Monkey Business (1952)

User Rating:

7.1/10   

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:

Be Your Age
Darling I Am Growing Younger (USA) (working title)
Howard Hawks' Monkey Business (USA) (complete 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) | Australia:G | Finland:S | Sweden:Btl | UK:U | 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:

Mrs. Edwina Fulton: By the way, whose lipstick is it?
Barnaby: Oh, uh, what's her names? Oxley's secretary.
Mrs. Edwina Fulton: Oh, you mean that little pin up girl? Very cute.
Barnaby: Sort of. But half infant.
Mrs. Edwina Fulton: Not the half that's visible.

Movie Connections:

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

Soundtrack:

The Whiffenpoof Song

Uneven comedy

I found "Monkey Business" to be an uneven comedy. It offers many hilarious and memorable moments (the monkey preparing the formula, for instance), but there are also a number of scenes which come to a standstill; many of them are the ones involving the professor and his wife. Cleverly written dialogue provides most of the fun, and the film leaves an overall good feeling. Considered a classic.