Monkey Business

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Monkey Business

1952,

1h 37m,

Comedy

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74%

27 Reviews

Tomatometer

67%

5,000+ Ratings

Popcornmeter

74%

Tomatometer

27 Reviews

67%

Popcornmeter

5,000+ Ratings

Chemist Dr. Barnaby Fulton (Cary Grant) is developing a pill that will defy the aging process for the pharmaceutical company run by Oliver Oxley (Charles Coburn). When a loose chimpanzee mixes chemicals together that produce this effect, Fulton tries some on himself. This prompts him to act like a teenager, making passes at Oxley's buxom secretary, Lois (Marilyn Monroe). Soon everyone, including Fulton's wife, Edwina (Ginger Rogers), is feeling the effects of the formula, with hilarious results.

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Richard Brody

The New Yorker

Jun 12, 2017

A summit of comic invention.

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Variety Staff

Variety

Feb 3, 2009

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

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Dave Kehr

Chicago Reader

Feb 3, 2009

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

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Mike Massie

Gone With The Twins

Sep 25, 2025

5/10

The story just isn’t assembled cleverly enough to enable the whole to be as satisfying as the parts.

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Yasser Medina

Cinefilia

Sep 22, 2022

5/10

Hawks builds it with an irregular rhythm that loses its comic effect with each boring gag about the elixir of eternal youth. [Full review in Spanish]

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Mark R. Leeper

Mark Leeper's Reviews

Sep 11, 2022

6/10

A somewhat half-hearted film at that, neither good science fiction nor good comedy.

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Luke S

Feb 23, 2019

This ridiculous film may be one of the funniest screwball comedies I've ever seen. I don't know how it managed to fade into obscurity the way it did. The performances by the all-star cast, while sometimes crazy, is in line with the film's fast-moving humor.

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Feb 2, 2019

The best comedy movie ever made!

Finn M

Jan 15, 2019

Great director directs great actors with a great script. Well done fun.

Harry S

Feb 16, 2018

Too ridiculous for it to be timeless, but it still has its place in history as a screwball comedy.

Kylo M

Aug 1, 2017

Highly enjoyable - & unlikely - romp. A shame that Rogers & Monroe couldn't have worked together more.

George G

Jan 1, 2017

Monkey Business is an amazing film. It is about a chemist who finds his personal and professional life turned upside down when one of his chimpanzees finds the fountain of youth. Cary Grant and Ginger Rogers give incredible performances. The screenplay is well written. Howard Hawks did a great job directing this movie. I enjoyed watching this motion picture because of the humor. Monkey Business is a must see.

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Howard Hawks

Director

Cary Grant

Dr. Barnaby Fulton

Ginger Rogers

Mrs. Edwina Fulton

Marilyn Monroe

Miss Lois Laurel

Charles Coburn

Mr. Oliver Oxley

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Synopsis

Chemist Dr. Barnaby Fulton (Cary Grant) is developing a pill that will defy the aging process for the pharmaceutical company run by Oliver Oxley (Charles Coburn). When a loose chimpanzee mixes chemicals together that produce this effect, Fulton tries some on himself. This prompts him to act like a teenager, making passes at Oxley's buxom secretary, Lois (Marilyn Monroe). Soon everyone, including Fulton's wife, Edwina (Ginger Rogers), is feeling the effects of the formula, with hilarious results.

Director: Howard Hawks
Producer: Sol C. Siegel
Screenwriter: Ben Hecht, Charles Lederer, I.A.L. Diamond, Howard Hawks
Production Co: Twentieth Century Fox
Genre: Comedy
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Aug 29, 1952, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Mar 1, 2013
Runtime: 1h 37m

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