Aubrey Hackett While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

Tymon Sutton The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.

Quiet Muffin This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

Guillelmina The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

css-89951 Splashy overproduced Fox 50's musical. Merman, O'Connor and Gaynor are under utilized. MM good in 'Heat Wave' number, but languidly irritating in her other two numbers, "Lazy" and "After You Get What You Want". Skip this one!

JohnHowardReid Producer: Solomon C. Siegel. Executive producer: Darryl F. Zanuck. "Heat Wave" staged and choreographed by Jack Cole. All other dances and musical numbers choreographed and staged by Robert Alton. Vocal supervision: Ken Darby. Copyright 1954 by 20th Century-Fox Film Corp. New York opening at the Roxy: 16 December 1954. U.S. release: December 1954. U.K. release: 21 March 1955. Australian release: 24 March 1955. Sydney opening at the Regent. 10,535 feet. 117 minutes.SYNOPSIS: Molly and Terry Donahue (Ethel Merman and Dan Dailey) bring up their three children in show business, the family forming an act billed as The Five Donahues. The three young Donahues are Tim (Donald O'Connor), Katy (Mitzi Gaynor) and Steve (Johnnie Ray). Steve quits the act to study for the priesthood. Tim meets Vicky (Marilyn Monroe) at a night club where she is a hat-check girl and sees her do a song when her agent brings a producer to meet her. The Four Donahues get a booking in a Florida hotel, where Tim discovers that Vicky is also on the bill. He talks his family into doing something else so that Vicky can do their "Heat Wave" number, which sets Molly against Vicky.NOTES: Nominated for awards for Best Motion Picture Story (would you believe?), Lamar Trotti, won by Philip Yordan for "Broken Lance"; Scoring of a Musical Picture, the Newman Brothers, won by Deutsch and Chaplin for "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers"; Color Costume Design, LeMaire, Travilla, White, won by Sanzo Wada for "Gate of Hell".Domestic rentals gross was probably not much less than $4 million — the movie didn't achieve this sort of standing in other markets. First of only two movie appearances of Johnnie Ray, an exceptionally popular "crying" crooner at the time.COMMENT: The rationale behind "There's No Business Like Show Business" was the same M-G-M used for "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers". Fill the CinemaScope screen with people! So not two or three Donahues, but five Donahues plus Marilyn Monroe. Unfortunately, the script which ties the many Berlin tunes together is no world-beater. True, it starts with plenty of zest, but soon drowns its gaudy spirits in an impossibly maudlin story by Lamar Trotti, of all people. (Trotti was actually writing the screenplay from his story outline when he suffered a fatal heart attack). My advice is just forget all about the dopey, ridiculous plot that pairs MM with Donald O'Connor yet, and requires her to deliver some really absurd lines about how much she loves the little bean-brain. Instead concentrate on MM and all the Berlin songs. Although making a late entrance, MM is certainly the best thing about the movie, easily upstaging the rest of the cast with her flamboyant costumes and breathless delivery. Her "Lazy" and "Heat Wave" numbers are highlights. (At the time of the film's release, Johnnie Ray in his first and only appearance in a big-budget feature film, garnered a fair share of publicity; but he's certainly no actor. His odd mannerisms and smirking delivery cheapen what was already a cheap part). As for the songs themselves, what an Irving Berlin feast! And how brilliantly handled, sung, danced and staged they are, and all treated with such justice by all the boys behind that full 20th Century-Fox sound recording!Lang has directed in his usual mousy style, allowing bumptious players like O'Connor, Merman and Dailey to hijack the movie on too many occasions. Photography suffers from the typical early CinemaScope fault of over-graininess.I am afraid I do not share some of my colleagues' enthusiasm for Lamar Trotti — as a writer that is. Trotti was a wonderful man. He was shy and extremely sensitive and had a great affection for people. Perhaps this very sympathy was his undoing (it killed him in the end of course, but I am speaking now of his work as a writer). With the possible exception of "The Ox-Bow Incident", all Trotti's writings (and when I say writings I mean screenplays, because Trotti never wrote anything else) lack any sense of urgency or topicality. They could not be described as crisp or incisive. They are not models of economy. Instead, they are long, leisurely-paced, full of inconsequential chit-chat. I have always maintained that there is no place on the screen, just as there is no place on the stage, for dialogue that does not fulfill at least three of the following functions: advancing the plot, giving the audience explanatory information, revealing the character of the speaker, being witty, and setting the mood of the scene. Trotti's dialogue rarely did justice to one of these functions, and frequently none."There's No Business Like Show Business" is a typical Lang-Trotti effort, just as were their previous collaborations: Wife, Doctor and Nurse (1937), Mother Wore Tights (1947), When My Baby Smiles At Me (1948), You're My Everything (1949), Cheaper by the Dozen (1950), With a Song in My Heart (1952). Trotti was working on "There's No Business Like Show Business" when he died of a heart attack in August 1952.

tavm After previously teaming with Ethel Merman and songwriter Irving Berlin in Call Me Madam, Donald O'Connor was back with them for There's No Business Like Show Business. They're joined by Dan Dailey, Mitzi Gaynor, Johnny Ray, and Marilyn Monroe. There are both old and new Berlin tunes here but they're all enjoyable. Monroe's "Heat Wave" number certainly deserves most of the attention that's been paid-both negatively and positively-to it. Compared to many of today's raunchy musical numbers, this one isn't so dirty. Ms. Gaynor certainly also puts the steam in her numbers particularly "Lazy" she does with both Monroe and O'Connor. Speaking of the latter, he's as funny as you'd expect when watching him and is as nimble as always when dancing up a storm especially during a number taking place in a fountain with statues. Johnny Ray isn't much of an actor, but he's still a good enough singer when his numbers are being performed. Dailey does well when teamed with Merman in their numbers. As for Ms. Merman, well, she's every bit the legend that she deserved to be when one listens to her just belt it out all over! Now the story was pretty entertaining most of the time, at least until the O'Connor character gets in big trouble and is missing some of the time. Still, There's No Business Like Show Business is very much worth seeing for all the performances of the numbers with fine lyrics by the one and only Irving Berlin!

mggbikeluvr This is a very nice one. I've seen better. But I've definitely seen worse! If you love musicals (like me), you will adore this movie (also like me). But if you aren't a big fan of musicals to begin with, don't even think about watching this one! It's the most extravagant, over-the-top, extreme musicals I've ever seen. The costumes are colorful, the sets are colorful, and, most importantly, the personalities were colorful! I had never seen or heard Ethel Merman before seeing this film a few months ago. I personally love her. I don't think her voice is the most gorgeous thing I've ever heard. But it's so powerful, you forget she might not have perfect pitch. She's also a great actress, making me laugh often.Dan Dailey was very nice. I had a slight grudge against him. But it's a long story. Let's just say, Donald O'Connor (a co-star in this, and my favorite actor) was in the process of divorce from his wife, the beautiful, yet intolerable Gwen Carter, while making this. Gwen, being pretty clueless, began dating Dailey during the making of this film. I had a negative view on Dailey for quite some time. But, boy, he can sing! And dance, for that matter! His acting is certainly top-notch. I enjoyed him greatly.Johnnie Ray isn't much. Don't get me wrong. He's a remarkable singer. But his acting is so low-key, he almost doesn't seem to care. He can't act, that's for sure. His character isn't even in it that much. But he needed to be there to add to part of the story. But his bad acting can be overlooked because of his singing.Mitzi Gaynor. What can I say? This girl is great. Her dancing is amazing. And she's a cutie! Her acting is much better than I thought. She manages to sing like Merman in one scene, which is quite a feat! She is so good! I loved her! Marilyn Monroe...hmmm...well...let's just say it's a good thing she's gorgeous! Her singing is alright. Nothing to applaud about. But it's just plain "alright". She can't dance. Then again, nobody can dance next to Gaynor and O'Connor! She's not a bad actress. But it's still hard to imagine her and O'Connor as a couple. I think they were both very good looking. But in completely different ways. Monroe's is so prominent, she almost explodes with sex appeal. O'Connor, is more of a "boy next door" style. But they made them work pretty well. Not the worst one screen couple. But certainly not the best. Monroe was good. But the only reason she standed out form the others at all is from her looks, not talent, in my opinion.I saved the best for last: Donald O'Connor. This film shows all of his talents in one movie. His singing is shown in "A Man Chases A Girl". His dancing is shown in anything he dances to. He never disappoints me. His acting really good. The drunk scenes had me laughing out loud. Again, begin partnered with Monroe certainly was something we will never completely understand. But it actually worked out alright. Back to O'Connor. I loved his "Midnight Choo Choo Reprise" with Gaynor. One of my favorites from the film. The "A Man Chases A Girl" is so great, I recommend to go watch it on Youtube right now! He is actually quite graceful, which was a surprise to me. I would have never thought that the loose-limbed, running-up-walls O'Connor could have grace! But believe me, he does! I personally adore his singing voice. This film showcased it quite well. (For better singing from him, Check out "Call Me Madam", also with Merman.) In my opinion, it is O'Connor's performance that single-handedly makes this a great film.So, to summarize, this is a screen-full of greatness! I recommend it very highly. Only, you might want to be careful with little kids about this one. With Monroe involved, there's bound to be something in there. The "Heat Wave" number is probably the most revealing. Also is Monroe's "After You Get What You Want" and Gaynor's Paris version of "Alexander's Ragtime Band". But other than that, a great, great movie! (Mostly because of Donald O'Connor!)