Bus Stop (1956)

A naive but stubborn cowboy falls in love with a saloon singer and tries to take her away against her will to get married and live on his ranch in Montana.

Director:

Joshua Logan

Writers:

George Axelrod (screenplay), William Inge (based on the play by)

Stars:

Marilyn Monroe, Don Murray, Arthur O'Connell

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 1 win & 6 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Marilyn Monroe	...	Chérie
Don Murray	...	Beauregard 'Bo' Decker
Arthur O'Connell	...	Virgil Blessing
Betty Field	...	Grace
Eileen Heckart	...	Vera
Robert Bray	...	Carl
Hope Lange	...	Elma Duckworth
Hans Conried	...	Life Magazine Photographer
Max Showalter	...	Life Magazine Reporter (as Casey Adams)
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Arizona State University Sun Devil Marching Band	...	Themselves

Storyline

Innocent rodeo cowboy Bo falls in love with cafe singer Cherie in Phoenix. She tries to run away to Los Angeles but he finds her and forces her to board the bus to his home in Montana. When the bus stops at Grace's Diner the passengers learn that the road ahead is blocked. By now everyone knows of the kidnapping, but Bo is determined to have Cherie.

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Plot Keywords:

arizona | cowboy | montana | rodeo | virgin | 

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Taglines:

The coming of age of Bo Decker...and the girl who made him a man!

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

20 September 1956 (Argentina)

Also Known As:

The Wrong Kind of Girl

Filming Locations:

Arizona State Fairgrounds, Phoenix, Arizona, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$2,200,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$7,270,000, 31 December 1956

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox, Marilyn Monroe Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

96 min

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.55 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Bus Stop marks the film debut of actor Don Murray.

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Goofs

As Bo and Virgil talk in the jeep on the way to catch the bus, their voices clearly echo.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Beauregard 'Bo' Decker: Are you ready, Virge?
Virgil Blessing: Anytime.
Beauregard 'Bo' Decker: Turn him out!
[calf is released from chute]

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Crazy Credits

And Introducing / Don Murray

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Connections

Featured in Film Preview: Episode #1.4 (1966)

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Soundtracks

The Bus Stop Song
(1956)
Written by Ken Darby
Sung in the opening credits off-screen by The Four Lads
Also partially sung by a guitar-playing Arthur O'Connell (uncredited) and the bus passengers

User Reviews

This one doesn't age well...

As a thirtysomething, this film arrived at least 15 years before I did. In this day and age, the shenanigans pulled by Don Murray's character would land him in jail practically before the opening credits finished up. With that said, the first thing one must accept before seeing this film is that it's a film from almost 50 years ago, and things were different then.

Still, though, it's hard for me to imagine audiences even back in 1956 thinking that Don's character ("Bo" the chauvinistic cowboy) was humorous. As Cherry, or Sherri, or Share-REE, Marilyn's character is humiliated, kidnapped, mistreated and whatever else by Bo. It is played for laughs, but unlike the John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara films that employed this routine, nothing here clicks. Bo is an extremely unlikable character right up to the Hollywood ending (which didn't help the believability film any either). Marilyn is fine, but can only go so far in trying to save the film. The few moments she's given to show her comedy skills are overshadowed by Don's irritations. The single funniest line of the film is given by the bus driver in the snow, but by then this film's pretty much a lost cause.

I gave this film a "5". That's one point for the scene in the snow near the end, two points for Marilyn, one point for some well-executed rodeo scenes, and one point for the DVD extras.