I purchased the DVD of There's No Business Like Show Business expecting a light frothy musical that would be highly entertaining. I enjoyed the Marilyn Monroe movies, How to Marry a Millionaire, Some Like it Hot, and The Seven Year Itch and was looking forward to another Monroe vehicle (her picture graces the cover of the DVD box). I really enjoyed Donald O'Connor in Singin' in the Rain, and have been hoping to find more movies with him. I've heard of the legendary Ethel Merman, but had never seen her perform. And, of course, I was already familiar with the dynamic title song.

Unfortunately, the movie did not live up to my expectations, and was only mildly entertaining.

Plot Synopsis
The movie tracks the career of the Donahue family in Vaudeville over a span of perhaps 25 years, including their entanglements with the rising star, Vicky Hoffman (Marilyn Monroe).

The first half of the film covers approximately 20 years, while the Donahue family grow from 3 to 5 members and the kids grow up. This portion drags a bit; it has very little character development and is mostly full of musical numbers. In this first half, Marilyn's character is only seen very briefly, and Donald O'Connor (as the grown son Tim) only appears toward the end of this half, when he is grown.

The second half of this movie covers a few years, but focuses on scenes where there is relevant character development and interesting character interactions. This section was lively and interesting.

Song and Dance
Of course, the song and dance numbers are a major attraction in a musical. Although this musical features many more numbers than some others (the first half is mostly filled with numbers), I only really enjoyed a few numbers.

When the Midnight Choo Choo Leaves for Alabam seems a bit silly the first time it is performed, but sets the era well. The second performance of this song seemed funnier and more enjoyable.

Most of the songs in the first half were not that dynamic and had variable staging. That's a shame, because the first half is mostly a review of songs.

After You Get What You Want You Don't Want It is somewhat disappointing as a Monroe song, but as this is supposed to be her character's first break, it is excusable, and is still more enjoyable than many of the songs in the first half.

Heat Wave is a great song, with wonderful delivery by Monroe and fun staging. More numbers like this would have made this a great movie.

There's No Business Like Show Business is a great song. It showcases Ethel Merman's talents well, and holds up to reprisal by the cast.

Lazy is a fun number for Monroe, O'Connor, and Mitzi Gaynor, but really does little to advance the plot. A song that tied in a little better with the personalities of the characters could have done more.

If You Believe could have been another great number - a fun song and appropriate to the character, but I didn't feel that Johnnie Ray gave it a strong enough performance.

Cast
Ethel Merman is wonderful as the mother of the Donahue family. Both her performance and singing were enjoyable. Too bad she had so many ho-hum numbers at the start.

Dan Dailey is forgettable as the father of the Donahue family. It could be because his character doesn't have many great interactions or songs.

Donald O'Connor is a lot of fun as Tim, one of the Donahue sons. As always, his singing and dancing are superb.

Mitzi Gaynor is enjoyable as Katy Donahue.

Johnnie Ray doesn't bring any zip to his character or his singing.

Marilyn Monroe was wonderful, but didn't have enough film-time. Why was she on the cover of the DVD? Probably because she's the person more people will recognize these days. Although her character is critical to the film, you'll be disappointed if you're expecting a Monroe vehicle.

DVD Extras
There are very few DVD extras. There are three trailers, one of which is in Portuguese. Actually, only the written text in the trailer is in Portuguese - the voice-over is in Spanish!?!

The comparison of the original master to restored version was mildly interesting and shows you the enormous improvement.

There is a picture of the movie poster, but you need to zoom in to see it well.

The trailers of "Diamond Collection" Marilyn Monroe movies were fun and persuaded me what to look for next.

Recommended:
No

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Better than Watching TV