Monkey Business (1952)

Monkey Business (1952)




Synopsis

Howard Hawks hoped to capture the screwball comic fervor of his 1938 film Bringing Up Baby with his 1952 comedy Monkey Business. As in the earlier film, Cary Grant stars as an absent-minded professor involved in a research project. This time he's a chemist seeking a "fountain of youth" formula that will revitalize middle-agers both mentally and physically. Though Grant's own laboratory experiments yield little fruit, a lab monkey, let loose from its cage, mixes a few random chemicals and comes up with just the formula Grant is looking for. This mixture is inadvertently dumped in the lab's water supply; the fun begins when staid, uptight Grant drinks some of the "bitter" water, then begins cutting up like a teenager. A harmless afternoon on the town with luscious secretary Marilyn Monroe rouses the ire of Grant's wife Ginger Rogers, but her behavior is even more infantile when she falls under the spell of the youth formula. Everyone remembers the best line in Monkey Business: foxy-grandpa research supervisor Charles Coburn hands the curvacious Monroe a letter and says "Get someone to type this". Even better is his next line: after Monroe sashays out of the room, Coburn turns to Grant and, with eyes atwinkle, murmurs "Anyone can type." Likewise amusing is Monkey Business's pre-credits gag, wherein Cary Grant opens a door and is about to step forward when director Hawks, off-camera, admonishes "Not yet, Cary." Among the co-conspirators on Monkey Business's carefree script are Ben Hecht, Charles Lederer and I.A.L. Diamond, with an original story by Harry Segall (Here Comes Mr. Jordan) as their source.

What Critics Say


No Hollywood.com review at this time
Spill.com puts a whole new spin on the "classic" movie review; turning dorky and dry into hilarious and hip. Spill's reviews are high-quality animated videos featuring a regular cast of comic personalities.

Movie News

  • 'Californication' Recap: Monkey Business

    "Well, who wants to get baked?"


  • ROLE CALL: More Monkey Business

    HOLLYWOOD, Aug. 3, 2000 -- Helena Bonham Carter is just the latest high-profile actor to go ape. The "Fight Club" star has signed up for Tim Burton's reworking of "Planet of the Apes," according to The Hollywood Reporter. She joins a cast that already includes Mark Wahlberg, Michael Clarke Duncan, Tim Roth and others. The film begins shooting this fall for a summer 2001 release.

    Ben Affleck CINDERELLA DUDE: Ben Affleck keeps lining up the post-"Armageddon" roles. First he got the Jack Ryan part in "The Sum of All Fears" and he's starring in the action movie "Pearl Harbor," and now he's talking about the lead in a film called "Cinderella Man" that might be directed by Billy Bob Thornton. According to Variety, it's about a regular joe who becomes a boxer during the Great Depression to support his family.

    PRAGUE BOUND: Variety reports that Edward Norton will play an Am



Rovi Data Solutions, Inc. - Portions of Content Provided by Rovi Data Solutions © 2009 Rovi Data Solutions, Inc.

Advertisement

Create a Fan Site
Are you a Monkey Business (1952) superfan? Create your own fan site on Hollywood.com Click Here!
Advertisement

Whats on Hollywood.com

Actors 302,663

Photos 461,693

Videos 12,839

Fan Pages 128,090

Reviews 2,466

Trailers 5,117

TV 129,006

Movies 269,416




Isn't It Time You Went Hollywood ®
©1999-2012 Hollywood.com, LLC