THE MOVIE

Beau, a naive rancher who has never been away from his ranch and Virge, the long-time range boss at the ranch and Beau's friend and confident, travel to Phoenix via bus so Beau can compete in a Rodeo and find a bride. Once at Phoenix the two visit a nightclub where they meet singer Cherie who has dreams of going to Hollywood. Beau is instantly attracted to Cherie and within moments decides that he is going to take Cherie back to the ranch and marry her, whether Cherie likes it or not. Cherie's apparent reluctance doesn't discourage Beau who proceeds to embarrass and frighten Cherie with his over the top behaviour and insistence that they are to be married. With the help of Virge Cherie attempts to run away and take a bus to Los Angelus, however Beau soon discovers the plan and kidnaps Cherie. On the bus ride back to the ranch they are forced to stop at Grace's Diner (the bus stop of the title) due to a blizzard. While at the diner overnight, the bus driver and Grace learn of Cherie's kidnapping, but Beau remains determined to have Cherie no matter who objects. Eventually though Beau sees the error of his ways and in true Hollywood fashion Cherie decides that she does love Beau and agrees to go back with him to his ranch.

Adapted from a stage play by William Inge, Bus Stop is not an easy movie to like. It hasn't aged well; the majority of its slapstick humour falls flat and even borders on the offensive. The majority of the film revolves around one joke - manly cowboy ropes and carries off woman - which quickly moves from monotonous to actively annoying. Much needed character development and emotional depth is unfortunately left to the last twenty minutes or so, and by that time it is hard to care for the characters enough for it to have any impact. The main characters, especially Beau, are not likeable and do not elicit any sympathy from the audience. The acting from the supporting players is generally good, however Murray's over the top performance is clearly geared for the stage rather then the intimacy of film and he soon becomes irritating and annoying. The love story is completely unconvincing, and therefore the ending is extremely unsatisfying. It's hard to see how Monroe's character can fall in love with Murray's Beau and give up her own future plans when he has treated her incredibly badly throughout the movie. It seems much more likely that she would have him arrested for stalking, assault and kidnapping.

The only reason to see Bus Stop is for Monroe's touching performance as the fragile, loud, annoyed and annoying Cherie with a shrill, high-pitched southern drawl. Although it is not one of her best performances we are able to see her in a very different role then the one she normally assumes, that of the breathy sex symbol or ditzy blonde.

THE TRANSFER

Video:

Bus Stop is presented in 2.35:1 aspect ratio and is 16:9 enhanced. Overall it’s a pretty good transfer. There are a number of film artefacts (grain and scratches) present in the transfer, however they do not distract too much from the film and can only be expected in a film of its age. Colours are vibrant and details are good.

Audio:

Bus Stop is presented in Dolby Digital 4.0 audio track, and it sounds fantastic. Speakers are used extremely well, especially during the title music. Overall the movie is pretty much dialogue driven so don't expect too much from the back speakers. Dialogue throughout the majority of the picture is clear, however there is a brief dropout in dialogue at 74 minutes and 33 seconds.

THE EXTRAS

The extras included on this release aren't very remarkable.

Theatrical Trailer: standard theatrical trailer from the 1950s. A good transfer quality though.

Restoration Comparison: provides a brief description of what Fox did to the film in preparation for the DVD release and includes a comparison between the original film and the final restored version

Postcards: still of one postcard advertising the movie from the 1950s.

Lobby Cards: Still gallery of four lobby cards from the 1950s.

SUMMARY

Bus Stop looks and sounds impressive and will be of interest for Monroe fans, but for others there is little entertainment value. If you aren't a huge fan of Monroe's but you are interested in seeing a Monroe movie I recommend you watch some of the other movies contained in the Diamond Collection DVD boxsets which are much more satisfying and entertaining then Bus Stop.