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Bus Stop (film)
Encyclopedia
Bus Stop is a 1956 film directed by Joshua Logan
for 20th Century Fox
, starring Marilyn Monroe
, Don Murray
, Arthur O'Connell
, Betty Field
, Eileen Heckart
, Robert Bray
and Hope Lange
. The film was released on August 31, 1956.
Unlike most of Marilyn Monroe's movies, Bus Stop is neither a full-fledged comedy nor a musical, but rather a dramatic piece. Monroe does however sing one song: "That Old Black Magic
" (by Harold Arlen
and Johnny Mercer
).
Bus Stop was based on two plays by William Inge
, People in the Wind and Bus Stop
. The inspiration for the play Bus Stop
came from people Inge met in Tonganoxie, Kansas
.
In the 1961-62 season, ABC
adapted the play and film into a television series of the same name, Bus Stop
starring Marilyn Maxwell
as the owner of the bus station
and diner
. In the segment "Chérie" which most closely follows the film, Tuesday Weld
performed the role of Marilyn Monroe, and Gary Lockwood
appeared as the Don Murray character.
The film was shot in Idaho
and Arizona
.
When cowboy Beau and his friend Virgil take the bus from Montana
to Phoenix
, Arizona
, to participate in the rodeo
, Beau is also hoping to find his "angel." There, Beau falls in love with cafe singer "hillbilly" Chérie performing "That Old Black Magic" and plans to take her back to Montana.
The next day, he intends to marry her after the rodeo, but she escapes. She wants to go Hollywood, where she hopes to be discovered. But Beau tracks her down, and forces her on the bus back to Montana. On the way, they stop at Grace's Diner. The road ahead is blocked by snow, and by now all have learned that Beau is kidnapping and bullying the girl. The men subdue Beau until he promises to leave Chérie alone.
Later, the road is cleared, and contrite Beau, after getting beaten in a scuffle with the bus driver the previous night, apologizes for his rude behavior and is ready to depart without her. Chérie forgives him, and discovering his nicer side, decides on her own to go with him.
Joshua Logan
Joshua Lockwood Logan III was an American stage and film director and writer.-Early years:Logan was born in Texarkana, Texas, the son of Susan and Joshua Lockwood Logan. When he was three years old his father committed suicide...
for 20th Century Fox
20th Century Fox
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation — also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox — is one of the six major American film studios...
, starring Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe was an American actress, singer, model and showgirl who became a major sex symbol, starring in a number of commercially successful motion pictures during the 1950s....
, Don Murray
Don Murray (actor)
Donald Patrick "Don" Murray is an American actor.-Early life and career:Murray was born in Hollywood, California on July 31, 1929, the only child of Dennis Aloisius, a Broadway dance director and stage manager and Ethel Murray, a former Ziegfeld performer...
, Arthur O'Connell
Arthur O'Connell
Arthur O'Connell was an American stage and film actor. He appeared in films in 1941 and television programs...
, Betty Field
Betty Field
Betty Field was an American film and stage actress. Through her father, she was a direct descendant of the Pilgrims John Alden and Priscilla Mullins....
, Eileen Heckart
Eileen Heckart
Eileen Heckart was an American actress of stage, screen, and television.-Early life:Heckart was born Anna Eileen Heckart in Columbus, Ohio, the daughter of Esther and Leo Herbert. She was legally adopted by her grandfather, J.W. Heckart. Her family was of Irish and German descent...
, Robert Bray
Robert Bray
Robert E. Bray was an American film and television actor probably best remembered for his role as the forest ranger Corey Stuart in the long-running CBS series Lassie.-Life and career:...
and Hope Lange
Hope Lange
Hope Elise Ross Lange was an American stage, film, and television actress.- Early life :Lange was born into a theatrical family in Redding, Connecticut...
. The film was released on August 31, 1956.
Unlike most of Marilyn Monroe's movies, Bus Stop is neither a full-fledged comedy nor a musical, but rather a dramatic piece. Monroe does however sing one song: "That Old Black Magic
That Old Black Magic (song)
"That Old Black Magic" is a popular song. The music was written by Harold Arlen, with the lyrics by Johnny Mercer. The song was published in 1942 and has become an often-recorded standard with versions by Glenn Miller, the singers Margaret Whiting, Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis, Jr., Mercer himself,...
" (by Harold Arlen
Harold Arlen
Harold Arlen was an American composer of popular music, having written over 500 songs, a number of which have become known the world over. In addition to composing the songs for The Wizard of Oz, including the classic 1938 song, "Over the Rainbow,” Arlen is a highly regarded contributor to the...
and Johnny Mercer
Johnny Mercer
John Herndon "Johnny" Mercer was an American lyricist, songwriter and singer. He is best known as a lyricist, but he also composed music. He was also a popular singer who recorded his own songs as well as those written by others...
).
Bus Stop was based on two plays by William Inge
William Inge
William Motter Inge was an American playwright and novelist, whose works typically feature solitary protagonists encumbered with strained sexual relations. In the early 1950s, he had a string of memorable Broadway productions, and one of these, Picnic, earned him a Pulitzer Prize...
, People in the Wind and Bus Stop
Bus Stop (play)
Bus Stop is a 1955 play by William Inge. The 1956 film is only loosely based upon it.-Characters:Bus Stop is a drama, with romantic and some comedic elements. It is set in a diner in rural Kansas, about 20 miles west of Kansas City, Missouri during a snowstorm from which bus passengers must take...
. The inspiration for the play Bus Stop
Bus Stop (play)
Bus Stop is a 1955 play by William Inge. The 1956 film is only loosely based upon it.-Characters:Bus Stop is a drama, with romantic and some comedic elements. It is set in a diner in rural Kansas, about 20 miles west of Kansas City, Missouri during a snowstorm from which bus passengers must take...
came from people Inge met in Tonganoxie, Kansas
Tonganoxie, Kansas
Tonganoxie is a city in Leavenworth County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 4,996.-Geography:Tonganoxie is located at...
.
In the 1961-62 season, ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
adapted the play and film into a television series of the same name, Bus Stop
Bus Stop (TV series)
Bus Stop is a 26-episode drama which aired on ABC from October 1, 1961, until March 25, 1962, starring Marilyn Maxwell as Grace Sherwood, the owner of a bus station and diner in the fictitious town of Sunrise in the Colorado Rockies...
starring Marilyn Maxwell
Marilyn Maxwell
Marilyn Maxwell , born Marvel Marilyn Maxwell, was an American actress and entertainer.Noted for her blonde hair and sexually alluring persona, she appeared in several films and radio programs, and entertained the troops during World War II and the Korean War on USO tours with Bob Hope.-Career:She...
as the owner of the bus station
Bus station
A bus station is a structure where city or intercity buses stop to pick up and drop off passengers. It is larger than a bus stop, which is usually simply a place on the roadside, where buses can stop...
and diner
Diner
A diner, also spelled dinor in western Pennsylvania is a prefabricated restaurant building characteristic of North America, especially in the Midwest, in New York City, in Pennsylvania and in New Jersey, and in other areas of the Northeastern United States, although examples can be found throughout...
. In the segment "Chérie" which most closely follows the film, Tuesday Weld
Tuesday Weld
Tuesday Weld is an American actress.Weld began her acting career as a child, and progressed to more mature roles during the late 1950s. She won a Golden Globe Award for Most Promising Female Newcomer in 1960...
performed the role of Marilyn Monroe, and Gary Lockwood
Gary Lockwood
Gary Lockwood is an American actor probably best known for his iconic 1968 role as the astronaut Dr. Frank Poole in 2001: A Space Odyssey.-Early life:...
appeared as the Don Murray character.
The film was shot in Idaho
Idaho
Idaho is a state in the Rocky Mountain area of the United States. The state's largest city and capital is Boise. Residents are called "Idahoans". Idaho was admitted to the Union on July 3, 1890, as the 43rd state....
and Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
.
Plot
Montana
Montana is a state in the Western United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges. Smaller, "island ranges" are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name,...
to Phoenix
Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix is the capital, and largest city, of the U.S. state of Arizona, as well as the sixth most populated city in the United States. Phoenix is home to 1,445,632 people according to the official 2010 U.S. Census Bureau data...
, Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
, to participate in the rodeo
Rodeo
Rodeo is a competitive sport which arose out of the working practices of cattle herding in Spain, Mexico, and later the United States, Canada, South America and Australia. It was based on the skills required of the working vaqueros and later, cowboys, in what today is the western United States,...
, Beau is also hoping to find his "angel." There, Beau falls in love with cafe singer "hillbilly" Chérie performing "That Old Black Magic" and plans to take her back to Montana.
The next day, he intends to marry her after the rodeo, but she escapes. She wants to go Hollywood, where she hopes to be discovered. But Beau tracks her down, and forces her on the bus back to Montana. On the way, they stop at Grace's Diner. The road ahead is blocked by snow, and by now all have learned that Beau is kidnapping and bullying the girl. The men subdue Beau until he promises to leave Chérie alone.
Later, the road is cleared, and contrite Beau, after getting beaten in a scuffle with the bus driver the previous night, apologizes for his rude behavior and is ready to depart without her. Chérie forgives him, and discovering his nicer side, decides on her own to go with him.
Cast
- Marilyn MonroeMarilyn MonroeMarilyn Monroe was an American actress, singer, model and showgirl who became a major sex symbol, starring in a number of commercially successful motion pictures during the 1950s....
as Chérie - Don MurrayDon Murray (actor)Donald Patrick "Don" Murray is an American actor.-Early life and career:Murray was born in Hollywood, California on July 31, 1929, the only child of Dennis Aloisius, a Broadway dance director and stage manager and Ethel Murray, a former Ziegfeld performer...
as Beauregard "Bo" Decker - Arthur O'ConnellArthur O'ConnellArthur O'Connell was an American stage and film actor. He appeared in films in 1941 and television programs...
as Virgil Blessing - Betty FieldBetty FieldBetty Field was an American film and stage actress. Through her father, she was a direct descendant of the Pilgrims John Alden and Priscilla Mullins....
as Grace - Eileen HeckartEileen HeckartEileen Heckart was an American actress of stage, screen, and television.-Early life:Heckart was born Anna Eileen Heckart in Columbus, Ohio, the daughter of Esther and Leo Herbert. She was legally adopted by her grandfather, J.W. Heckart. Her family was of Irish and German descent...
as Vera - Robert BrayRobert BrayRobert E. Bray was an American film and television actor probably best remembered for his role as the forest ranger Corey Stuart in the long-running CBS series Lassie.-Life and career:...
as Carl - Hope LangeHope LangeHope Elise Ross Lange was an American stage, film, and television actress.- Early life :Lange was born into a theatrical family in Redding, Connecticut...
as Elma Duckworth - Hans ConriedHans ConriedHans Georg Conried, Jr. was an American comedian, character actor and voice actor.-Early years:He was born on April 15, 1917 in Baltimore, Maryland to Hans Georg Conried, Sr. and Edith Beyr Gildersleeve. His mother was a descendant of Pilgrims, and his father was a Jewish immigrant from Vienna,...
as Life Magazine Photographer - Max ShowalterMax ShowalterMax Showalter was an American film, television, and stage actor, as well as a composer, pianist, and singer. One of Showalter's most memorable roles was as Jean Peters' character's husband in the 1953 film Niagara...
as Life Magazine Reporter (billed as Casey Adams)
Award nominations
- Academy Award for Best Supporting ActorAcademy Award for Best Supporting ActorPerformance by an Actor in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the...
- Don MurrayDon Murray (actor)Donald Patrick "Don" Murray is an American actor.-Early life and career:Murray was born in Hollywood, California on July 31, 1929, the only child of Dennis Aloisius, a Broadway dance director and stage manager and Ethel Murray, a former Ziegfeld performer... - Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture Actress in a Comedy or Musical - Marilyn Monroe
- Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical
- BAFTA for Most Promising Newcomer - Don Murray
- DGADirectors Guild of AmericaDirectors Guild of America is an entertainment labor union which represents the interests of film and television directors in the United States motion picture industry...
for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in a Motion Picture - Joshua Logan