Being a big fan of Marilyn Monroe, I love watching her films. I had seen Monkey Business a few years ago, but not since and as I am working my way through the DVDs on The Diamond Collection boxset, I thought it would be a pleasant enough way to spend 97 minutes of this afternoon.

Monkey Business is a black and white film from 1952, directed by Howard Hawks. It has an impressive cast with Cary Grant and Ginger Rogers in the leading roles, ably backed up by Charles Coburn and Marilyn Monroe in support.

Cary Grant plays Dr Barnaby Fulton, a chemist who is trying to develop a formula which makes people younger. He is quite a stereotypical mad scientist - nerdy, dizzy, forgetful, preoccupied and intelligent.

He is married to Edwina (Ginger Rogers, looking very elegant and classy), who is the sensible one of the couple. She is rather long-suffering, picking up the pieces when hubby becomes so involved in his work that he forgets about day-to-day life. They are very loving and affectionate and both actors convince in the roles.

Veteran actor Charles Coburn - aged seventy-five when he made this movie - plays Oliver Oxley, the owner of the Oxley Chemical Company which Barnaby Fulton works for. He delivers his usual gruff but fair gentleman performance.

Marilyn Monroe plays his secretary, Lois Laurel. Fans don't have to wait long to see her this time, as she first appears about eleven minutes in. Almost immediately, she is flashing her legs, as her character shows Barnaby her new stockings!

This sets the tone for her character throughout the film. Lois Laurel is pretty, sweet, naïve and wide-eyed, portrayed as a typical dumb blonde. Oxley comments how she was not hired for her clerical skills, quipping "Anybody can type!"

While Marilyn Monroe did this kind of part beautifully, I did raise my eyebrows in a 'Here we go again!' fashion, as the character developed - or rather, failed to develop. She is simply used as eye candy throughout, a tight sweater emphasising her curves and gratuitously turning up in a swimsuit for a brief scene.

She looks gorgeous throughout, of course, but having seen her act expertly in other films (for example The Misfits and Don't Bother to Knock), this kind of role is disappointing. She pouts prettily and her acting is certainly good enough, but she's not really stretched! (Unlike the jumper!)

On the plus side though, she does get quite a lot of screen time and her character has morals, being disappointed to find out he's married. Her physical attributes also lead to some of the best lines, such as this one.

Edwina refers to Lois as "that little pin up girl!"
Barnaby refutes this, dismissing her as a "half infant"
Edwina disagrees. "Not the half that's visible!"

Marilyn's comic timing is very good too. I loved the scene where she walks into the office, only to be confronted by a young-acting Barnaby, who innocently asks her "You come to play with me?" followed by a great reaction look from Marilyn.

This was one of five films Marilyn was in during 1952. She would later appear again with Charles Coburn in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes the following year. Child actor George Winslow turns up in the two films too and manages to be equally annoying in both.

The plot develops quite quickly, but then it hasn't got far to go. Dr Barnaby Fulton and his team keep adjusting their formula to see if it improves their results. They test the formulas out on the chimpanzees in the laboratory, but one day, one of the clever monkeys escapes and mixes up its own formula, which it tips into the water cooler!

Well, you can guess the rest. One of those that ends up with 'hilarious results' - well, ideally. This is really where the film goes wrong, as at best it can be described as a light comedy with dips into slapstick and farce. But somehow, it ends up as being rather annoying and I was glad when it finished.

The film could have showcased the versatility of two respected actors - Cary and Ginger - who have to act their ages, plus several ages younger. Sadly, it just ended up being rather embarrassing in my opinion. By the end of the movie, we have Cary Grant dressed up in war paint running around with a bunch of irritating kids, while Ginger Rogers ends up acting like a butch Doris Day in Calamity Jane.

There are some good points to the film - and not only the indentations in Marilyn's jumper! <grin> The monkeys are incredibly clever and the baby is well-trained too. Marilyn is beautiful to watch and her fans should try to sit through this at least once - but probably just the once, to be fair.

The disadvantages of Monkey Business are numerous. One thing which especially irritated was how the audience are told when the Fultons are under the influence of the formula by the use of visual clues - Edwina lets her hair down, Barnaby takes his glasses off. Surely the actors were of a good enough calibre not to need to employ these devices and presumably, audiences aren't so stupid that they can't tell?

I also felt uneasy about the use of the chimpanzees. Obviously it was a different social climate in the 1950s, but watching chimps in clothes in the present day seems a bit strange and distasteful. They are very clever though.

I really wanted to like this film a lot. Cary Grant was born in Horfield, Bristol (where I live), Ginger Rogers is great and of course, I love Marilyn, but this film just didn't make the grade for me. It seems to be trying too hard to be funny and ends up as a farcical run-around.

Monkey Business is currently available on DVD on Amazon for £12.99 or as part of Marilyn Monroe: The Diamond Collection, which is currently unavailable new, but check Amazon Marketplace or Ebay for second-hand ones.