Bus Stop (1956)

Bus Stop (Joshua Logan, 1956) marked Marilyn Monroe's return to the screen after a one-year absence. She had been disappointed with the roles she was assigned at 20th Century Fox, so she left Hollywood for New York City to study acting with Lee Strasberg at the Actors Studio. Fox finally awarded her a new contract, which gave her more control and a larger salary. Marilyn later called Bus Stop her favourite film and she thought she did her best work here. And although the film is uneven, Marilyn indeed created a complete and deeply touching character. The film also has one of Monroe's best-remembered songs, 'That Old Black Magic', which is as funny as it is heartbreaking.


Yugoslavian postcard by Epoha, Zagreb, no. 4. Marilyn Monroe in her costume for Bus Stop (Joshua Logan, 1956). Collection: Carla Bosch.


American postcard by Classico San Francisco, no. 105-017. Photo: 20th Century Fox. Marilyn Monroe in Bus Stop (Joshua Logan, 1956).


American postcard by Classico San Francisco, no. 105-018. Photo: 20th Century Fox. Don Murray and Marilyn Monroe in Bus Stop (Joshua Logan, 1956).

An acclaimed over-the-top performance

Naive but stubborn cowboy Beauregard "Bo" Decker (Don Murray) takes the bus from Montana to Phoenix to make his fortune at the Rodeo. His Fatherly friend Virgil Blessing (Arthur O'Connell) encourages him to talk to girls but he doesn't have much experience. In Phoenix, singer Chérie (Marilyn Monroe) at the Blue Dragon Cafe, who is aiming to go to Hollywood, is forced to hustle Virgil to pay for her drinks. Although she has only moderate talent, Chérie dreams of a great career as a "chanteuse". Bo falls for her right away. He has found himself an Angel to take back to his Montana ranch and become his beloved wife.

Cherie confesses that she finds him really handsome, according to his first name "Beauregard". In his simple-mindedness, he interprets a kiss from her as an engagement. Cherie likes him but has no intention of marrying him or going back to Montana with him. Bo keeps ignorantly dragging her around expecting to get married. She tries to run away to Los Angeles but he literally ropes her like cattle and forces her to board the bus to his home in Montana. When the bus stops at Grace's Diner the passengers learn that the road ahead is blocked by snow.

In Grace's Diner, a bus stop somewhere in Wyoming, the other passengers finally give Beau his 'comeuppance'. By now everyone knows of the kidnapping, but Bo is determined to have Chérie. Bo lashes out and is finally beaten up by the bus driver. He binds up and promises to behave himself. The next morning, he apologises to Chérie and says she can go wherever she wants. Chérie, who now sees that Bo also has a soft side, forgives him and now decides to go with him voluntarily.

The original play 'Bus Stop' by William Inge has only a few elements in common with the film. The play is set in a diner in Kansas, in the vicinity of Kansas City, Missouri. During a snowstorm, a number of passengers take shelter from the snow. Love relationships develop between the various characters, including between cowboy Bo and singer Chérie. For the film, the relationship between Bo and Chérie was taken out and magnified. Especially Chérie's role was increased and the whole introduction of the rodeo was added.

The original Broadway production of 'Bus Stop' opened at the Music Box Theater in New York on 2 March 1955, ran for 478 performances and was nominated for the 1956 Tony Award for Best Play. Before he achieved success on Broadway, Inge wrote a one-act play, 'People in the Wind,' the story of strangers caught in a storm at a bus station in a small Midwestern town. It was the inspiration for 'Bus Stop'. Marilyn Monroe was technically in charge of the film adaptation as the head of MMP (Marilyn Monroe Productions, her own film production company.

The film was shot on location in Ketchum, Idaho, North Fork Store, Idaho and Phoenix, Arizona. Studio filming was done at 20th Century Fox Studios in Los Angeles. Director Joshua Logan, known for his work on Broadway, cast Don Murray as cowboy Bo after seeing him in Thornton Wilder's 'The Skin of Our Teeth' on Broadway. Murray, a New Yorker, had never been astride a horse until the scene in which he rides one in a parade. Bus Stop marked Murray's film debut and Bo would be Murray's only Oscar-winning performance. Hope Lange also made her first film appearance in Bus Stop. Don Murray fell in love with her and they would shortly marry.

There are several fine performances in the film. Arthur O'Connell is delightful as the cowboy's pal who big-brothers him with loving patience. Eileen Heckart amuses as the old-time friend, and Betty Field is strong enough as the bus stop owner. Carl, the firm bus driver and former state wrestling champ, was played by actor Robert Bray. He had a long career in films and TV but would be best remembered as Lassie's co-star, forest ranger Corey Stuart, in the TV series.

At the Oscar ceremony, Don Murray received an Oscar for Best Male Supporting Actor. However, his over-the-top performance as Beau is now problematic. There is no way we accept in 2022 a cowboy as a sympathetic, romantic hero when he chases a woman down, rips off half of her dress, breaks into her dressing room, follows her out the window to a bus station, lassos her and kidnaps her by dragging her onto the bus. Murray is so loud, abrasive and stupid that he often overshadows Monroe's fragile performance and thus nearly ruins the film. And by the time Beau apologises for his bad behaviour, we no longer care about him.


American postcard by Classico San Francisco, no. 105-019. Photo: 20th Century Fox. Marilyn Monroe, Don Murray and Arthur O'Connell in Bus Stop (Joshua Logan, 1956).


American postcard by Classico San Francisco, no. 105-021. Photo: 20th Century Fox. Eileen Heckart, Marilyn Monroe and Arthur O'Connell in Bus Stop (Joshua Logan, 1956).


American postcard by Classico San Francisco, no. 105-022. Photo: 20th Century Fox. Marilyn Monroe and Don Murray in Bus Stop (Joshua Logan, 1956).

Get set for a rattling surprise

Bus Stop (Joshua Logan, 1956) was the first film of Marilyn Monroe's new seven-year contract with Fox. She played Cherie, a role that Kim Stanley originated on Broadway. She had seen and loved Stanley's performance in the Broadway production and patterned her accent on Stanley's, as well as those accents she had heard during her own time in the South. Monroe worked diligently on the hillbilly twang, speaking quite differently than in her other movies, and subverted her natural singing talent to make it painfully clear that Chérie was not gifted in that department. Most of Monroe's delivery of 'That Old Black Magic' by Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer was captured live on camera without lip-synching - a rarity in those days.

Monroe felt that Cherie, although she is a very sexual character, should have a slightly shabby look as a pale and cheaply costumed saloon singer. She rejected most of the original costume designs by Travilla and rifled through the studio costume department to find things she thought suited the character. The black-lace blouse that she wears in the early scenes was originally worn by Susan Hayward in With a Song in My Heart (1952). Working with Milton L. Greene, Joshua Logan and her makeup artist, Allan Snyder, she opted for an almost-white facial and body makeup that made Cherie look washed-out and faintly unhealthy as if she slept all day and avoided the sun.

Hairstylist Helen Turpin changed Monroe's platinum-blonde hair to a subdued honey-blonde that offered more contrast to the white skin. Studio executives thought Marilyn should always be "honey-coloured" all over, but she and Logan stuck to their guns. In subsequent films, she would continue to favour lighter, more luminous makeup even when her hair was once again platinum.

Marilyn Monroe's badly-needed champion on the film set was her director. Joshua Logan, who had studied with Konstantin Stanislavsky in Russia. He understood the needs of actors using 'the Method' and had come to adore Marilyn's talent and respect her native intelligence. "She made directing worthwhile," he said later. "She had such fascinating things happen to her face and skin and hair and body as she read lines, that she was... inspiring." Logan involved his star in script discussions and supported her efforts to 'find' Cherie through her experiments with makeup, costuming, hairstyles and - above all - intense identification with her character. By allowing the cameras to continue rolling, he gave Monroe every opportunity to find continuity in her role and listened carefully when she made suggestions about her blocking and camera angles on this, her 24th film.

Paula Strasberg had replaced Natasha Lytess as Monroe's on-the-spot acting coach. As a friend of the Strasbergs who had directed their daughter, Susan Strasberg, in Picnic (Joshua Logan, 1955), he was tolerant of Paula Strasberg's presence and constant influence on Monroe's performance. He did, however, insist that she not be on the sets during actual rehearsals or filming.

Bus Stop (1956) became a box office success in the U.S.A., earning more than $7 million in rentals, and received mainly favourable reviews, with Monroe's performance being highly praised. The New York Times critic Bosley Crowther started his review with "HOLD onto your chairs, everybody, and get set for a rattling surprise. Marilyn Monroe has finally proved herself an actress in Bus Stop. She and the picture are swell!" Marilyn Monroe Productions would produce only one more film - The Prince and the Showgirl (1957), directed by and co-starring Laurence Olivier.


American postcard by Classico San Francisco, no. 105-023. Photo: 20th Century Fox. Arthur O'Connell, Eileen Heckart, Marilyn Monroe and Don Murray in Bus Stop (Joshua Logan, 1956).


American postcard by Classico San Francisco, no. 105-024. Photo: 20th Century Fox. Marilyn Monroe, Don Murray and Robert Bray in Bus Stop (Joshua Logan, 1956).


American postcard by Classico San Francisco, no. 105-025. Photo: 20th Century Fox. Don Murray and Marilyn Monroe in Bus Stop (Joshua Logan, 1956).

Sources: Bosley Crowther (The New York Times), Wikipedia (Dutch, German and English), and IMDb.

This post was last updated on 10 December 2022.