A year after his success with "Picnic", director Joshua Logan held the reins for another film adaptation of a William Inge play this time adapted by comedy veteran George Axelrod. The 1956 result is a far more rambunctious and comic story than "Picnic" but no less dependent on rural stereotypes to inhabit it. The slight story focuses on a dim-bulb, no-talent singer named Cherie (pronounced by her as Share-REE) who tries to avoid the advances of horny rodeo cowboys in a cheap Phoenix dance hall. However, Cherie is hardly an innocent as she is not above hustling unsuspecting cowboys out of their money to fulfill her dream of getting to Hollywood. Enter Beauregard Decker, "Bo" for short, a loudly energetic, self-confident but thoroughly naïve young buck. He is in town to not only win the big rodeo competition but also find himself an "angel". Once he sets his eyes on Cherie, he is convinced she is his angel and manhandles her to marry him. The rest of the story is really about his pursuit as Cherie tries unsuccessfully to escape from Bo's persistent efforts, and it all ends up in a snowbound diner on the way back to Bo's Montana ranch.
Kim Stanley played Cherie to great acclaim on Broadway, but it's safe to say Marilyn Monroe makes the role her own. After a brief break from the screen when she went to New York to study at the Actor's Studio, Monroe threw herself into the part with raw vulnerability and instinctive flair, something she would not replicate fully until her last film, John Huston's "The Misfits". It's sometimes a bit studied, but her work here is among her best. Monroe manages a poignant scene with a very young Hope Lange on a bus where she talks about what kind of man she wants, and her faux-pathetic, self-lit version of "That Old Black Magic" is classic. Don Murray does well as Bo, though the character gets so obstinate as to throw off the balance of the story. "Picnic" veterans Arthur O'Connell and Betty Field lend fine support as Bo's mentor Virgil and sassy diner owner Grace. Eileen Heckart is also terrific as Cherie's only friend Vera. The 2002 DVD, released as part of the Marilyn Monroe Diamond Collection, offers a stills gallery as its one extra.
Kim Stanley played Cherie to great acclaim on Broadway, but it's safe to say Marilyn Monroe makes the role her own. After a brief break from the screen when she went to New York to study at the Actor's Studio, Monroe threw herself into the part with raw vulnerability and instinctive flair, something she would not replicate fully until her last film, John Huston's "The Misfits". It's sometimes a bit studied, but her work here is among her best. Monroe manages a poignant scene with a very young Hope Lange on a bus where she talks about what kind of man she wants, and her faux-pathetic, self-lit version of "That Old Black Magic" is classic. Don Murray does well as Bo, though the character gets so obstinate as to throw off the balance of the story. "Picnic" veterans Arthur O'Connell and Betty Field lend fine support as Bo's mentor Virgil and sassy diner owner Grace. Eileen Heckart is also terrific as Cherie's only friend Vera. The 2002 DVD, released as part of the Marilyn Monroe Diamond Collection, offers a stills gallery as its one extra.