rating:
(out of
4 stars)United States; 1950
Directed by George Cukor; produced by S. Sylvan Simon; written by Albert Mannheimer
Starring Judy Holliday, William Holden, Broderick Crawford, Howard St. John, Frank Otto, Larry Oliver
Best Picture Oscar-nominee 'Born Yesterday' is a delightful comedy from director George Cukor. In the year of Billy Wilder's 'Sunset Blvd.' and Joseph L. Mankiewicz's 'All About Eve' it never stood a chance, but I would say today it works as good as any of those films. I smiled almost constantly and laughed quite a lot. The main reason is Judy Holliday, giving a brilliant comedic performance, winning her the Best Actress Oscar instead of Bette Davis ('Eve') or Gloria Swanson ('Sunset').
Holliday is Billie Dawn, a girl as smart as if she was born yesterday. She has not a clue in the world and, for that matter, of the world. For seven years she is engaged to Harry Brock, played by a Broderick Crawford as if he was the same character in later parts from 'All the King's Men'. He owns a company, doing very well, but it does not seem alright. He has to make deals with a congressman to make it seem so. Brock, not the smartest man himself, hires Paul Verrall to educate Billie, which turns out to be the biggest mistake in his life. Not only do the two fall for each other, Billie actually happens to own Brock's company as well. She is just too stupid to realize it, at first that is.
'Born Yesterday' works perfectly when Holliday is on the screen. Close to all laughs are her creation. It is the kind of performance that could have gone very wrong, but she makes it work with every stupid line. Crawford goes a little over the top. He gives Holliday a chance to shine, but his scenes are uneven, not always his fault. When he suddenly bursts into violent action, his moves seem to be in the wrong film. The result is effective for the viewer, but I would have preferred a more light-hearted approach, where Broderick's character would only hint at the things he does.
The film is build on its dialogue, not strange since it was originally a play. Some of the lines almost come as a shock since they do not really fit 1950. From time to time it felt like watching a Humphrey Bogart/Lauren Bacall conversation, but instead of metaphorically speaking of certain things, they were actually saying it here. The deliberate mistakes Holliday has to make belong to the best, sometimes very subtle, I have heard in that category. 'Born Yesterday' might be thin on plot, the dialogue keeps it fresh and it's my guess that a modern audience would still have a better time with this, than with most comedies produced today.