MONKEY BUSINESS (1952) & GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES (1953)

Written for The Unquiet American: Transgressive Comedies from the U.S., a catalogue/ collection put together to accompany a film series at the Austrian Filmmuseum and the Viennale in Autumn 2009. — J.R. MONKEY BUSINESS (1952) Although technically a fantasy, this characteristically grim Howard Hawks comedy about the fear of aging and the worship of youth is arguably one of his most honest and realistic, therefore among the most frightening. A chimpanzee in a chemistry lab manages to create a youth potion accidentally ingested by the middle-aged scientist-hero (Cary Grant), who regresses first to his teens and then, after a second dose, to his attitudes and behavior in grammar school, which also happens eventually to his wife (Ginger Rogers) and boss (Charles Coburn), thereby debunking a good many myths about youth and happiness (such as those involving carefree innocence) in the process. Broadly speaking, this movie does for (and with) ageism what Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, shot half a year later (with some of the same cast members, including Marilyn Monroe, Coburn, and George Winslow), does for (and with) capitalism, albeit with less celebratory cynicism and more visible despair. This doesn’t mean, of course, that it isn’t funny; at least four Hollywood pros (Ben Hecht, Charles Lederer, I.A.L. Read more

Apr 21, 2025 - 18:58

Written for The Unquiet American: Transgressive Comedies from the U.S., a catalogue/ collection put together to accompany a film series at the Austrian Filmmuseum and the Viennale in Autumn 2009. — J.R.

MONKEY BUSINESS (1952)

Although technically a fantasy, this characteristically
grim Howard Hawks comedy about the fear of aging
and the worship of youth is arguably one of his most
honest and realistic, therefore among the most frightening.
A chimpanzee in a chemistry lab manages to
create a youth potion accidentally ingested by the
middle-aged scientist-hero (Cary Grant), who regresses
first to his teens and then, after a second dose, to
his attitudes and behavior in grammar school, which
also happens eventually to his wife (Ginger Rogers)
and boss (Charles Coburn), thereby debunking a
good many myths about youth and happiness (such
as those involving carefree innocence) in the process.
Broadly speaking, this movie does for (and with)
ageism what Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, shot half a
year later (with some of the same cast members, including
Marilyn Monroe, Coburn, and George Winslow),
does for (and with) capitalism, albeit with less
celebratory cynicism and more visible despair. This
doesn’t mean, of course, that it isn’t funny; at least
four Hollywood pros (Ben Hecht, Charles Lederer,
I.A.L. Read more