Vaudeville stars Terry (Dailey) and Molly (Merman) Donahue have their hands full trying traveling across the country performing while raising a family. They perform as a duo, with Molly singing and Terry dancing around her, and the children appearing for the big finale. But Molly does not want to raise the children on the road. They decide to send the children to a Catholic school, but after the children attempt to escape a few times, the family is reunited.
Years later, after all three children have graduated from high school, the act is expanded to include the entire family, "The Five Donahues." Each family member has the chance to shine: oldest son, Steve (Ray) is a gifted singer / musician; daughter Katy (Gaynor) focuses on dancing, and youngest son Tim (O'Connor) is an all-around performer like Terry. The show is a success, but not everyone is happy. Steve leaves the family to become a priest, and Tim falls for Vicky (Monroe) a hatcheck girl with dreams of making it big. With Vicky singing in the same show as "The Four Donahues" will the Donahue family stick together?
All this film is now marketed as a Marilyn Monroe film (she is the only person on the Netflix cover), the film really belongs to Ethel Merman. Merman was a well-known, award winning Broadway star, creating the lead roles in Anything Goes, Annie Get Your Gun, Gypsy, and other star-making performances. She has the highest billing, and leads the film as a woman who wants the best for her children and loves the rush of performing. She even gets to sing the title song, yes it was featured in other movie musicals, but it really packs a punch when Merman belts it towards the end of the film. Dan Dailey is the perfect counterpart to Merman, playing her laid back husband. They have great chemistry and come alive while performing together. Monroe is o.k., she gets a few good performances, but seems like more an afterthought to the story. Donald O'Connor, best known for his iconic "Make Em' Laugh" in Singin' in the Rain, is great... showcasing his dancing and acting as the male lead. Mitzi Gaynor, who starred in the film version of Rogers & Hammerstein's South Pacific, is an incredible dancer and shines in this performance. The only casting hiccup is Johnnie Ray as Steve... yes, he can sing, but his acting is atrocious and slows down the rest of the film. Thankfully he isn't onscreen much, but his acting even kills some of his songs. Otherwise, a stellar cast.
It isn't the best musical out there... and some of the songs just don't translate well (Irving Berlin wrote many wonderful songs, but not everything the man wrote is gold)... but it is worth a look, if only for Merman's "There No Business Like Show Business:" that is how you sell a song and all the emotion that comes with it, without squeezing out the tears. The woman was an musical icon, too bad she wasn't in many good movie musicals.
There's No Business Like Show Business (1954) 117 minutes
Director: Walter Lang
Starring: Ethel Merman as Molly Donahue
Donald O'Connor as Tim Donahue
Marilyn Monroe as Vicky
Dan Dailey as Terence Donahue
Johnnie Ray as Steve Donahue
Mitzi Gaynor as Katy Donahue
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