"THERE'S NO BUSINESS LIKE SHOW BUSINESS",1954.
MARILYN MONROE MUSICAL REVISITED
"THERE'S NO BUSINESS LIKE SHOW BUSINESS",1954.
Irving Berlin's There's No Business Like Show Business is a 1954 20th Century-Fox musical-comedy-drama film directed by Walter Lang. It stars an ensemble cast, consisting of Ethel Merman, Dan Dailey, Donald O'Connor, Mitzi Gaynor, Marilyn Monroe, Johnnie Ray, and Hugh O'Brian.
Donald O'Connor later called the film the best picture he ever made.
The plot follows the Donahues, led by father Terry (Dailey) and mother Molly (Merman), vaudeville veterans who thrive on performing. Over the years, they add their children into their act, making them the Five Donahues. Tim (O’Connor) is the hoofer with fast-flying feet; Katy (Gaynor) is the glitzy tap-dancer with pretty pipes; and Steve (Johnnie Ray) is the classy piano-playing crooner. After the kids have become adults, the family hesitantly go their separate ways: Terry and Molly slowly retire, Steve becomes a priest, and Katy and Tim work in the show of rising star — and Tim’s girlfriend — Victoria Hoffman (Monroe).
What I enjoy so much about this film is that while it loves to drown itself in flashy numbers and well-done montages, it’s always about family. The Donahues care about each other to an insanely touching and realistic degree. For example, when Tim and Katy decide they want to do a show without their parents, they’re anguished over how to break the news without hurting their feelings. One of the best scenes, though, is during a party thrown for Steve before he leaves for a Catholic seminary. Katy and Tim re-enact an old number of Terry and Molly’s, complete with the same costumes and hilarious impressions of Merman and Dailey. Terry is beaming with pride, but when he looks at Molly, she is crying because she realizes how things are changing for them. Without saying anything, Terry holds his wife and we fade to black.
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