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Bus Stop (1956)

Director: Joshua Logan

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From Time Out Film Guide

Although it's not explicitly a musical, Bus Stop is certainly a product of that imagination which says the best things in life are free, and if you don't have a dream how you gonna have a dream come true. Once that's understood, it's easier to go beyond the bizarre misogyny and stilted theatricality of the plot in which a naive, loud-mouthed cowboy (Murray) tries to kidnap a saloon singer from the Ozarks played by Monroe. Apart from her engaging performance, the film's real interest lies in the unpleasant nature of its subtext: equations of poverty with personal unworthiness, and the uneasiness of an implicitly homosexual focus on Murray.

Author: CR 0000-00-00 00:00:00

Time Out Film Guide

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usman khawaja said...

Posted on Jun 16 2008 09:44 Monroe plays a rather promiscuous bar girl in Phoenix who hopes to get to Hollywood in a kind of her real life story,enters the rodeo champ from Montana as the exuberant yet virginal red-blooded cowboy,DON MURRAY who has come to phoenix for the rodeo competition and to find the angelic gal of his dreams .
The movie deals with a great human dilemma as to what is more important to be happy ,your perception of an ideal or your contentment with the reality,Murray is superb as he assumes this show girl from a cheap joint in a flashy vulgar dress TO BE his angel and monroe shuns the false image ,yet agrees to the charade till the rodeo ends for a fee ,
of course as murray wins he then compels her to take the bus back to montana .
The stranded group ends up in a bus stop caught in a blizzard and here a great drama unfolds where sexual attitudes ,love and behavioural concepts are intellectually challenged in a simple yet truthful manner,the two characters and their trangressive attitudes to the opposite sex melt convincingly and the dialogue is plain but intelligent to the core ,this is a wise movie on the battle of sexes and how and what a man and woman want from each other so as to be happy.
Monroe is truly great as is murray in his first role ,they look terrific and yet there is a tenderness between the 2 rough and wild characters they play,this is an infinitely soft and mellow love story set against the wild west and the bus stop becomes a metaphor for the human race and the battle of sexes with a natural finish .
Hugely satisfying yet entertaining too,with both wit and humor ,yet emotional to the core as it is the ending which monroe CRAVED but never got in her real life .
The sexpolitation of the weaker sex and their whims are expressed extremely well in a bus ride .
The script is true to it's authentic characters and to the audience as well and works at every level .a triumphant journey for all concerned .
USMAN KHAWAJA

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