Monkey Business

I have to say right now that this movie is one of the funniest movies I have ever seen.  Ginger Rogers and Cary Grant had me doubled over with laughter.  I always thought that Cary Grant was really good in comedic roles, but he truly had me laughing out loud in this one.  Ginger Rogers was also very good in her role.

Monkey Business was directed by Howard Hawks.  It also stars Charles Coburn as Oliver Oxley, Marilyn Monroe as Lois Laurel, and Hugh Marlowe as Hank Entwhistle.  Monkey Business was released on September 2, 1952.  Cary Grant plays Barnaby Fulton and Ginger Rogers plays his wife Edwina Fulton.

Dr. Barnaby Fulton is a middle aged research scientist who is always serious and kind of a fuddy duddy.  Dr. Fulton also does not like to go out much.  He would rather stay home thinking about his present research project. 
    

Barnaby is too mentally preoccupied to go out with Edwina to a dinner function they are expected to attend.
 

Edwina decides to give in to her husband's reluctance to go out and she goes into the kitchen to prepare dinner for them.  

Frank Entwhistle is a friend of the Fulton's and shows up at their house to find out why they called to cancel attending the function.  Frank has romantic feelings for Edwina and wanted to marry her many years ago, but Edwina loves Barnaby.  I thought it took a lot of nerve for Hank to show up at their house demanding answers.  Edwina and Barnaby are two grown people who can make up their own minds about going out or not.

The next day Barnaby goes to his laboratory where he is working on a fountain of youth pill for the Oxley Chemical Company.  Every formula that Barnaby concocts is tested on chimpanzees.  

There is a chimpanzee named Esther who lets herself out of her cage while Barnaby is out of his laboratory.  Esther who is very childlike starts mixing the chemicals into a beaker as she has seen Barnaby do from her cage.  Afterwards Esther innocently pours her mixture into the watercooler.  

Unaware of Esther's antics, Barnaby drinks water from the cooler after he uses himself as a guinea pig for his own formula.  A few minutes later Barnaby not only has 20/20 vision, but he has the stamina and mind of a twenty year old.

Barnaby goes out and gets a crewcut, new clothes fit for a much younger man and a sports car. 

Barnaby is driving Oliver Oxley's secretary, Lois, around in the car at breakneck speed.  At first Lois is enjoying the ride but then she realizes that Barnaby could get them both killed with his daredevil driving.  

 

Barnaby does end up in a fender bender.  While the car is being fixed, Barnaby, still under the influence, takes Lois roller skating and swimming.

 

  

The formula wears off and Barnaby is back to his old self again, but then Edwina drinks down some of if and washes it down with water from the cooler.  
 

Edwina begins acting like a silly teenage girl.  One the dance floor Edwina wears Barnaby out and generally causes a lot of trouble for Barnaby while she is under the influence of the spiked water.
 

This scene with Edwina's mother and Hank Entwhistle I found hysterical.  Edwina is no longer under the influence, but she did and said things that were horrible which causes Barnaby think about the damage a fountain of youth pill can do to relationships. 

After what Barnaby experiences with Edwina he decides to destroy the formula, but he still does not realize that it is the mixture that Esther poured into the water cooler.  In the laboratory Edwina makes them coffee using the water in the cooler and both of them drink several cups of coffee.  Edwina and Barnaby mentally revert back to when they were very young.  
 

During a meeting with the Oxley Company board Edwina starts blowing bubbles with the gum that she is chewing.  

Barnaby is under the conference room table tickling Esther.  This scene is hysterical!

Barnaby gets upset because of what Edwina writes about him on the blackboard and they start arguing like 6 year olds.

 

Barnaby and Edwina leave the meeting and head home, but not without some more funny hijinks.

Still under the influence Barnaby plots with some other children to lure Hank Entwhistle over and scalp him.  

The children ask Hank to play the Maypole game with them.  
 

 I really enjoyed watching Monkey Business immensely.  It is great slapstick humor that was quite popular in the 1950's.  The humor in this movie is in watching grown adults act like children.  It may seem immature and a waste to some people, but to me this movie is a treasure.  I laughed so hard even after the movie ended just thinking about it.

 

Forever Female

Forever Female is another movie that I never heard of before.  The movie stars Ginger Rogers as Beatrice Page, William Holden as Stanley Krown, Paul Douglas as Harry Phillips and Pat Crowley as Sally Carver.  Forever Female was directed by Irving Rapper and it was released in January 1954.  I have to give kudos to Edith Head's gorgeous costume design for this movie. 
  

Ginger Rogers and William Holden

 

Pat Crowley

Harry Phillips is a Broadway producer who was married to Beatrice Page.  Even though they are now divorced Beatrice and Harry are still very good friends.  Harry is actually still very much in love with Beatrice.  Harry also owes Beatrice over 11 thousand dollars in back alimony.  Beatrice just starred in a play that Harry produced and after the play they head over to Sardis to wait for the reviews.  The play is a big flop but Beatrice gets raving reviews for her performance in it.  

Stanley Krown is an aspiring playwright who gets the opportunity to meet Beatrice and Harry at Sardis.  Stanley has written a play about a 19 year old girl and her mother and is looking for someone to produce it. 

The next day Harry and Beatrice discuss Stanley's play.  It is a very good play, but if Harry produces it then he wants only Beatrice to star in the lead role which is the 19 year old girl.  Beatrice cannot pass for 19 so Harry wants Stanley to change the age of the girl to 29 so that Beatrice can play the part.  Ginger Rogers is gorgeous in this movie, but she does not look 29 either.  Miss Rogers looks closer to mid 40's to me in this movie.   Ginger Rogers was actually 42 when she made this movie.  

Stanley has a dilemma.  If he changes the age of the girl in his play it changes the whole story because what a 19 year old goes through is different from what a 29 year old experiences.  Stanley Kramer knows this and at first is adamant that the script remain the same.  Harry will not produce the play without those changes though.  Beatrice also wants to star in the play and puts pressure on Stanley to change rewrite it.  

Stanley Krown gives in and starts to rewrite the play to suit Beatrice and Harry.
 

Sally Carver is a 19 year old aspiring actress who has read Stanley's original script.  Sally works at an agency as a typist and she is the one who typed up Stanley's script.  Sally recognizes that Stanley is a very talented writer and that his original script is outstanding.  To rewrite it will ruin it.  Sally encourages Stanley to stand up to what he knows is right, but Stanley is too caught up in Beatrice Page. 

 

Sally really wants to break into show business, but she is also falling in love with Stanley. 

Beatrice finds Sally and Stanley together in his apartment and she gets jealous.  Stanley explains that Sally was only doing some typing for him.
 

In order to keep Sally and Stanley separated, Beatrice gets Sally a job in a traveling show.  

  

Sally doesn't keep her job in the show for long because she misses Stanley.  Sally gives the road show two weeks notice and returns to New York to be near Stanley.  I loved the Sally Carver character.  She is really sweet, although to me she is way too aggressive for her own good.  Sally comes off more as a pest instead of a person with humble confident determination.  Sally is more suitable as a mate for Stanley than Beatrice is, however, Stanley cannot see that yet.  
 

Sally sits in the back of the theater to watch the rehearsal of Stanley's play with Beatrice in it.  Afterwards everyone tells Stanley that the play is great, but Sally tells Stanley the truth.  The play is awful and Stanley should not have altered it just to please Beatrice and Harry.  Stanley gets very annoyed with Sally and tells her to get out and that he never wants to see her again.  Of course Sally is hurt and she goes off crying after they exchange harsh words.
 

The play opens in Washington DC and it is a huge flop just as Sally warned Stanley it would be.  Stanley goes off to be alone.  Beatrice is very worried about Stanley and eventually figures out where he went off to.  This is when Beatrice tells Stanley that she loves him and wants to marry him.  Stanley is stunned to her this and agrees to an engagement.
  

Harry and Sally are obviously not happy about the engagement.  Sally painfully decides that she has to move on with her life without Stanley.

 

One day Stanley reads in the papers that his play is being performed in another town.  Stanley decides to go and see it and takes Harry with him.  They discover that Sally is starring in it as the 19 year old girl.  The play is also being performed as Harry originally wrote it.  Stanley's play is a hit in that small town.  After the performance, Stanley goes to talk with Sally who has changed a bit.  Sally is now more grown up and humble.  Sally realizes that she is a good person who does not have to be overly aggressive.  Sally appreciates the value of herself.  Stanley is finally seeing Sally for the beautiful person that she is inside and out.  The evening becomes very emotional for Sally and she goes off crying.  This scene is really very touching.

On the way back from seeing Harry's play performed with Sally in it, Harry decides to take Stanley to meet Beatrice's mother.  The visit to Beatrice's mom reveals a few surprises for Stanley.

Harry realizes that Stanley really belongs with Sally and helps him to face the truth about it.  Stanley doesn't want to hurt Beatrice, but he need not worry about that.  Beatrice has come to terms with a few things about herself as well.  

Forever Female has a lovely ending.  If you want to know how it ends you will have to watch it yourself.  I really enjoyed all of the characters in this movie.  I found them all very likable even if they were flawed.  As a woman who loves pretty and classic clothing I really love all of the clothes that Ginger Rogers and Pat Crowley wore in this movie.  Edith Head is one of my favorite of the old Hollywood designers.  Edith's style reminds me a lot of Coco Chanel's designs.     

I streamed this movie on Netflix.

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