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 by), 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)

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)

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

Executives at 20th Century Fox thought Don Murray was overplaying his boisterous part and wanted to fire him. Joshua Logan stood firm: "I don't want some 'aw shucks' cowboy in the role. I want Attila the Hun and that's what we've got."

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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

Spoofed in The Midnight Hour (1991)

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Soundtracks

That Old Black Magic
(1942) (uncredited)
Music by Harold Arlen
Lyrics by Johnny Mercer
Sung by Marilyn Monroe
Later briefly sung by Don Murray

User Reviews

A great performance

Bus Stop has been rightly hailed as Marilyn Monroe's breakthrough performance in a movie as a serious dramatic actress. She is absolutely superb here, ditching the breathless dumb blonde of earlier roles and playing a hardened, Southern chanteuse in search of true love. She manages to convey a whole range of emotions which is testament to her time spent at Lee Strasberg's Actor's Studio in New York. As usual she sparkles and it's difficult to take your eyes off her, but there is a depth and sympathy to her playing that makes you take note of the performance and not simply the curves.

However, Bus Stop is a relatively simple picture of unrequited then requited love. The comedy moments don't often work that well and Don Murray's Beau has to be one of the most irritating characters I have ever seen in a film. Him and Cherie coming together at the end of the picture is unbelievable and spoiled the movie for me...I always wanted her to get away!

Bus Stop is more enjoyable from the Monroe point of view as her playing is spellbinding and marked a turning point in her career.