''Monkey Business'' is a 1952 American

screwball comedy Screwball comedy is a subgenre of the romantic comedy genre that became popular during the Great Depression, beginning in the early 1930s and thriving until the early 1940s, that satirizes the traditional love story. It has secondary characteristi ...

film directed by

Howard Hawks Howard Winchester Hawks (May 30, 1896December 26, 1977) was an American film director, producer and screenwriter of the classic Hollywood era. Critic Leonard Maltin called him "the greatest American director who is not a household name." A ...

, written by

Ben Hecht Ben Hecht (; February 28, 1894 – April 18, 1964) was an American screenwriter, director, producer, playwright, journalist, and novelist. A successful journalist in his youth, he went on to write 35 books and some of the most enjoyed screenplay ...

, and starring

Cary Grant Cary Grant (born Archibald Alec Leach; January 18, 1904November 29, 1986) was an English-American actor. He was known for his Mid-Atlantic accent, debonair demeanor, light-hearted approach to acting, and sense of comic timing. He was one of ...

, Ginger Rogers, Charles Coburn, and

Marilyn Monroe Marilyn Monroe (; born Norma Jeane Mortenson; 1 June 1926 4 August 1962) was an American actress. Famous for playing comedic " blonde bombshell" characters, she became one of the most popular sex symbols of the 1950s and early 1960s, as wel ...

. To avoid confusion with the unrelated 1931

Marx Brothers The Marx Brothers were an American family comedy act that was successful in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in motion pictures from 1905 to 1949. Five of the Marx Brothers' thirteen feature films were selected by the American Film Institute (AFI) ...

film of the same name, this film is sometimes referred to as ''Howard Hawks' Monkey Business''.

Plot

Dr. Barnaby Fulton (

), an absent-minded research chemist for the Oxly chemical company, is trying to develop an elixir of youth. He is urged on by his commercially minded boss, Oliver Oxly ( Charles Coburn). One of Dr. Fulton's

chimpanzee The chimpanzee (''Pan troglodytes''), also known as simply the chimp, is a species of great ape native to the forest and savannah of tropical Africa. It has four confirmed subspecies and a fifth proposed subspecies. When its close relative t ...

s, Esther, gets loose in the laboratory, mixes a beaker of chemicals, and pours the mix into the

water cooler A water dispenser, known as water cooler (if used for cooling only), is a machine that dispenses and often also cools or heats up water with a refrigeration unit. It is commonly located near the restroom due to closer access to plumbing. A dra ...

. The chemicals have the rejuvenating effect Fulton is seeking. Unaware of Esther's antics, Fulton tests his latest experimental concoction on himself and washes it down with water from the cooler. He soon begins to act like a 20-year-old and spends the day out on the town with his boss's secretary, Lois Laurel (

). When Fulton's wife, Edwina ( Ginger Rogers), learns that the elixir "works", she drinks some along with water from the cooler and turns into a prank-pulling schoolgirl. Edwina makes an impetuous phone call to her old flame, the family lawyer, Hank Entwhistle ( Hugh Marlowe). Her mother, who knows nothing of the elixir, believes that Edwina is truly unhappy in her marriage and wants a divorce. Barnaby takes more elixir and befriends a group of kids playing as make-believe "Indians" (Native Americans). They capture and "scalp" Hank (giving him a

Mohawk hairstyle The mohawk (also referred to as a Mohican) is a hairstyle in which, in the most common variety, both sides of the head are shaven, leaving a strip of noticeably longer hair in the center. It is today worn as an emblem of non-conformity. The ...

), later fleeing when police show up. Meanwhile, Edwina lies down to sleep off the formula. Meanwhile, a woman leaves her baby with the Fultons' housekeeper as she needs an emergency babysitter. When Edwina awakens, a naked baby is next to her and Barnaby's clothes are nearby. She mistakenly presumes he has taken too much formula and regressed to a baby. She takes the child to Oxly to resolve the problem. Together the two attempt to find an antidote and when the baby grows sleepy, Edwina tries to put him to sleep in the hopes of reversing the effects. Meanwhile, more and more scientists (and Mr. Oxly) at the laboratory are drinking the water and reverting to a second childhood. The formula is lost with the last of the water poured away. As the water is poured away, Barnaby crawls into the laboratory through the window and lies down to sleep next to the baby. Edwina later discovers him and realizes her mistake with the baby. Later at home as Barnaby and Edwina are planning to go out, their spirits and marriage renewed, Barnaby notes that "you're old only when you forget you're young."

Cast

as Dr. Barnaby Fulton * Ginger Rogers as Edwina Fulton *

as Lois Laurel * Charles Coburn as Oliver Oxly * Hugh Marlowe as Hank Entwhistle *

Henri Letondal Henri Letondal (29 June 1901 – 15 February 1955) was a French-Canadian actor, critic, playwright and musician. He was born in Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous c ...

as Dr. Jerome Kitzel * Robert Cornthwaite as Dr. Zoldeck *

Larry Keating Lawrence Keating (June 13, 1899 – August 26, 1963) was an American actor best known for his roles as Harry Morton on ''The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show'', which he played from 1953 to 1958, and next-door neighbor Roger Addison on '' Mist ...

as G.J. Culverly * Douglas Spencer as Dr. Brunner * Esther Dale as Mrs. Rhinelander *

George Winslow George Karl Wentzlaff, whose stage name was George "Foghorn" Winslow (May 3, 1946 June 13, 2015), was an American child actor of the 1950s known for his stentorian voice and deadpan demeanor. He appeared in several films, opposite such stars as ...

as Little Indian * Kathleen Freeman as Mrs. Brannigan *

Harry Carey Jr Henry George Carey Jr. (May 16, 1921 – December 27, 2012) was an American actor. He appeared in more than 90 films, including several John Ford Westerns, as well as numerous television series. Early life Carey was born on a ranch nea ...

as Reporter (uncredited) *

as the voice at the start of the movie that says to Cary Grant not to open the door yet (uncredited)

Reception

Critical response

Review aggregation website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...

gives the film an approval rating of 79% based on 28 reviews and an average score of 6.8/10. Hawks said he did not think the film's premise was believable, and as a result thought the film was not as funny as it could have been.

Peter Bogdanovich Peter Bogdanovich (July 30, 1939 – January 6, 2022) was an American director, writer, actor, producer, critic, and film historian. One of the " New Hollywood" directors, Bogdanovich started as a film journalist until he was hired to work on ...

has noted that the scenes with

and

work especially well and laments that Monroe was not the leading lady instead of Ginger Rogers. However, Gregory Lamb of ''

The Christian Science Monitor ''The Christian Science Monitor'' (''CSM''), commonly known as ''The Monitor'', is a nonprofit news organization that publishes daily articles in electronic format as well as a weekly print edition. It was founded in 1908 as a daily newspaper ...

'' described Rogers as "a comedienne par excellence" in the film.The Christian Science Monitor, November 4, 2011: ''Celebrating the Ginger Rogers century''
/ref>

References

External links

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{{Authority control 1952 films 1952 comedy films 1950s American films 1950s English-language films 1950s science fiction comedy films 1950s screwball comedy films 20th Century Fox films American black-and-white films American science fiction comedy films American screwball comedy films Films directed by Howard Hawks Films produced by Sol C. Siegel Films scored by Leigh Harline Films with screenplays by Ben Hecht Films with screenplays by Charles Lederer Films with screenplays by I. A. L. Diamond