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There's No Business Like Show Business (1954)

Approved   |    |  Comedy, Drama, Musical

There's No Business Like Show Business (1954) Poster

Molly and Terry Donahue, plus their three children, are The Five Donahues. Son Tim meets hat-check girl Vicky and the family act begins to fall apart.

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  • There's No Business Like Show Business (1954)
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  • "There's No Business Like Show Busines" Ethel Merman with Ceasar Romero on the set 1954 20th Century Fox **I.V.
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Awards

Nominated for 3 Oscars.

Another 1 nomination.

Reviews & Commentary

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User Reviews
15 August 2005 | dodgerdiva
8
| There really IS no business like show business!
"There's No Business Like Show Business" was never intended to be great film-making or storytelling, so please do not watch it with those things in mind.

Sure, it was over-staged, over-produced, in some cases over-acted and any other "overs" you can think of, but it's just fun to relax and watch and listen to. I've seen the film maybe dozens of times (I own the DVD) and it's obvious to me that despite a few on screen gaffes and off-screen problems for at least a couple of the actors, Hollywood had a whale of a good time making it. Some of the characters are unrealistic and I'm sure if you could ask the actors, all would say it was by far not their best work.

Furthermore, if we didn't know it before, "Show Business" proved that Johnnie Ray, the part crooner, part rock belter of the era, couldn't act his way into or out of a paper bag. But so what?? This ain't Hamlet. Ray was cast to do here what he did best: sing the heck out of a couple of songs that were arranged precisely to suit his performing style. And he also just managed to pull off an unusual plot twist that I'm sure audiences of the era did not expect.

We're all asked to suspend temporarily all logic and reason when we turn on our TVs or go to the movies. Why stop with "There's No Business Like Show Business"? So grab the munchies, sit back and let Ethel Merman and Gang entertain you for a couple of harmless, gaudy hours.

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Did You Know?

Trivia

Marilyn Monroe was promised the lead role in The Seven Year Itch (1955) if she appeared in this film to boost its box-office potential. The role of Vicky was written especially for this purpose, and songs such as "Heat Wave," originally intended for Ethel Merman, were reassigned to her.

Quotes

Molly Donahue: I want them to have an education, a real education. They have to learn arithmetic and spelling and geography.
Terry Donahue: You never went past the sixth grade. And it was probably the fourth grade, because you said it was the sixth.
Molly Donahue: My age is the only thing I lie ...

Goofs

In the "Heatwave" number, Marilyn Monroe accidentally pokes her finger in the eye of a dancer standing between the branches of a prop tree. Its pretty obvious and more so on the DVD in slow motion. The dancer jerks his head and looks down, but otherwise stays in character and continues with the number. Then Marilyn performs a twirl, sticks her head between the branches of the tree and gives him a kiss. The kiss may have been part of the choreography because she kisses another dancer before this. But it's possible it was an impromptu apology on Marilyn's part to make up for the eye poke.

Soundtracks

Heat Wave
(uncredited)
Written by Irving Berlin
Performed by Marilyn Monroe

Storyline

Plot Summary

Genres

Comedy | Drama | Musical | Romance

Details

Release Date:

6 January 1955

Language

English, Latin

Country of Origin

USA

Filming Locations

Stage 9, 20th Century Fox Studios - 10201 Pico Blvd., Century City, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Gross USA:

$5,103,000

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