An absent minded research chemist (Cary Grant) is working on a formula that will make people younger but he's not having any luck. One day a chimpanzee being used for research breaks free and accidentally completes the youth formula. Chaos ensues! Directed by Howard Hawks (RED RIVER). Hawks directed three of the greatest screwball comedies ever made, BRINGING UP BABY, HIS GIRL FRIDAY and BALL OF FIRE. Alas by 1952, he seemed to have lost his touch. He would go on to make only two more comedies: GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES (a success but it was a musical comedy, not a screwball) and MAN'S FAVORITE SPORT (a pale imitation of his best work but better than MONKEY BUSINESS). To be fair, this movie has its fans but I'm not one of them. I've never been a fan of movies about adults retrogressing into childhood (like Tom Hanks in BIG among others). Watching Grant and Ginger Rogers (as his wife) acting like bratty 7 year olds isn't funny, it's embarrassing! I only laughed once when Rogers thinks her husband has regressed into an infant but that was only for a few minutes. A wearisome effort. With Marilyn Monroe (the movie's only bright spot), Charles Coburn, Hugh Marlowe, Harry Keating and Olive Carey.
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