Vitaminas para el amor

This is a very good movie to watch when all you want to do is to have a good time and some good laughs. There isn't a minute of it that would hold up to logical analysis, but there's barely a minute of it that isn't fun to watch. The story is pleasantly zany, the characters are entertaining, and the stars were all perfectly chosen for their roles.

Hawks's opening gag with Cary Grant in the doorway sets the tone, and lets you know right away that you can sit back and not take anything seriously for a while. Grant's character, a somewhat befuddled scientist who is trying to come up with a "youth formula", is the kind of role he could play in his sleep. As Grant's wife, Ginger Rogers doesn't get much to do for a good while, but then she has some fine comic moments later on. Charles Coburn is perfect as Grant's boss, and he gets a couple of the best lines in the whole show. And who better than Marilyn Monroe to play Coburn's secretary?

It's an entertaining throwback to the screwball comedies of a slightly earlier era. "Monkey Business" may be no masterpiece, but it's good fun of the pleasantly offbeat kind that is rare anymore.

Buoyed by the tremendous energy of Cary Grant and Ginger Rogers, MONKEY BUSINESS is a charming throwback to the screwball era of the 1930s and 40s. You know that you're being asked to leave reality behind and just settle back for a good laugh the second the film begins, especially when the narrator repeatedly warns Cary from beginning the film before the credits are done rolling! Directed with great skill by Howard Hawks (mastermind of brilliant films such as 'Bringing Up Baby' and 'His Girl Friday'), the film shares the trademark rapidfire dialogue and zany situations typical of most Hawksian comedies. As always, following the conversation between the characters is more than enough to leave the viewer breathless... One example, out of so many, is the scene in Room 304, when young!Edwina loses her temper and the couple squabble about Hank Entwistle and she finally locks Barnaby out of the room--to hilarious and painful effect!

As with most screwball comedies, the premise of the film must first be accepted, since the entire film is a logical development from the original (zany) premise. In 'Monkey Business', Barnaby Fulton is working on the development of some kind of youth elixir, which he is testing on chimpanzees. Unbeknownst to him, one of his test subjects escapes his cage and successfully concocts the potion, leaving it in the water fountain. Of course, when Barnaby tests the potion on himself, he drinks some water to get the bitter taste out of his mouth--and almost immediately becomes about 20 years old mentally and physically. Before the elixir wears off, Barnaby gets a funky new haircut, coat and car, all with his boss' sexy young secretary (Marilyn Monroe, who else?) at his side. His wife Edwina (Ginger Rogers) then gets in on the action, taking some of the elixir to allow Barnaby to make scientific observations about someone else's reaction to it. It isn't long before she drags her husband to their honeymoon hotel, dances the night away, and impetuously starts divorce proceedings when he upsets her. The ending is a terrific exercise in belief-suspension, as the rejuvenated Barnaby and Edwina (simultaneously, this time) engage in paint wars, hair-pulling and scalping.

The best part of the film really would have to be the central performance given by Cary Grant as Barnaby Fulton. He's evidently one of Hawks's favourite actors, and for good reason too--he makes the trippiest of dialogue sound perfectly natural, and plays science-geeks and debonair reporters equally convincingly. With Barnaby, the viewer is instantly reminded of David Huxley, a role Cary Grant infused with life about 15 years ago in Bringing Up Baby. Just as David is kickstarted to life by Susan, Barnaby is youthened by the elixir, and in both films, it's a delight to watch the transformation take place. Initially, Grant's Barnaby is as stuffy as you can imagine a scientist--he's absent-minded and somewhat stern; in effect, all 'grown-up'. But the moment the youth elixir kicks in, the change is miraculous yet believable. Watch in delight as Barnaby flips an effortless cartwheel; drives like a daredevil; and conducts an entire chorus of children in a rousing war song. The 'joie de vivre' that Grant infuses his character with is almost palpable.

Cary Grant is also capably matched by Ginger Rogers in their second film together. Her ability to turn into a little girl is charming in the extreme, and you can see the years drop off her in her final stint as young Edwina... it's so evident that she's having fun as she tap-dances through the hotel, or flips rubber bands at people, chews gum, and scribbles "Barnaby loves Edwina" across the conference room chalkboard.

In general, the film itself is a little uneven: it has brilliant and hilarious moments, but you definitely get the feeling that much of the film is coasting on the considerable energy and skill of its cast--a splendid Cary Grant, a lovely Ginger Rogers, and an intriguingly young Marilyn Monroe. You probably won't be in too much of a hurry to rewatch this film once you've seen it the first time, but there's really no reason to put off your first viewing... so what are you waiting for?

It's worth the price of admission to see Marilyn Monroe showing her leg to a nerdy Cary Grant early on, and then tool around with him in a sports car and go roller skating with him, which they do after he's taken a youth potion accidentally created by one of his lab chimps. As you might guess, there are some pretty silly things in the script, but it's a cute story, and to see Grant and Ginger Rogers carrying on as young adults and later children tickled me too. It seems to me that the film may have served as the inspiration for other films, like 'The Nutty Professor, and some of its content may have seemed fresher in 1952, but it's still entertaining because of this star power. In smaller parts, the performance from the chimpanzee is impressive, and I also liked child actor George Winslow, who deadpans his lines in that heavy voice of his. Lastly, it made me smile to hear Grant and Rogers alluding to rediscovering memorable nights of passion from when they were younger, in that restrained but sexy way of the period. There are some nice lines at the end too: "You're old only when you forget you're young. ... It's a word you keep in your heart, a light you have in your eyes, someone you hold in your arms."

The picture centers upon a scientist (Gary Grant) and his wife (Ginger Rogers) , he discovers a potion with extraordinary effects making younger themselves . He is testing the rejuvenating formula on a chimp turning nutty . This film is an underlying screwball comedy united to : ¨Bringing up baby¨ , ¨Ball of fire¨ and ¨His girl Friday¨ , all of them by the trio : Gary Grant-Gary Cooper-Howard Hawks and they are splendid .

In the movie there are comedy , tongue-in-cheek , joy , giggles and is pretty amusing . From the initiation to the final the humor is unstopped . Gary Grant and Ginger Rogers' interpretations are top notch , both of whom are awesome comedy actors . Ginger Rogers is the number one as dancer actress , besides a fascinating comedian and she achieved an Academy award as main actress for her portrayal in ¨Kitty Foyle , natural history of a woman¨ . The support cast is first range , are the veteran Charles Coburn and a newcomer Marilyn Monroe who at her playing as an attractive and charming secretary demonstrates experience like future first star . Excellent storyline by Ben Hetch and L.A.I. Diamond , they're Billy Wilder's habitual writers . Howard Hawks' direction is very good , Hawks has classics on every genre , thus : noir genre (The big sleep) , Western (Rio Bravo) and comedy (Monkey business) . The yarn will appeal to comedy enthusiasts and Gary Grant fans . Rating: Above average . Well worth seeing.

_Monkey Business_ works if, and only if, you can buy the premise that a lab monkey, working behind the scientist's back, can produce an elixer that makes people young again and dump it into the lab's water cooler to watch the results. I find suspending disbelief here no problem, and the result is a wonderfully silly movie. Cary Grant is spot on as the absent-minded scientist, Barnaby Fulton. (The opening credit scene, which seques seamlessly from Cary being referred to as "Mr. Grant" by the off-camera director to Cary being Barnaby Fulton, is a classic in itself.) Ginger Rogers (Mrs. Fulton), is hardly credible as a scientist's wife, but she is brilliant whenever Mrs. Fulton is under the influence of the elixer. Monroe is effortless as the dumb blonde secretary wanting to have "fun" with the youthful version of Barnaby Fulton. Charles Coburn is perfect as the frumpy boss, Mr. Oxley. The comedy is in the situations and dialog that develop as the elixer is repeatedly unwittingly imbibed by Grant and Rogers, and then by others. I would rather not spell these out, but they are fully within the screwball comedy genre that goes back to the 1930's.