Bus Stop

Bus Stop (1956) starring Marilyn Monroe, Don Murray

Bus Stop is a comic drama is about a rancher who falls for a nightclub singer while stranded at a bus stop in a blizzard. Based on the Broadway hit by William Inge.

Vera : I just don’t understand that boy. What’s he got on his mind, anyhow?
Chérie : Me.

Product Description

A young and innocent cowboy discovers the girl of his dreams (Marilyn Monroe) and decides to make her his wife. She is more than reluctant to accept his proposal and he forces her to board a bus headed for Montana. The road is blocked and the journey is interrupted by an overnight stay at Grace’s Diner, where her plight is soon revealed to all. Realizing his brute approach will never win her heart, he apologizes and kisses her goodbye, only to discover she really has grown to love him. Acclaimed by many as Marilyn Monroe’s first serious acting performance. BUS STOP displays a mixture of humor and pain.

Cast

• Marilyn Monroe (Some Like It Hot) … Chérie. The young lady, dancing and singing in a skimpy outfit in a bar. She has dreams of going to Hollywood and becoming famous. But then Bo sets his eyes on her …
• Don Murray (Advise and Consent) … Beauregard ‘Bo’ Decker. Naivee, handsome, single-minded. And participating in all of the major events of the rodeo. Despite Chérie repeatedly telling him that she’s not going to marry him, he’s undeterred.
• Arthur O’Connell (The Great Race) … Virgil Blessing. Bo’s older friend, and mentor. He initially dislikes Chérie since she was scamming him for drinks at the bar. At the end, he decides to stay on at Gracie’s.
• Betty Field (Of Mice and Men 1939) … Grace. Owner of Grace’s Diner, who takes Chérie’s side.
• Eileen Heckart (The Bad Seed) … Vera. Chérie’s friend and coworker.
• Robert Bray … Carl. The bus driver. At the diner, he beats up Beau, to force him to apologize to Chérie for how he’s been treating her.
• Hope Lange (Pocketful of Miracles 1961) … Elma Duckworth. Waitress at the diner, also on Chérie’s side.
• Hans Conried (Walt Disney’s Peter Pan, Blondie’s Blessed Event) … Life Magazine Photographer at the rodeo.
• Max Showalter … Life Magazine Reporter

Songs

• The Bus Stop Song (1956)
  • Written by Ken Darby
  • Sung in the opening credits off-screen by The Four Lads
  • Also partially sung by a guitar-playing Arthur O’Connell (uncredited) and the bus passengers
• That Old Black Magic (1942)
  • Music by Harold Arlen
  • Lyrics by Johnny Mercer
  • Sung by Marilyn Monroe
  • Later briefly sung by Don Murray
• The Right Kind (1948)
  • Music by Lionel Newman
  • Lyrics by Don George and Charles Henderson
• Rye Whisky (1936)
  • Written by Tex Ritter