Born Yesterday
US (1950): Comedy/Drama
Judy Holliday's Oscar®-winning performance is just one of the reasons to watch this terrific 1950 comedy, which is equally acclaimed for its deliciously witty screenplay (based on Garson Kanin's long-running Broadway hit) and George Cukor's silky-smooth direction. Holliday plays Billie Dawn, the floozie fiancée of junk-dealer millionaire Harry Brock (Broderick Crawford), who is trying to make a good impression among the Washington, D.C., politicos he's hoping to influence. To ensure that Billie gets properly "culturefied," the corrupt Crawford hires a D.C. journalist (William Holden) to give the seemingly dim-witted blonde a crash course in politics, history, literature, and -- you guessed it -- true love. Billie's not nearly as dumb as she seems, of course, and before long she's graduated from pawn to sassy queen on Harry's political chessboard.
Watching Born Yesterday is a crash course in itself -- an object lesson in how low American screen comedy has fallen from these delirious heights. The movie's funny even when there's a pause in the golden dialogue, such as when Holliday tests Crawford's patience in a sublimely comedic round of gin rummy. There's not a single scene in which Holliday (reprising her Broadway role) isn't simply perfect, the cogs turning smoothly behind her dim expressions and coarsely high-pitched squeal. Suave as ever, Holden is her match made in heaven, and Crawford is a brute who's too stupid to be genuinely malevolent. Put 'em all together and you've got a timeless classic, so flawless that a 1993 remake was instantly doomed to pale comparisons. (Amazon.com)
5 nominations, 1 Award
· Best Actress 1950: Judy Holliday
· Best Picture 1950: S. Sylvan Simon, producer (Columbia)
· Directing 1950: George Cukor
· Writing (Screenplay) 1950: Albert Mannheimer
· Costume Design (Black and White) 1950: Jean Louis