younger (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

97 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

USA:Approved (certificate #15862) | Canada:G (video rating) | UK:U (video rating) (1989) | Australia:G | Finland:S | Sweden:Btl | UK:U (passed with cuts) | West Germany:12 | Spain:T

Filming Locations:

20th Century Fox Studios - 10201 Pico Blvd., Century City, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

The exterior shots of the Oxley Chemical Co. office building where Barnaby works was actually the Executive Building on the 20th Century Fox studio lot. It is now known as the Old Executive Building.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: Before the baby walks into the house and lays beside Edwina, a shadow can be seen just inside the front door that moves further into the room.

Quotes:

Lois Laurel: Hi Dr Fulton.
Barnaby: Hi.
Mrs. Edwina Fulton: What did you say to her?
Lois Laurel: Mrs Fulton. He said "hi".
Mrs. Edwina Fulton: I heard what he said, you peroxide kissing bug!
Barnaby: Edwina, she hasn't done anything.
Mrs. Edwina Fulton: I'll pull that blonde hair out by its black roots!
Barnaby: Edwina! Now come along. Miss Laurel, you keep out of the way.
Mrs. Edwina Fulton: Put 'em up! Put 'em up! Put 'em up!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Spin City: Monkey Business (#3.12)" (1998)

Soundtrack:

The Whiffenpoof Song

Good Fun

This is a very good movie to watch when all you want to do is to have a good time and some good laughs. There isn't a minute of it that would hold up to logical analysis, but there's barely a minute of it that isn't fun to watch. The story is pleasantly zany, the characters are entertaining, and the stars were all perfectly chosen for their roles.

Hawks's opening gag with Cary Grant in the doorway sets the tone, and lets you know right away that you can sit back and not take anything seriously for a while. Grant's character, a somewhat befuddled scientist who is trying to come up with a "youth formula", is the kind of role he could play in his sleep. As Grant's wife, Ginger Rogers doesn't get much to do for a good while, but then she has some fine comic moments later on. Charles Coburn is perfect as Grant's boss, and he gets a couple of the best lines in the whole show. And who better than Marilyn Monroe to play Coburn's secretary?

It's an entertaining throwback to the screwball comedies of a slightly earlier era. "Monkey Business" may be no masterpiece, but it's good fun of the pleasantly offbeat kind that is rare anymore.