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IMDbPro

There's No Business Like Show Business

  • 19541954
  • ApprovedApproved
  • 1h 57m
IMDb RATING
6.4/10
6.1K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
14,732
2,140
There's No Business Like Show Business (1954)
Trailer for this story about the people behind the footlights
Play trailer2:45
1 Video
37 Photos
ComedyDramaMusical
Molly and Terry Donahue, plus their three children, are The Five Donahues. Son Tim meets hat-check girl Vicky and the family act begins to fall apart.Molly and Terry Donahue, plus their three children, are The Five Donahues. Son Tim meets hat-check girl Vicky and the family act begins to fall apart.Molly and Terry Donahue, plus their three children, are The Five Donahues. Son Tim meets hat-check girl Vicky and the family act begins to fall apart.
IMDb RATING
6.4/10
6.1K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
14,732
2,140
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Director
      • Walter Lang
    • Writers
      • Phoebe Ephron(screenplay)
      • Henry Ephron(screenplay)
      • Lamar Trotti(story)
    • Stars
      • Ethel Merman
      • Marilyn Monroe
      • Donald O'Connor
    Top credits
    • Director
      • Walter Lang
    • Writers
      • Phoebe Ephron(screenplay)
      • Henry Ephron(screenplay)
      • Lamar Trotti(story)
    • Stars
      • Ethel Merman
      • Marilyn Monroe
      • Donald O'Connor
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 72User reviews
    • 21Critic reviews
    • Nominated for 3 Oscars
      • 4 nominations total

    Videos1

    There's No Business Like Show Business
    Trailer 2:45
    There's No Business Like Show Business

    Photos37

    "There's No Business Like Show Business 1954 20th
    "There's No Business Like Show Business 1954 20th
    "There's No Business Like Show Business" Marilyn Monroe, 1954, 20th Cent. Fox, **I.V.
    "There's No Business Like Show Business" 1954
    "There's No Business Like Show Busines" Ethel Merman with Ceasar Romero on the set 1954 20th Century Fox **I.V.
    Marilyn Monroe in There's No Business Like Show Business (1954)
    There's No Business Like Show Business (1954)
    There's No Business Like Show Business (1954)
    Marilyn Monroe in There's No Business Like Show Business (1954)
    Mary Stewart in There's No Business Like Show Business (1954)
    Marilyn Monroe in There's No Business Like Show Business (1954)
    Marilyn Monroe, Mitzi Gaynor, and Donald O'Connor in There's No Business Like Show Business (1954)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Ethel Merman
    Ethel Merman
    • Molly Donahue
    Marilyn Monroe
    Marilyn Monroe
    • Vicky Parker
    Donald O'Connor
    Donald O'Connor
    • Tim Donahue
    Dan Dailey
    Dan Dailey
    • Terry Donahue
    Johnnie Ray
    • Steve Donahue
    Mitzi Gaynor
    Mitzi Gaynor
    • Katy Donahue
    Richard Eastham
    Richard Eastham
    • Lew Harris
    Hugh O'Brian
    Hugh O'Brian
    • Charles Gibbs
    Frank McHugh
    Frank McHugh
    • Eddie Dugan
    Rhys Williams
    Rhys Williams
    • Father Dineen
    Lee Patrick
    Lee Patrick
    • Marge
    Eve Miller
    Eve Miller
    • Hatcheck Girl
    Robin Raymond
    Robin Raymond
    • Lillian Sawyer
    Eddie Oliver
    • Bandleader
    Dorothy Abbott
    Dorothy Abbott
    • Showgirl
    • (uncredited)
    Dorothy Adams
    Dorothy Adams
    • Nurse
    • (uncredited)
    Robert Adler
    Robert Adler
    • Night Watchman
    • (uncredited)
    Aladdin
    • Orchestra Violinist
    • (uncredited)
    • Director
      • Walter Lang
    • Writers
      • Phoebe Ephron(screenplay)
      • Henry Ephron(screenplay)
      • Lamar Trotti(story)
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Donald O'Connor had separated from his wife of ten years. She and Dan Dailey, who played O'Connor's father, were dating during the shooting of the film. After filming wrapped, the O'Connors divorced and shortly thereafter Gwen Carter and Dan Dailey married.
    • Goofs
      In the "Heatwave" number, Marilyn Monroe accidentally pokes her finger in the eye of a dancer standing between the branches of a prop tree. Its pretty obvious and more so on the DVD in slow motion. The dancer jerks his head and looks down, but otherwise stays in character and continues with the number. Then Marilyn performs a twirl, sticks her head between the branches of the tree and gives him a kiss. The kiss may have been part of the choreography because she kisses another dancer before this. But it's possible it was an impromptu apology on Marilyn's part to make up for the eye poke.
    • Quotes

      Molly Donahue: "Don't worry." Hmm. That's a laugh. You start worrying about your kids the day they're born and you never stop. Even after they bury you, I bet you never stop.

    • Connections
      Featured in Marilyn (1963)
    • Soundtracks
      When the Midnight Choo-Choo Leaves for Alabam'
      (uncredited)

      Written by Irving Berlin

      Performed by Ethel Merman and Dan Dailey

      Later performed by Mitzi Gaynor and Donald O'Connor

    User reviews72

    Review
    Top review
    Mr. Berlin, Madame Merman and Miss Monroe in unequal measure!
    When Darryl F. Zanuck virtually forced exhibitors and most of his fellow studio mogul rivals to adopt CinemaScope as a panacea for TV's devastation of Hollywood's weekly box office bonanza, he dictated that virtually all of Twentieth's output was to be filmed in that eye-stretching process. "There's No Business Like Show Business," directed by that old pro, Walter Lang, seems to be the prime example of Darryl's minions saying to their boss: "You want wide? We'll give you W-I-D-E!!"

    Everything about it was designed and lensed to emphasize the original ratio of the CinemaScope process and viewing it on a video that isn't letterboxed must look like what a one-eyed person must experience in everyday life. I never did see it in a theater but I have seen it on a TV broadcast which more-or-less recreated its widescreen ratio. It's a glorious mish-mash. Every Berlin tune that could be stuffed into it is given at least one run-through; John de Cuir's production design must have occupied every inch of several of Twentieth's West Los Angeles soundstages; Ethel Merman, after her terrific movie repeat of her Broadway success in "Call Me Madam" for Fox (and now, as of 2005, available on video), trumpets away in number after number (Must have been an ear-rending experience over those original four-track stereophonic sound systems.); Dan Dailey, Donald O'Connor and Mitzi Gaynor give it their energetic best; and then there's Marilyn. What can we say, with all that so sadly, in her personal life, came after she reluctantly fulfilled her contractual obligation in this one? She dazzles in, let's face it, a rather vulgar way, and seems shoehorned in to boost the potential box office. And they even added Johnnie Ray, a huge jukebox success at the time (and, due to his hearing deficiency, performing his songs at an even greater volume than La Merman.)

    All in all this one shouldn't be missed if you want to view an example of Hollywood at its brassiest, in a production fairly bulging with elements that may not coalesce very harmoniously but which was, no doubt, worth the price of admission to those movie palaces before they were carved up to become the precursors of today's sterile multiplexes.
    helpful•11
    4
    • gregcouture
    • Jun 3, 2003

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • January 6, 1955 (Uruguay)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Languages
      • English
      • Latin
    • Also known as
      • Irving Berlin's There's No Business Like Show Business
    • Filming locations
      • Stage 9, 20th Century Fox Studios - 10201 Pico Blvd., Century City, Los Angeles, California, USA
    • Production company
      • Twentieth Century Fox
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $5,103,000
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 57 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Aspect ratio
      • 2.55 : 1

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