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:

Give this boy enough rope and he'll land Marilyn Monroe!

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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

Film debuts of Don Murray and Hope Lange.

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Goofs

When Grace receives a call at the diner that the roads are open, she wakes up Carl and helps him put on his shirt. In the next scene Carl is putting on his shirt again.

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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 The O'Reilly Factor: Episode dated 19 February 2008 (2008)

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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

"I almost married a cousin of mine when I was 14, but Pappy wouldn't have it!" (Cherie)

"Bus Stop" is named for the setting of the last half-hour of this film, the bus stop in the snow, somewhere in Wyoming, where Beau finally gets his 'comeuppance', right before he and Cherie reconcile. If this movie had not been made in 1956, but instead in modern times, it would have received a very laughable reception. As it is, I consider it a cult classic in the genre of "The Rocky Horror Picture Show", so horrible and fake are the characters and the dialog.

However, Marilyn Monroe, in her 26th film, playing a simple showgirl from Arkansas, does very well with her role. Don Murray as "Beau", in his very first film, is so obnoxious that by the time he apologises for his bad behavior, we no longer care about him, and "Cherie's" accepting him just doesn't make sense. Hope Lange has a small part as "Elma" on the bus, in this her first film. She and Murray married afterward in real life, but it didn't last. Murray made a number of other films, including the father in "Quarterback Princess" in 1983 with Helen Hunt.

The reason to see this film is Marilyn Monroe in her prime, almost 30, and only 6 years from her death. The story, of the possessive cowboy who decides to marry Cherie and haul her away to his ranch in Montana, is pretty simple and pretty implausible. The scene in the bus stop, where he finally kisses her "for serious", was also featured in an episode of Northern Exposure, with Chris playing Beau and Maggie playing Cherie, for a community theater production they were rehearsing for.