Bus Stop (1956)

Best movie of this year hands down!

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

Just saw this Movie for the first time a few days ago. All the yelling gave me a headache. Marilyn looked bloated and unhealthy, especially in the bus when she sat down next to the younger Hope Lange who had a normal looking complexion. All that white makeup made her look like a ghost. After all the film is almost 60 years old. The culture has changed a lot. The boorish but likable hooligan is not exactly in vogue these days. Did I say likable. There's nothing likable about this cowboy. Its just too unbelievable even for 1957. In my opinion, the sweet last scene in this movie is not enough to save the painful 95% of the time taken up but the unbelievable over the top acting & lousy screen play. Sorry but I was not entertained.

BUS STOP centers on "Bo," who views women as things to be conquered, like Broncing Bucks and river rapids. Rather than clubbing a potential mate unconscious, Bo just browbeats, incapacitates, lassos, and kidnaps his chosen "angel," as he calls her. But since his perceived "Cherry" pie actually is sloppy eighths, the screenwriters have no problem letting Bo have his cake, and eat it, too. Now that CHARLIE'S ANGELS and Victoria's Secret have made haloed females synonymous with hookers, it's hard to think back to such a benighted decade when someone such as Bo could be so naive and brutal at the same time. In Real Life, this probably was Norma Jean Baker's (Marilyn Monroe's) final chance to live "happily ever after." Had she chosen to settle down on a ranch in the boondocks with a protective husband such as Joe DiMaggio (as her character "Cherie" does with Bo), Clark Gable might still be alive today. Marilyn had not yet killed him filming THE MISFITS, or drunkenly sang "Happy Birthday, Mr. President" to King Arthur. If she hadn't been bedding half of JFK's cabinet a few years post-BUS STOP, maybe the absence of such a distraction would have allowed CAMELOT to survive longer, along with the thousands killed in Southeast Asia. So it goes.

This isn't exactly a feminist movie! It's much more misogynist. The only thing that the film is worth is Marilyn Monroe. At the time, she was going to learn acting from Lee Strasberg at the famous Actor's Studio. So, her performance here is certainly better and more nuanced than it had been.The cinematography is fine, and director Joshua Logan keeps things moving along. But, at the same time, Logan allows the bracing level of sexism to go on in the movie. Logan was a well-regarded director, and certainly had the pull to change things if he had wished.But, he doesn't. Don Murray, who went on to be a perfectly decent actor, plays Beau with a ham-fisted, way over-the-top quality that is embarrassing, to say the least. His borderline-violent way of going after Monroe's Chérie is difficult to watch. At least Chérie holds off against him for a while, before giving into him at the end.You wonder why women would put up with this. This movie was just on TCM's "The Essentials," with Robert Osborne and, inexplicably, Drew Barrymore. I say "inexplicably" because there are a great many very knowledgeable women in the film business. Barrymore is most likely on there because TCM is endlessly fascinated by the children of famous Hollywood families, like the Barrymore's, Mankiewicz's, Fonda's, etc. Or, she's there because Osborne has a crush on her, like he did Rose McGowan.So, Barrymore didn't have a problem at all with Murray's Beau. She found him attractive, passionate and erotic! There are women who obviously get off on men who treat them like garbage. I think it's about women with a lot of spare estrogen who want men with a lot of spare testosterone. So, Barrymore obviously is one of those women.But, you could tell how Osborne was very much put off with Beau's endless bullying of Chérie. And, the fact that the movie makes it seem to pay off for Beau at the end makes it even more reprehensible.*** (3 Out of 10 Stars)

I've read that many people consider this to be Marilyn Monroe's best performance. Although I don't agree that it's her best, she certainly did a great job with what she had to work with. In fact, I think she is really the only reason to watch this disappointing film.The story is obviously dated, but even in 1957 it seems like it would have come across as ridiculous. The script is mediocre at best and doesn't offer enough lightheartedness for a comedy. Don Murray, whom I haven't seen in any other pictures that I can think of, is too loud and quite obnoxious; really causing a person to want to plug their ears rather than listen to him any longer. He yells throughout most of the picture and his character is simply to dim-witted to be believable.Overall I was really let down by this film. Don't see it unless you like absurd, dumb, not very funny comedies.