Ian (Flash Review)The story follows the Donahue family from the husband and wife song and dance act through to when they have three kids all part of the act. Some kids decide to leave as they want their own career and then Marilyn enters the act creating light strife. Anyway, as usual Marilyn commands ever scene she is in and even though Merman and the male lead sing more, and do a great job, tend to play second fiddle. The story is OK but there are so many songs that it feels choppy and many of the songs don't' advance the main story. I watched it because of the famous song (movie title) but overall the film is for those who like song and dance and lavish costumes (not me) and/or Marilyn.

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!

zetes A pretty weak, overlong musical chronicling the Five Donovans, a family vaudeville act who make an uneasy transition to Broadway after vaudeville collapses (as far as I can tell, this is not a biopic, but fiction). Dan Dailey and Ethel Merman are the parents. As adults, the three kids are played by Donald O'Connor, Mitzi Gaynor and Johnnie Ray. Marilyn Monroe joins them, much to Merman's consternation, as O'Connor's love interest, later in the picture. The songs are by Irving Berlin, but the arrangements are awful. Ethel Merman's shrill renditions of "Alexander's Ragtime Band" have been haunting me since I saw this picture. I never want to hear that song again. The film only really comes to life when Monroe is center stage. The costumes and production design are pretty good. Unbelievably, of the three Oscar nominations this received, one was for its screenplay!

jarrodmcdonald-1 Despite her fabulous vocals, There's No Business Like Show Business is nearly bogged down by Ethel Merman's over-the-top acting style. Also, 20th Century Fox seems to be showcasing costar Marilyn Monroe much more favorably in this picture. For instance, scenes with Monroe give a generous amount of close-ups of her. But scenes with the other characters when she is absent from the action are devoid of close-ups. The viewers should have an intimate relationship with all the characters in the story, not just with Marilyn Monroe.Merman and costar Donald O'Connor previously appeared in Call Me Madam, a year earlier at Fox. And back in the 1930s, Miss Merman appeared in the studio's smash hit Alexander's Ragtime Band, which also featured her singing classic Irving Berlin tunes. She wasn't so flamboyant in that production, and Marilyn Monroe was still Norma Jean Baker in those days.