There's No Business Like Show Business

Starring:Ethel Merman, Donald O'Connor, Marilyn Monroe, Dan Dailey, Johnnie Ray, Mitzi Gaynor, Richard Eastham, Hugh O'Brian, Frank McHugh, Rhys Williams, Lee Patrick, Eve Miller, Robin Raymond, Lyle Talbot, George Melford, Alvy Moore, Chick Chandler, Henry Slate, Nolan Leary, Gavin Gordon
Director: Walter Lang
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com

This 1954 dinosaur brings together two giants of Broadway, Ethel Merman and Irving Berlin, just as their moment was passing forever, to create one last hurrah: a celebration of the glories that were vaudeville. Still, it's hard to imagine that Broadway--or nightclub entertaining, for that matter--was ever quite this lavish and satisfying. The story centers on a married couple, the Donahues (Dan Dailey and Merman), who live on the road as vaudeville entertainers, and since they have children, begin incorporating the kids into the act. Eventually, the kids grow up to be Donald O'Connor, Mitzi Gaynor, and Johnny Ray, and they begin having interests of their own. Donald's is an ambitious showgirl (Marilyn Monroe), whose standoffish response to his romantic overtures drives him to drink. Best for its lavish, splashy production numbers built around some of the best of the Berlin songbook, including the title tune and "A Pretty Girl Is Like a Melody." --Marshall Fine

Description

An all-star cast that includes Ethel Merman, Dan Dailey, Marilyn Monroe, Donald O'Connor, Johnnie Ray and Mitzi Gaynor sparks this tuneful Irving Berlin musical that depicts the trials and triumphs of a veteran vaudeville family. Molly (Merman) and Terry (Dailey) Donahue start out as a duo and keep adding kids to the act until they finally become The 5 Donahues. Their busy, sometimes tumultuous lives aren't always easy, but the Donahues have plenty of love to get them through the hard times and more than enough talent to keep them on top. Highlighted by one classic Irving Berlin song after another and an array of dazzling production numbers, this upbeat, utterly delightful tale of life on the stage proves, beyond and doubt, that There's No Business Like Show Business!

Customer Reviews:

A Near-Classic.......2007-06-13

While "There's No Business Like Show Business" is not one of Hollywood's top musicals it's still worth watching. The story is simple and entertaining. Ethel Merman, Donald O'Connor, Dan Dailey and Mitzi Gaynor are, as usual, entertaining and fun. Though Johnnie Ray tries very hard he shows that he is a singer rather than an actor. Marilyn Monroe is, at best, adequate. While she has never been one of my favorite performers she usually does a better job than she does in his movie.

Superior in all ways........2007-04-11

They certainly don't make 'em like them used to, and this film is a fine example. Excellent songs, actors, story line, costumes, etc. Superb all the way.

The real star of this film!.......2006-09-05

This is a great movie with Marilyn Monroe and Ethel Merman.
However the real star of this movie is the vivacious Mitzi Gaynor! She steals every scene she is in. She is beautiful, talented, and hard to take your eyes off of!
I recommend this movie ! I also recommend " Anything Goes"
with Mitzi Gaynor. It has just been restored and the look of it is probably the best color of any DVD I own.

ONE OF THE VERY BEST MUSICALS EVER.......2006-05-29

it surpasses many an MGM extravagansa..... I`ve been thinking.... "What and WHO does this film miss? Judy? NO! I`m mad for Judy and will always be a fighter for her and Liza.... but THIS one may be the very best musical I`ve ever seen... If I ever produced or directed a film - this would be it.....

The musical score is out of this world as are the performances, set designs, choreography, costumes and art direction...

It`s a very CinemScoped film aaaaaaaaaaaaaand for the better of it:-)))))))

Marilyn deserved a better script. Her musical numbers are a joy to watch........2005-12-15

Why did Marilyn accept such a limited role as Vicky after she was a full star in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953) is hard to
explain.
Yet there are things in this movie that has caught my attention.
As soon as Marilyn appears as the Hat check girl named Vicky, she mentiones that she has just finished acting in the CHERRY
ORCHARD, a Chekov play. This movie was filmed 2 years before she
joined the Actor Studio. But at this time, she was receiving
acting lessons from Michael Chekhov, nephew of Anton Chekov the
Russian playwright who wrote the Cherry Orchard. One gets the
feeling that this dialogue in the film was ¨suggested¨by Marilyn
herself. It shows the intellectual side of Marilyn.
Her comic ability does not get many scenes. There's is a comic
scene in which she plays with the pronunciation of the word
AFTER, right before she sings her sing AFTER YOU GET WHAT YOU WANT YOU DON'T WANT IT.
Her best number is HEAT WAVE. Even today it does not look dated.
Her other number LAZY is ok, where she shares the number with
Mitzy Gaynor and Dan Dailey. I felt a more glamorous number
could have been selected here.
¨You'd be surprised¨¨ was a number deleted from the film, but it is found in many Marilyn Monroe CDs .¨In Donald O'Connor's song
A MAN CHASES A GIRL Marilyn provides a background voice. This
song was later recorded by Eddie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds and
it became a hit.
Marilyn deserved a more comic role in this film. Walter Lang did
not know how to make good use of Marilyn's humorous ability. In
her next film, the SEVEN YEAR ITCH, Billy Wilder got a tremendous performance out of Marilyn.

Marilyn Monroe - The Diamond Collection (Bus Stop / How to Marry a Millionaire / There's No Business Like Show Business / Gentlemen Prefer Blondes / The Seven Year Itch / The Final Days)

Average customer rating:

The Greatest Collection of Films from a Silver Screen Goddess...
Great Gift!
She really was "A Candle in the Wind"
Great box set to have in collection
Best Collection ever!!

Marilyn Monroe - The Diamond Collection (Bus Stop / How to Marry a Millionaire / There's No Business Like Show Business / Gentlemen Prefer Blondes / The Seven Year Itch / The Final Days)
Starring: Marilyn Monroe , Don Murray , Arthur O'Connell , Betty Field , and Eileen Heckart
Director: Joshua Logan , Jean Negulesco , and Walter Lang
Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Classics | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video

Classic Comedies | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video

Comedy | Boxed Sets | Stores | DVD | Video

Classics | Boxed Sets | Stores | DVD | Video

( M ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
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Marilyn Monroe - The Diamond Collection II (Don't Bother to Knock / Let's Make Love / Monkey Business / Niagara / River of No Return)
Some Like It Hot (Collector's Edition)
The Misfits
The Prince and the Showgirl
The Audrey Hepburn DVD Collection (Roman Holiday / Sabrina / Breakfast at Tiffany's)

ASIN: B000059GEK
Release Date: 2001-05-29

Amazon.com

The Diamond Collection consists of five Marilyn Monroe films plus the documentary The Final Days. Bus Stop (1956) stars Monroe as a singer who finds herself trapped at a bus stop in the middle of nowhere during a blizzard. How to Marry a Millionaire (1953) was built around a trio of female stars, Monroe, Lauren Bacall, and Betty Grable, who play friends who come up with a plan to find and marry rich men. Monroe plays an ambitious showgirl in 1954's There's No Business Like Show Business, which brings together two giants of Broadway, Ethel Merman and Irving Berlin, to celebrate the glories that were vaudeville. Howard Hawks's 1953 musical Gentlemen Prefer Blondes stars Monroe and Jane Russell as friends who go to Paris looking for mates. The film is charged by Hawks's stylish snap, a famous set piece or two (including Monroe descending that staircase while singing "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend"), Russell's wit, and songs by Leo Robin and Jule Styne. The Seven Year Itch (1955) is a memorable laugh machine. As a married man left alone during a hot summer, Tom Ewell shows off crack timing matched by Monroe's zesty comic flair, and the scene in which her white dress is blown skyward by a passing subway train has entered the encyclopedia of great movie images.

In The Final Days, producer-director Patty Ivins chronicles Monroe's final, aborted feature film, Something's Got to Give, which was ultimately shut down after the star was dismissed from the production. Beyond Monroe's fragile emotional and physical health, this well-crafted profile examines the financial crisis facing her studio as well as the mounting frustration of meticulous director George Cukor and his cast, including costar Dean Martin, as Monroe's absences drove the shoot over budget. The documentary concludes with a 40-minute reconstruction of footage completed for the feature, which would subsequently be reshot as a vehicle for Doris Day and James Garner, Move Over, Darling.

Description

Marilyn in her billowy white skirt and the scene that made her a legend. Co-starring Tom Ewell. "There's No Business Like Show Business" (1954, 117 min.) - A glamorous tale about the trials and tribulations of a veteran vaudeville family. Co-starring Ethel Merman and Donald O'Connor. "How to Marry a Millionaire" (1953, 95 min.) - Discover Marilyn's phenomenal comic talent as she leads an outrageous man-hunting scheme in this classic comedy. Co-starring Betty Grable and Lauren Bacall. "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" (1953, 91 min.) - Marilyn is sensational, performing the timeless hit "Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend." Co-starring Jane Russell. Also includes the acclaimed documentary "Marilyn Monroe: The Final Days," available only in this box set, plus forty minutes of exclusive, never-before-seen footage from Marilyn's never-completed final film, "Something's Got to Give."

Customer Reviews:

The Greatest Collection of Films from a Silver Screen Goddess..........2007-04-17

The Diamond Collection represents some of Marilyn Monroe's greatest achievements on film! This first installation of the Diamond Collection certainly contains her most well-known films, and is a must have for Marilyn fans.

Within this collection are the titles "Bus Stop" -- "How to Marry a Millionaire" -- "There's No Business Like Show Business" -- "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" -- "The Seven Year Itch" -- and a documentary chronicling the final days of Marilyn Monroe.

My favorite Marilyn film is the one that saw her star rise, and that's "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes". Her infamous musical number 'Diamonds are a girls best friend' is found within this film. During Marilyn's era in the film industry, almost ALL actors contracted to the different studios were required to not only be able to act, but to be able to dance and sing as well. Marilyn's singing voice wasn't strong, but it still had a beautifully hypnotic lilt to it, and made her unique in this respect.

"The Seven Year Itch" contains her infamous grater scene in which a gust of wind blows up her white skirt, thus creating a fabulous moment in cinematic history. According to witnesses, the director of the film had to ask Marilyn to wear two pairs of undergarments because the camera was picking up the fact that she was *not* a natural blonde.

There are far too many memorable Marilyn moments to list them all, but I highly recommend this collection of DVDs. In addition to the five Marilyn films included in the set, there is an added bonus of a documentary titled "The Final Days" in which it chronicles -- what else -- the final days of Ms. Monroe. This documentary also pieces together the fragmented footage of the film "Somethings Got to Give", which Marilyn was in the process of shooting at the time of her tragic death. Included in this footage is the skinny-dipping scene Marilyn had completed, which would have certainly become just as infamous has many of her other scenes.

My only regret is that Marilyn films from other studios, such as the charismatic "Some Like it Hot", or even the Olivier production of "The Prince and the Showgirl", could not be included in either installments of the Diamond Collection.

I simply can't say it enough, this is a wonderful collection, and a great tribute to the loving memory of Marilyn Monroe.

Great Gift!.......2007-03-21

I got this for my other half for chrismas. It was a big hit. A perfect gift for any Monroe fan that does not have it yet.

She really was "A Candle in the Wind".......2006-02-27

This collection of films is a must-have for fans of Marilyn Monroe. The tragic ending to her life is forgotten while the watcher is mesmerized by her overwhelming stage presence that outshines everyone else on the screen. Her characters always portray an innocence that shines through her sexual magnetism. What never comes through in her performances is her own troubled life. In Bus Stop, she has a southern accent and, for once, isn't playing herself. How to Marry a Millionaire is filled with great stars of the past--Lauren Bacall, Betty Grable and William Powell, as well as Marilyn Monroe. The story has never lost its humor and charm. There's No Business like Show Business is the story of a vaudeville family, and Marilyn doesn't enter the picture immediately. Here, we are bowled over by the magnificent stage presence of Ethel Merman, who manages to put everyone else in the shade--including Mitzi Gaynor, Donald O'Connor and Marilyn. Gentlemen Prefer Blondes remains such a fun story with Russell and Monroe paired up in some wonderful mixups. There are some fabulous musical numbers, most notably "Ain't There Anyone Her for Love?" and "Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend." The Seven Year Itch, while perhaps toned down for the censors of the time is funny and unforgettable.

Great box set to have in collection.......2006-02-23

This is a great box set to add to any collection. The movies are all in widescreen so you aren't missing any of the orginal picture. I would recommend purchasing to any fan of Marilyn Monroe movies. I would also recommend purchasing to someone who hasn't seen any of Marilyn's movies.

Best Collection ever!!.......2005-12-31

I looked from heaven to hell for this and only found it here on amazon.com. It was well worth the searching, Marilyn is awsome!!

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