There's No Business Like Show Business (1954)

Brassy, and colourful musical, directed by Walter Lang and completely lacking in depth. 

The main point of interest is Marilyn Monroe, who is always engaging, and it’s telling how much the film has retrospectively been sold on her involvement. The back of the DVD box, for instance, describes it as a Monroe film, when she’s not the star of it at all. 

The main focus is on the singing family, the Donahues, played by Ethel Merman, Donald O’Connor, Dan Dailey, Johnnie Ray and Mitzi Gaynor. They’re loud and bold, in an unsubtle and unappealing way, and they lack charisma. Indeed, they struggle to hold your attention at all.

Likewise, the songs by Irving Berlin aren’t especially memorable, with the exception of the famous title song (which you have to wait right until the end to hear). 

It’s not a terrible film by any means, and it probably achieves what it sets out to, but from the vantage point of 2023 there’s very little in it that stands up.