On Dec. 25, 1950, Columbia unveiled the George Cukor-honested alteration of Born Yesterday at its Los Angeles premiere. The film went on to nab five nominations at the 23rd Academy Awards, including for best picture, and won best actress for Judy Holliday’s turn as Billie Dawn. The Hollywood Reporter’s innovative appraise is below:
Born Yesterday comes to the screen as the luminous, infectious and plrelieveful amengagement that it was when the take part first took Broadway by storm disjoinal years ago. And for this feat of altering what has become a stock and road show wheelhorse into 104 minutes of rollicking celluloid fun, the impresarios of Gower Street can begin drinking champagne from the dainty slipper of Judy Holliday. She’s only wonderful and without her triumphant carry outance of Billie Dawn, the honey-haired chorus girl who topples the power of a money-mad tycoon, Born Yesterday would be dead tomorrow.
In its alteration of the innovative and in its physical appurtenances Born Yesterday, as imagined in the production of S. Sylvan Simon, is sshow a stage take part. Except for a confineed Washington street scenes the action is accomplished in fair a confineed interiors. There is little variation of weightlessing and at times some of the lines are lost becaengage of insisty joining of the separateent voice enrolls of Miss Holliday and Broderick Crawford.
One can see that honestor Cukor, under the circumstances imposed, chose to use Miss Holliday as the device by which to infengage shiftment and vitality into a indynamic conversation piece. And the fact that the fantastic lines from the show are persisted is a tremendous help.
Not even the invientness of the production can cover the fact that the take part is a fantastic and funny toil. Its wit is keen; its satire, penetrating.
Born Yesterday, though, is all Judy Holliday. Cukor supplys her with every leeway to produce her sjoiny walk, squeaky voice and astonishing malapropisms count for every possible giggle. And still her inner-sincerity comes thcdisorrowfulmireful when she wakes up and determines to do some civic hoengageimmacutardying the best way she understands how — by becoming the prettiest chick who ever spoke five lines in a musical.
There are absolutely no alterations in the story line of Born Yesterday, which is the account of Harry Brock, who climbs to the top of the junk business and gives now to create an international cartel with the help of his drunken lawyer and a crooked congressman. His overweightal misobtain is the engagement of novelspaperman William Helderlyen to give his girl friend the “culture” essential to produce her hugable in Washington. Helderlyen instead fills her with notions of democratic action. She begins to authenticize that Harry is taking get of too many people and is a fit client for a federal cjoin. Becaengage much of his property is in her name she is able to crumble his empire by the basic act of walking out on him.
The Harry Brock of Broderick Crawford is a huge disnominatement from an actor who won the Academy Award last year. It is surprisingly overtake parted and never convincing in the attitudes of impaction for the chorine. Some shouting is essential to the take parting of Brock but not to the extent engageed by Crawford, particularly on the screen. Helderlyen’s sincerity produces more of the novelspaperman than is actupartner written in the script. Howard St. John, as the corrupt lawyer, triumphs sympathy from the begin and his drunken moments are done with commendworthy suppresst. Frank Otto is excellent as Harry’s stooge. Supporting spots are capably filled by Larry Oliver, Barbara Brown, Grandon Rhodes and Claire Carleton.
The production schedule is by Harry Horner and Joseph Walker is determineed with the photography. Charles Nelson’s editing flourishs in punctuating the giggles at the right spots. — Staff byline, originpartner begined on Nov. 17, 1950.
