Time magazine compared her negatively to co-star Ethel Merman . Bosley Crowther of The New York Times said that Mitzi Gaynor had passed Monroe 's `` embarrassing to behold '' performance . Time magazine compared her unfavorably to co-star Ethel Merman , while Bosley Crowther for The New York Times said that Mitzi Gaynor had surpassed Monroe 's `` embarrassing to behold '' performance .