Bus Stop Share | Options

[Tara]

...but aren't you bothered at all by the fact that she is again a completely dumb blonde in this movie ???
Sorry not to follow the majority, but that really makes me angry that she couldn't get read of that component from her character.

She could have portrayed a lost, desenchanted, sad, touching personality, and yet with sobriety.
Here I just find a very affected, complicated, and girlish way of behaving, in almost every scene.
And I know for sure she could have done it soberly, because that is how she was in real life, when the camera was off -a remembrance from Don Murray himself...
Sorry again for not sharing your opinion, but that is also why forum exist !

Cherie is not a very bright girl, that's how she was written. She has big dreams but lacks the talent or shrewdness to achieve them, and typically of the 1950s movie, the solution to her problems is to find a husband. In that sense it is not a big departure from some of Marilyn's earlier roles, except that it's depicted more realistically and sympathetically this time. But emotionally, Cherie is more mature than Bo and has more understanding of life and human nature. That is the true complexity of the role, which doesn't exist in Pola or Lorelei. Cherie has a past and an emotional history. It wasn't just about looking gorgeous and being funny anymore. Personally, I do think Marilyn captures the lost, sad quality of Cherie marvellously, given the limitations of the story. The direction is quite stagy and after all, it was adapted from a play. Once I got past that dated aspect of the movie, I found Marilyn's performance to be one of her finest artistically - though the film itself is quite average.

I totally respect your opinion though Bruno, and it's interesting to hear all the different responses to Bus Stop. If we all thought the same way about everything, life would be very dull!

[Kowalczyk]

Fantastic post Tara. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/clapping.gif)

[bruno]

Yes, a real good post, I agree !(total respect too, from my side).
However, what bothers me is that the exaggeratedly simpering manners and silly quotes are in total contradiction with Marilyn's public intention to play serious - and "normal brained" people.
I do not see at all a realistic performance, but something very sophisticated, and may be a way to escape from her desired trajectory, like if she herself felt was not that ready yet to do it. That would make Marilyn probably even more human (if it is possible !), but not the Cherie character.

[Kowalczyk]

Do you think maybe Cherie was a compromise? Like a compromise between the sweet but simple dumb blondes she played previously and the more serious roles, where her character's had a background and complexity, she intended to play in future? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/blush.gif) (May just be rambling here but thought I'd bring it up. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) )

[bruno]

Do you think maybe Cherie was a compromise? Like a compromise between the sweet but simple dumb blondes she played previously and the more serious roles, where her character's had a background and complexity, she intended to play in future? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/blush.gif) (May just be rambling here but thought I'd bring it up. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) )

Well, I did not think it up this way, but that could be very true !
May be it was meant to make a transition. I don't know, really, and it is for me one big mystery in her career.

[Alanma]

Didn't know whether to put this here or 'book club'.
Have a look there. Abebooks have some of the paperback that accompanied the original release.

[lorileime]

I have just begun preliminarily gathering some items that I will need to make my next doll scene which is from Bus Stop. I was watching the clip of the scene I'm doing over and over so I could focus on the little details in the room and I noticed something that I had never seen before. When Marilyn is first seen in this movie, she's in her 'dressing' room at the Blue Dragon. She is talking to the waitress about when she entered a talent contest and she came in second to a couple of fellas jug'lin milk bottles. As she's talking there are two very quick seconds where you can see that her robe is safety pinned at the top so that it doesn't open while she's jesterin' with her hands. Just thought I'd add that in.

[Bobby]

I certainly hadn't noticed that; well spotted Tony. Please consider taking photos of your scene once you've got it set up.

In that scene, I really like the enthusiasm with which Cherie/Marilyn tells her friend (the name escapes me) that she's going to "Hollywood an' Viiine!" (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif)

[lorileime]

So, I'm still watching and rewatching the scenes in Bus Stop that I need for my doll scene and I just went a little futher because, well, because I just wanted to watch a little more and guess what else I just discovered about this movie. Cherie was a smoker. On her night stand next to the bed when Beau breaks in to wake her up to take her to the parade, there is a pack of cigarettes and a pack of matches. I wonder why they didn't show her actually smoking in the movie. It would have given the character a little more depth and history to see that. I don't advocate it, but it would have helped in character development maybe.
And, I have a theory about the song That Old Black Magic. I think that it's never been available on an audio format because it wasn't recorded separately from the movie. I think she actually sang it as she performed it. Does anyone know if that might be true?

This post has been edited by lorileime: Oct 9 2008, 02:37 AM

[madmouth]

This film was uncomfortable to watch. It didn't come off the way the production team intended it to, largely b/c the male lead wasn't a humorous bumpkin but a bomb about to explode and a wifebeater in the making. there was nothing funny about him; he was truly frightening. Marylin gave one of her best performances in "Bus Stop", however; 'Cherie' seemed to have been full of Marylin's own bleeding instability. It was a scary glimpse into the heart of a very disturbed and profoundly moving woman.

[Bobby]

I have a quick question that I've wondered about for a long while. How much say did Marilyn have in the casting of Don Murray?

Thanks in advance (IMG:http://www.everlasting-star.net/boards/style_emoticons/default/blush.gif)

[magda24]

It was Joshua Logan that chose Murray after he had seen him in a stage production. Marilyn was apparently not so happy about this choice, especially that Murray had no previous experience in movie industry and was younger than her, which made her uncomfortable. It seems she didn't have much to say or maybe she was willing to trust Logan in the beginning. I think the total lack of chemistry between Murray and Monroe, along with a Don's overacting and Logan's bad directing is one of the main reasons Bus Stop falls short of a masterpiece it could have been.

[Bobby]

Thank you for your intelligent response, Magda. I think though, that Don's (albeit annoying) acting in the film probably fit the part of the boisterous and uncouth Beau. But I wouldn't disagree about Josh Logan's direction. The climatic scene in particular - with the very close closeups - seemed convoluted at best.

Thanks again for your post though. I'd have thought Marilyn would have had a bigger say in her leading man as she did for TPATS and LML later on. Ah well.

[magda24]

Thank you for your intelligent response, Magda. I think though, that Don's (albeit annoying) acting in the film probably fit the part of the boisterous and uncouth Beau. But I wouldn't disagree about Josh Logan's direction. The climatic scene in particular - with the very close closeups - seemed convoluted at best.

Thanks again for your post though. I'd have thought Marilyn would have had a bigger say in her leading man as she did for TPATS and LML later on. Ah well.

Thanks and you're welcome:)

[Paju]

I just watched this movie again last week and realized I hadn't posted anything about it. This is actually one of my favorite MM movies, and was among the first three movies (GPB and SYI being the two others) I saw. I'm guessing I was about 8 when I first saw Bus Stop. When I was younger, I didn't notice Cherie's lack of certain kind of intelligence or Bo's bordering-on-abusive manners. I actually thought Bo's behavior was funny because people really don't treat each other like that (or so I thought). Maybe that was partly intended as well.

I absolutely adore Marilyn as Cherie, even more each time I watch the movie. Everything about her is perfect. I also like the other women - especially Grace and Vera. Other supporting characters are good as well and different enough from each other. Bo was a bit annoying, but being the romantic that I am, I believe that Cherie and the others manage to help him understand something and that he changes in the end of the movie. He's young and he had to learn. I have always loved the end of the movie. What Cherie really wants is to find a good place in the world, and since Bo has changed for better I believe he can provide that for her. Have you ever thought of what might have happened to someone like Cherie had she reached her beloved "Hollywood & Vine"?

My favorite things and scenes have a lot to do with Marilyn. Without her, the movie would not have been nearly as good as it is now. I have always loved the scene where Bo rips Cherie's tail and she gets angry. Marilyn just holds the movie together and makes it interesting. No-one could have been a better Cherie.

[sugarkane20]

What outfits did Billy design for this movie? I always see his named mentioned for this movie, didn't Marilyn wear used clothes?

[CYRILPARIS]

from Marilyn Monroe Metamorphosis by David Wills and Stephen Schmidt

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[Diamond]

Don't have it on DVD yet but I've seen it on internet one day!
Marilyn really impressed me in this film, she's so ... (I think there's no word to express my feeling in every movie (IMG:http://www.everlasting-star.net/boards/style_emoticons/default/no.gif) )

[flowing stream]

Hi all,
Have just been informed by the seller that my copy of Bus Stop on Blu Ray as been shipped! The original release date was supposed to be 30 July. So they got it out earlier! Yay!!!! (IMG:http://www.everlasting-star.net/boards/style_emoticons/default/jumpymm.gif)

[marilyn144]

Blu-Ray !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (IMG:http://www.everlasting-star.net/boards/style_emoticons/default/clapping.gif) .

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