Last night Jenny and I watched the Howard Hawks screwball comedy Monkey Business (1952). The movie nowadays--especially considering the picture--is packaged as a Marilyn Monroe vehicle but she only has a supporting role (Which is fine...as she does a superb job of being the eye candy of the movie).

The two stars of the picture are Cary Grant and Ginger Rodgers. They are hysterical in the movie. The movie overall is not as solid as a lot of other Grant comedies but it is definitely one of his funnier films. We were actually laughing out loud at some of the bits...and that doesn't happen a lot with older comedies. Don't get me wrong...classic comedies are still funny...but it is somewhat rare when they are laugh-out-loud funny. Furthermore the movie is littered with a lot of sexual double talk and innuendos, which somewhat surprised me.

In the realm of Cary Grant performances this performance is more in line with Bringing up Baby. I have this theory that every Cary Grant performance is a variation of his iconic performance as CK Dexter Haven in The Philadelphia Story. Basically that performance is in the middle of his acting spectrum. On one end of the spectrum is the aforementioned performance from Bringing up Baby and on the other end is his performance from Notorious. It starts with CK Dexter Haven--and every performance is a variation to either extreme. (Here is where Sam shouts at his computer that I have another man crush). So be it...Cary Grant is my second favorite actor.

Anyway...I (along with Jenny) recommend Monkey Business for a lazy summer evening. The movie--while being somewhat goofy--is filled with enjoyable performances that won't disappoint.