Monkey Business (1952) in Color — Starring Cary Grant & Ginger Rogers

Monkey Business (1952) — Buy This Classic in Color

Monkey Business (1952) is a brilliantly anarchic screwball comedy directed by Howard Hawks, starring Cary Grant as an absent-minded research chemist who accidentally discovers a youth serum, alongside Ginger Rogers as his increasingly chaotic wife and a dazzlingly young Marilyn Monroe in one of her breakout roles. This professionally colorized version brings Hawks’ fast-paced, wonderfully insane comedy classic to life with vibrant new energy. Buy your colorized copy today for €15.00 and own this hilarious classic movie in color.

Plot Summary

Dr. Barnaby Fulton (Cary Grant) is a mild-mannered, bespectacled research chemist at the Oxly Chemical Company, desperately and fruitlessly trying to develop a formula that will reverse aging and restore youth — a goal that has consumed years of painstaking laboratory work without success. While Barnaby toils away in his lab, utterly oblivious to everything except his test tubes and equations, a mischievous, remarkably clever chimpanzee named Esther escapes from her cage, wanders freely through the laboratory, randomly mixes an entirely haphazard combination of chemicals, and dumps the resulting concoction directly into the office water cooler. When Barnaby unknowingly drinks the tainted water, he is instantly, spectacularly transformed — reverting to the reckless, impulsive, irresponsible behavior of a twenty-year-old, ripping off his glasses, buying a flashy convertible sports car, and taking his boss’s breathtakingly glamorous secretary Miss Laurel (Marilyn Monroe) for a wild, hilariously irresponsible joyride across town. When his sensible, long-suffering wife Edwina (Ginger Rogers) drinks the formula, she regresses even further — becoming a jealous, irrational, violently emotional teenager absolutely convinced that Barnaby is having a passionate affair with Miss Laurel. This classic movie escalates with magnificent comic momentum as more and more people drink the tainted water, the youth serum’s effects become progressively more extreme and unpredictable, and the chaos spreads like wildfire through increasingly absurd, spectacularly hilarious situations — paint-throwing rampages, scalping parties organized by children reverting to Wild West fantasies, complete domestic pandemonium, Barnaby’s bewildered boss Mr. Oxly (Charles Coburn) losing all his elderly dignity, and the total, glorious collapse of adult behavior across the entire film. Howard Hawks orchestrates the escalating insanity with the precise, relentless comic timing that made him the greatest comedy director in Hollywood.

Cast & Crew

Director: Howard Hawks

Stars: Cary Grant, Ginger Rogers, Marilyn Monroe, Charles Coburn, Hugh Marlowe, Henri Letondal, Robert Cornthwaite, Larry Keating

Why Buy This Classic in Color?

This colorized version of Monkey Business reveals the sleek 1950s fashions, the laboratory setting, and the magnificently escalating slapstick chaos with wonderful, vivid new visual detail. The original black and white photography captured the comedy beautifully, but the professionally colorized restoration transforms the experience — revealing the gleaming chrome and candy-apple red of the flashy convertible, the crisp white of the laboratory coats against the colorful chemical solutions, Marilyn Monroe’s golden radiance and stunning wardrobe, and the warm, affluent tones of the Fultons’ suburban home descending into magnificent pandemonium — all rendered with meticulous frame-by-frame precision. Now also available in colour.

Buy Monkey Business in color today for just €15.00. Your DRM-free MP4 download is available for instant access.

Historical Significance

Monkey Business is a classic film that paired three of Hollywood’s biggest, most iconic stars — Cary Grant at the peak of his comic genius, Ginger Rogers demonstrating the fearless physical comedy that matched her elegance, and Marilyn Monroe in one of her first significant supporting roles in a major studio production, appearing just as she was becoming the most famous woman in the world. The razor-sharp screenplay by Ben Hecht, I.A.L. Diamond, and Charles Lederer provides an endless stream of brilliant comic situations, and Howard Hawks’ direction brings the same precise, relentless momentum he had brought to His Girl Friday and Bringing Up Baby. The film is recognized as one of the finest screwball comedies of the 1950s, demonstrating that Hawks could still produce comedy of breathtaking invention and anarchic energy. The restored colorized version allows modern audiences to watch this masterclass in comic filmmaking with the visual glamour and 1950s style its magnificent cast and lavish production have always deserved.

Technical Details

• Format: MP4 digital download
• Resolution: HD restored
• Colorized: Professionally colorized from original black and white
• Audio: Original mono restored
• Runtime: Approximately 97 minutes
• DRM-free: Yes — watch on any device
• Instant download: Available immediately after purchase
• Price: €15.00

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Movie-Specific Questions

Q: Is this the 1952 Cary Grant version?
A: Yes — this is the 1952 Howard Hawks comedy starring Cary Grant, Ginger Rogers, and Marilyn Monroe, not the 1931 Marx Brothers film of the same name.

Q: Is this the colorized version of the full film?
A: Yes, this is the complete 97-minute feature, professionally colorized frame-by-frame from the restored original.

Q: Is Marilyn Monroe in this?
A: Yes — Monroe has a memorable, scene-stealing supporting role as the boss’s glamorous secretary Miss Laurel, appearing just as she was becoming Hollywood’s biggest star. Her comic timing alongside Grant is delightful.

Q: How is Cary Grant’s performance?
A: Grant is at his absolute comic best — his transformation from stuffy, absent-minded professor to reckless, impulsive twenty-year-old is a masterclass in physical comedy and one of the great comic performances of Hollywood’s golden age.

Digital Download Questions

Q: What format is the download?
A: DRM-free MP4, compatible with virtually any device or media player.

Q: How much does it cost?
A: €15.00 for instant download. The colorization process ensures every scene looks stunning in color.

Q: Can I watch on multiple devices?
A: Absolutely. The file is DRM-free, so you can watch on your TV, tablet, phone, or computer.

Related Colorized Classics

• The Lavender Hill Mob (1951)
• Follow the Fleet (1936)
• The Model and the Marriage Broker (1951)
• Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid (1982)
• Carnaval Atlântida (1952)