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Cary Grant, Ginger Rogers, Charles Coburn, Marilyn Monroe, Henri Letondal ... see more see more... , Hugh Marlowe , Larry Keating , Robert Cornthwaite , Douglas Spencer , Esther Dale , George Winslow , Emmett Lynn , Jerry Sheldon , Joseph Mell , George Eldredge , Kathleen Freeman , Mary Field , Olan Soule , Gil Stratton , Harry Carey Jr. , Faire Binney , Bill McLean , Harry Bartell , Olive Carey , Harry Carter , Charles "Heinie" Conklin , Dabbs Greer , Rudy Lee , Mickey Little , Paul Maxey , Ray Montgomery , Brad Mora , Forbes Murray , Robert Nichols , Melinda Plowman , Harry Seymour , Ruth Warren , Mack Williams , Isabel Withers , Howard Hawks , Jerry Paris , Louis Lettieri , Russ Clark , John R. McKee , Roger Moore

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 ... read more read more...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. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

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67% liked it

8,116 ratings

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86% liked it

22 critics

PG, 1 hr. 32 min.

Directed by: Howard Hawks

Release Date: September 5, 1952

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DVD Release Date: May 14, 2002

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Cary Grant and Marilyn Monroe Monkey Business Esther Dale, Ginger Rogers, Cary Grant and Hugh Marlowe Cary Grant and Marilyn Monroe Ginger Rogers, Cary Grant and Charles Coburn Cary Grant and Ginger Rogers Cary Grant and Marilyn Monroe Monkey Business (1952). Cary Grant, Ginger Rogers and Marilyn Monroe Monkey Business Ginger Rogers, Cary Grant and Hugh Marlowe Cary Grant and Charles Coburn Marilyn Monroe, Cary Grant and Charles Coburn Cary Grant and Ginger Rogers Monkey Business
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Flixster Reviews (351)

  • FrizzDrop
    November 8, 2011
    FrizzDrop
    This, another in a long line of Howard Hawks comedies, centers around the absurd in every aspect, the wit and candor of other comedies of the era complacent to take a backseat to physical comedy and the antics of two youthful adults. The two main stars of the film are Ginger Roge... read morers and Cary Grant. Rogers, famous for the song and dance at MGM, does show off her pipes and happy feet but in a minimal sense. This film better showcases her acting abilities. Grant has already been placed in roles where he's either confused, or nerdy, or subject to public embarrassment. This film has them all in heaping amounts. The science behind the plot on the other hand is troubling. This formula is supposed to make you youthful and invigorated, but instead of changing you to look young, you act young. Now, there are a hundred ways in modern society that you can feel young without going to these lengths, so much of the plot just doesn't translate for modern audiences. This is a steep hill to climb, but it's when Grant and Rogers take said formula together that the film really works. They are both infantile, and their give and take as small children is actually really hilarious. Rogers truly does some of her best work in this film, without playing second fiddle to a certain unnamed dance partner. Also on the billing is legendary starlet Marilyn Monroe, who is far less than trivial to the film, and shows off an early rendition of her later persona as a bubble head with hidden dwellings of intelligence and wit. It's cute and quirky, with many monkeys to spare.
  • ajv2688
    November 7, 2010
    ajv2688
    This is a goofy comedy starring Grant and Rogers, but Monroe plays a small part as Grant's secretary or something. The story isn't very unique, but it's funny and the movie is enjoyable.
  • MeetMeinMontauk
    August 25, 2010
    MeetMeinMontauk
    Haha! Loved it! Cary Grant and Ginger Rogers are just masters of physical comedy. It's one thing to act young, it's another thing to have your expressions look young. Hilarious!
    Not the best screwball comedy I've ever seen, but certainly had it's funny parts! Strange they feature... read more this as a Marilyn Monroe film when she certainly wasn't the best part of it, sorry Marilyn.
  • ythelastman89
    June 22, 2010
    ythelastman89
    I think you either love screwball comedies or hate them, I particularly love them a lot. I feel that it's the best form of romantic comedy and about the only slapstick I tend to enjoy, mainly because it's rooted in wit rather than shear silliness. Cary Grant also happens to be on... read moree of my favorite actors so it's kind've impossible not for me not to love this. Howard Hawks is probably the best comedy director to ever live, no one even comes close. Mainly because he treats all of his projects with the up-most respect and care.
  • garyX
    October 10, 2009
    garyX
    Scientist Cary Grant's lab chimp gets loose and creates a youth serum that makes everyone act like they're in their childhood. Howard Hawks was responsible for a few of the great comedies of the golden age, and the cast can hardly be criticized, but this rather puerile entry in t... read morehe genre doesn't really do the talent involved justice. It's little more than a one idea sitcom where the audience are supposed to be amused by grown ups acting like children in some half-hearted slapstick and "look at the funny monkey". I'm sure pre-teens and Jim Carrey fans will find this all a hoot but I was just mildly embarrassed to see one of my favourite actors participating in this kind of juvenile nonsense. Marilyn showcases her ability to steal every scene she's in but any film that contains jokes that rely on the audience thinking wearing checked flannel sports jackets and argyle socks is incredibly risque is rather worse for wear. I'd stick to Hawks and Grant's infinitely superior collaborations, Bringing Up Baby and His Girl Friday.
  • stormyweather980
    September 14, 2009
    stormyweather980
    "Monkey Business" is what I call a HILARIOUS movie! Barnaby (Cary Grant) is a chemist who is working on a new formula that has the potential to be a scientific breakthrough if it works. But he can't seem to find the missing ingredient that would make it all work and produce a cha... read morenge of direction in the way he lives.
    A monkey accidentally mixes various ingredients together in a laboratory, creating a formula that literally makes the drinkers (of the formula) feel and act much younger than they actually are. The lucky or not so lucky drinkers can feel and experience such effects as having their vision restored to 20/20, being angry, and so on. But what all the drinkers experience is a feeling of having energy that refuses to run out for awhile and they temporarily act like a kid, maybe even younger.

    After so long, the formula wears off and the drinkers return to their old and boring selves (when compared to way they were while under the influence of the formula), at least until they drink some more of it.

    "Monkey Business" also provides a few subplots such as a group of people wanting to get their hands on Barnaby's formula. These subplots don't do anything but make the already great movie even better.

    "Monkey Business" has many standout comedy sequences that all go full blast on the laughs. A few of the most memorable parts are when Cary Grant takes Marilyn Monroe on a FAST and unpredictable joyride through town in a sleek new car, when Cary Grant and his wife (Ginger Rogers) fight with paint, Cary Grant playing as "Red Eagle," the star of some kind of Indian game with the children, and so many more.

    The main reason "Monkey Business" is so funny is because you woudln't really expect to see most of the things you'll see once the formula kicks in. For example, would you expect to see Cary Grant do cartwheels or a MAJOR belly buster off the high dive? Everybody in "Monkey Business" does a spectacular job of acting, especially Cary Grant and Ginger Rogers. Marilyn Monroe is also a standout even though she's not really one of the main characters in the film.

    To make it short, "Monkey Business" is a comedy movie that will make people of all ages laugh out loud. Me (I'm 21), my younger brother and sister, our mom (40's), and our great-grandmother (she's in her 80's), all sat down one day and watched this movie. Though there is a wide gap in our ages, we all laughed over and over again. If you or anyone you know likes comedy movies, get "Monkey Business" as soon as possible! NOTE: That was my Amazon review from the year 2001.
  • jjnxn
    July 12, 2007
    jjnxn
    fun with terrific performances from Cary Grant and ginger Rogers and a sexy saucy turn from a young Marilyn
  • gator681
    June 5, 2005
    gator681
    "Youth is wasted on the young." - George Bernard Shaw


    [font=Century Gothic]In "Monkey Business"(1952), Cary Grant is playing Barnaby Fulton, a brilliant but occasionally absent-minded scientist who wears coke-bottle glasses and works for Oxly Chemicals on a rejuvenating formu... read morela. At one point, Grant decides to test the formula on himself...[/font]
    [font=Century Gothic][/font]
    [font=Century Gothic]"Monkey Business" is an amusingly silly slapstick farce performed by a very worthy cast including Cary Grant(playing very much against type), Ginger Rogers and Charles Coburn but I still do not understand the appeal of Marilyn Monroe. There are also sublte thoughts here about experimentation on animals - one of the monkeys makes a successful formula and puts it in the humans' water supply, the water cooler. Also, Dr. Fulton has concerns that too much of his research is done on commercial projects like indestructible panty hose for example.[/font]
  • poohtiger
    October 19, 2010
    poohtiger
    A wonderful comedy that re-teams director Howard Hawks and star Cary Grant. The duo have worked magic before in other screwball classics like His Girl Friday (my all time favorite movie) and I Was A Male War Bride. In this one, Grant is absent minded chemist Barney Fulton who dis... read morecovers a fountain of youth potion that he has been testing on chimps. Well he accidentally takes it himself and reverts to being a teen-ager. Which includes spending time with his gorgeous secretary Miss Lois Laurel (played by Marilyn Monroe). Well Mrs. Fulton (a sharp and funny Ginger Rogers) takes an even bigger dose and reverts even further to a 9 year old and all kinds of chaos ensues. Monkey Business is a hilarious comedy that lets the stars just have all the fun they want. A must see.
    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Lois Laurel: [at her secretrial desk, responding to Barnaby's remark that she is at work early] Mr. Oxley's been complaining about my punctuation, so I'm careful to get here before nine.
  • SunilJawahir
    October 26, 2008
    SunilJawahir
    A bit silly but still a pretty good comedy.

View All Monkey Business Reviews

Critic Reviews

Variety Staff
February 3, 2009
Variety Staff, Variety

Attempt to draw out a thin, familiar slapstick idea isn't carried off. Full Review

Dave Kehr
February 3, 2009
Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader

Monkey Business ranks with the best works of the American cinema. Full Review

Bosley Crowther
March 25, 2006
Bosley Crowther, New York Times

As soon as this gag is established and provokes the obvious guffaws, the subsequent changes rung upon it become just a little dull. Full Review

February 3, 2009
Film4

The rather strained, juvenile high jinks do have their funny lines and situations, plus Monroe as an incompetent stenographer. Full Review

February 3, 2009
TV Guide's Movie Guide

A goofy premise and slight script are transformed into something very funny by director Howard Hawks and a cast of screen legends. Full Review

David Nusair
April 10, 2007
David Nusair, Reel Film Reviews

...eventually becomes just as silly and over-the-top as one might've anticipated. Full Review

February 9, 2006
Time Out

he timing of the gags can put most Hollywood comedies, never mind TV sitcoms, to shame. Full Review

Nell Minow
November 4, 2004
Nell Minow, Movie Mom at Yahoo! Movies

Cute comedy with a nice early appearance by Marilyn Monroe.

Steve Crum
October 25, 2004
Steve Crum, Kansas City Kansan

Screwball monkeying around with Grant and Rogers.

Jeffrey M. Anderson
June 5, 2004
Jeffrey M. Anderson, Combustible Celluloid

Perhaps the greatest Hollywood director who ever lived, Howard Hawks knew instinctively how to use certain actors. Full Review

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Monkey Business Trivia

  • After surviving an entire cruise as stowaways without being caught, the Marx Brothers each try to debark by imitating Maurise Chevalier. Which film was this?  Answer »
  • Whose passport is central in the Marx Brothers attempts to get ashore in Monkey Business?  Answer »
  • What does Barnaby Fulton do for a living in Monkey Business ?  Answer »
  • What is Barnaby working on in Monkey Business ?  Answer »
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