Bus Stop

'Bus Stop' is a cheerful and romantic old-style film with part of the action centering around a bus stop and bus journey. Bo, a not-very-bright cowboy, does not know anything about love but has his heart set on bringing a woman back home with him. He sees Cherie (played by Monroe) at a bar and falls instantly in love, but she does not quite feel the same way about him. The film explores this romance and the lessons that Bo (and Cherie) has to learn in order to 'grow up'. It takes him several mistakes and character flaws to overcome, but, with the help of Marilyn Monroe, everything comes to a happy (and quick) ending, like most 1950s films.

Overall, 'Bus Stop' is an engaging and funny film and it is worth a watch. However, there are some problems. One of the problems is that I found Bo to be extremely annoying in places. He is too 'in your face'; I am not sure whether Bo's innocence was over-played by the actor or if it was written in the script. The other problem I had was the ending. Older films typically have a rushed ending, at least when compared to the present day. It just seems to abrupt.

The film also has some amuzing adult humor, and this is subtle so there is not a chance of a child picking up on it. (Look at the float in the parade!) Overall, 'Bus Stop' is an all-around enjoyable tale about an age past.

The movie itself is mildly OK. However, this movie shows why MM has been so unforgettable to the American public almost 40 years after her death.

Check out two scenes. First, the justifiably famous rendition of "That Old Black Magic" number. Whether acting or if it's the real Marilyn Monroe, she conveys loneliness in front of a packed saloon; the feeling of recognition and appreciation when the Don Murray (Bo)character berates the patrons to show respect to her while she sings; and the out-and-out sexiness of her when she is lit up in red flames. Wow!!

The second scene is near the end when, standing out in the cold, Bo offers her his coat. The look on her face when she realizes that someone, maybe for the first time, is there to look after her and take care of her is absolutely moving. Again we can see the real Marilyn in the character. She so desperately looked for love and acceptance all through her life.

This is not a great movie. It is a great showcase for one of the most

remarkable personalities in movie history.

Marilyn Monroe is so good here it's startling. Her Cherie (with the accent on the first syllable, remember) is one of the most lovable characters in the history of film. That the rest of the movie is rocky-going and her co-star is no match for her is unfortunate, but not fatal.

Apparently the director, Joshua Logan, was able to create a relatively peaceful environment where Monroe could completely "let go" and allow her natural fragility and sex appeal to take over. When she's on screen it's impossible to take your eyes off her, not just because she's beautiful (what starlet from the 1950's WASN'T beautiful?) but because she's laying bare her character's soul for the camera (and in the process much of her own soul as well). She isn't just reading lines with various inflections or doing bits of business like so many actors do, she's bringing the character to life.

Unforgettable is the moment where she finds herself perched on the shoulder of the crazy, lovestruck cowboy watching a parade and she's trying to pantomime to a friend in the crowd how she wound up up there. Or the way she keeps "shushing" the loud-talking bus driver so that he won't wake up the sleeping cowboy as she's planning her escape. Or the way she can't make eye contact or get her lazy backwoods accent (that is incredibly charming) to sound firm enough when she keeps trying to tell the cowboy to get lost. Her comic timing is just sublime and unteachable.

Don Murray's performance as the cowboy, criminally and inexplicably Oscar-nominated, is cloying, two-dimensional and geared for the stage, not the intimacy of film. He needs to provide some hint of vulnerabilty before he's humbled in the fist fight with the bus driver, but he is tragically not up to the task. His Beauregard is the kind of loud-mouthed, uncouth buffoon that only a greatly skilled comic actor can make sympathetic, and Murray simply doesn't know how to finesse the comic moments and make them work.

Monroe receives fine support from Arthur O'Connell as Beau's older, wiser friend Virgil Blessing, but this is her show all the way. She makes it a good movie, but one can't help imagining how much better it could have been had it been directed by someone like Kazan and co-starred possibly Rock Hudson.

I have to confess that for me Marilyn Monroe, like James Dean, is a screen icon whose charms have yet to live up to their reputation; perhaps unfortunate, since I gather from the other comments that 'Bus Stop' is chiefly of interest as a Monroe vehicle! I approached this film from a different angle, attracted by the apparent similarity in source material to the 1943 'The Lady Takes a Chance', a bus/rodeo-set romantic comedy starring John Wayne, of all people, which to my surprise I had very much enjoyed.

In this case, I was disappointed.

The first ten minutes of the film is pretty fair comedy material; the last thirty finally introduces some much-needed emotional subtlety and character development. The intervening hour constitutes a one-joke wonder - boorish cowboy ropes and carries off woman - that rapidly shades from monotonous to actively annoying.

Frankly, this is the type of film calculated to elicit comments of "I'm not a feminist, but -" By the time it got to the showdown in the cafe, I was almost convinced from the preceding plot-line that young Beau would whip his aging opponent with the brutal strength of youth, then ride off with a suddenly hero-worshipping bride. The fact that events (much to my surprise and relief) *don't* turn out that way is not sufficient to justify the tedium of what has gone before. As others have remarked, it is only from this moment that the characters gain any emotional depth - with the possible exception of Monroe's brittle, damaged Cherie. I'll grant, though, that the final denouement does however manage to be both touching and convincing, which is an achievement under the circumstances.

Personally, I'd say that the entire centre section of 'Bus Stop' is a waste of time. I suspect that a perfectly good film (and one more appropriate to the title!) could have been constructed by omitting all the scenes save those taking place in the bus or 'bus stop' itself, and substituting a brief account of intervening events via dialogue.

The most charitable view I can take of this film is that too long is spent in setting-up for its few worthwhile scenes. The sexual politics shown have nothing to do with the film's era - again, see 'The Lady Takes a Chance' for a superior contemporary take on the clash-of-the-sexes theme - and far more to do with unfunny slapstick humour. And sadly, I can't really say I found Marilyn Monroe as seductive as the screenplay clearly assumes.

An interesting piece for Monroe fans, but lacklustre entertainment.

The movie is based on a play that I haven't read so maybe I'm missing some of the subtext but as pure entertainment I wouldn't recommend this movie. The characters aren't well-defined and are little more than stereotypes, e.g. Grace, the sassy diner waitress, Cherie, the showgirl with a heart of gold. Marilyn Monroe plays the same type of character that she more or less played for her entire career, but she does it very well; she and Hope Lange provide the only good performances. Don Murray's unsophisticated cowboy was so obnoxious he practically ruined any enjoyment to be had from the movie. The supporting players are decent but that's all. It's a shame, this movie could have been pretty good if they had made one or two different casting decisions.