Videos
Monkey Business
Monkey Business
Research chemist Barnaby Fulton works on a fountain of youth pill for a chemical company. One of the labs chimps gets loose in the laboratory and mixes chemicals, but then pours the mix into the water cooler. When trying one of his own samples, washed down with water from the cooler, Fulton begins to act just like a twenty-year-old and believes his potion is working. Soon his wife and boss are also behaving like children.
rating
6.689
runtime
97 min

Release

1952-09-03

Genres

Cast

Cary Grant
Cary Grant
as Barnaby Fulton
Ginger Rogers
Ginger Rogers
as Edwina Fulton
Charles Coburn
Charles Coburn
as Oliver Oxley
Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe
as Lois Laurel
Hugh Marlowe
Hugh Marlowe
as Hank Entwhistle
Henri Letondal
Henri Letondal
as Jerome Kitzel
Robert Cornthwaite
Robert Cornthwaite
as Dr. Zoldeck
Larry Keating
Larry Keating
as GJ Culverly
Douglas Spencer
Douglas Spencer
as Dr. Brunner
Esther Dale
Esther Dale
as Mrs. Rhinelander
George Winslow
George Winslow
as Little Indian
Marjorie Holliday
Marjorie Holliday
as Oxley Receptionist (uncredited)
Harry Carey, Jr.
Harry Carey, Jr.
as Reporter (uncredited)
Nico Minardos
Nico Minardos
as Man at Pool (uncredited)
Charlotte Austin
Charlotte Austin
as Student (uncredited)
Harry Bartell
Harry Bartell
as Scientist (uncredited)
Faire Binney
Faire Binney
as Dowager (uncredited)
Tex Brodus
Tex Brodus
as Club Patron (uncredited)
Olive Carey
Olive Carey
as Johnny's Mother (uncredited)
Harry Carter
Harry Carter
as Scientist (uncredited)
Melinda Casey
Melinda Casey
as Girl (uncredited)
Ronnie Clark
Ronnie Clark
as Boy (uncredited)
Russ Clark
Russ Clark
as Policeman (uncredited)
Heinie Conklin
Heinie Conklin
as House Painter (uncredited)
George Eldredge
George Eldredge
as Mr. Peabody (uncredited)
Kathleen Freeman
Kathleen Freeman
as Mrs. Brannigan (uncredited)
Terry Goodman
Terry Goodman
as Boy (uncredited)
Dabbs Greer
Dabbs Greer
as Cabbie (uncredited)
Howard Hawks
Howard Hawks
as Narrator (voice) (uncredited)
George Hoagland
George Hoagland
as Club Patron (uncredited)
Perk Lazelle
Perk Lazelle
as Club Patron (uncredited)
Rudy Lee
Rudy Lee
as Boy (uncredited)
Louis Lettieri
Louis Lettieri
as Boy (uncredited)
Mickey Little
Mickey Little
as Boy (uncredited)
Emmett Lynn
Emmett Lynn
as Gus (uncredited)
Paul Maxey
Paul Maxey
as Board Member (uncredited)
John McKee
John McKee
as Photographer (uncredited)
Bill McLean
Bill McLean
as Bellboy (uncredited)
Joseph Mell
Joseph Mell
as Barber (uncredited)
Christopher Milne
Christopher Milne
as Johnny (uncredited)
Jonathan Milne
Jonathan Milne
as Johnny (uncredited)
Ray Montgomery
Ray Montgomery
as Policeman (uncredited)
Roger Moore
Roger Moore
as (uncredited)
Brad Morrow
Brad Morrow
as Boy (uncredited)
Forbes Murray
Forbes Murray
as Board Member (uncredited)
Robert Nichols
Robert Nichols
as Garage Man (uncredited)
Jerry Paris
Jerry Paris
as Scientist (uncredited)
Maudie Prickett
Maudie Prickett
as Clerk (uncredited)
Jimmy Roebuck
Jimmy Roebuck
as Boy (uncredited)
Harry Seymour
Harry Seymour
as Clothing Store Salesman (uncredited)
Jerry Sheldon
Jerry Sheldon
as Joe (uncredited)
Olan Soule
Olan Soule
as Pickwick Arms Clerk (uncredited)
Gil Stratton
Gil Stratton
as Yale Man (uncredited)
Ruth Warren
Ruth Warren
as Laundress (uncredited)
Mack Williams
Mack Williams
as Board Member (uncredited)
Isabel Withers
Isabel Withers
as Laundress (uncredited)

Director

REVIEWS
NA

Geronimo1967

Cary Grant is the professor "Fulton" working for "Oxley" (Charles Coburn) on a project to find some way of turning back time and reversing the ageing process. They are experimenting with various formulae on a selection of rather agile chimps, and it's actually one of them who manages to co come up with a solution that when, inadvertently, added to the water in the cooler manages to turn the academic into a small child. He also feels a bit like a new man, too! This wears off after a short while, so he gets his wife "Edwina" (Ginger Rogers) to sit in on his next experiment - only this time he takes an even stronger dose. Except, he thinks it's his prescribed doses that are causing his youthfulness, whereas we know it's the water in the communal bottle - and that isn't anywhere near as restricted as his medication. Add to the mix, an on-form Marilyn Monroe and loads of daft baby talk and we are left with an enjoyable, if maybe just a little too repetitive, look at the child in all of us. There's a paint fight, some rubber band pranking and maybe neither Grant nor Monroe should ever have got into the car mid-way through. Coburn was always a master at the understated contribution, and here he is a perfect foil for the silliness of the plot as the story gathers pace and heads into the realms of plain screwball. Grant had comedy timing in spades, and with Rogers and Monroe showing they, too, were never far off the pace this is good fun to watch.