Born Yesterday (1950)

A lot more amusing than I thought it would be.

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

So, this is one of the funniest movies ever made in Hollywood. I'd rank this one around 6th or 8th in my "funniest movies ever" list. The scene where Ms. Holliday is keeping time to "Commando Patrol" is one of the funniest/most subtly funny scenes in all of movie history!!

This is a wonderful movie that you'll want to see primarily for its electrifying performances.Judy Holliday reigns supreme as the Duchess of Coney Island transplanted to Washington where she gets spoon fed a diet of long-overdue book learning, and offhandedly wooed, by smooth-talking straight arrow William Holden.Archboor, tycoon and ignoramus Broderick Crawford is out of his depth and sometimes seems out of his mind -- his volcanic performance routinely goes off the rails, providing the raw energy and unadulterated nastiness that makes this boy-meets-girl meets political satire of a movie so flawlessly balanced.Howard St. John is quite serviceable, and sad, as the alcoholic doormat lawyer/fixer for the creature played by Broderick Crawford. And everyone else from chamber maids to petty hooligans turns in a flawless supporting performance.There are scenes in this movie that are beyond priceless. My personal favorite is the one where Holliday and Crawford play gin rummy -- it is directed to perfection by the peerless George Cukor, who should have gotten his second (i.e., his first) Oscar for his work creating this gem.Don't miss this witty, fast-paced, funny and touching picture -- it is truly a must see.

Judy Holliday gives a knockout, career performance as the initially dim-witted ex-showgirl Billie Dawn, earning herself the Best Actress Oscar on her only nomination. Broderick Crawford plays her rough and tough self-made businessman boyfriend Harry Brock who hires newspaperman Paul Verrall, played by William Holden, to teach his "dumb broad" how to act in society so as not to embarrass him in public.Unfortunately for Brock, Billie learns more than he bargained for from the handsome Paul. Against the backdrop of Washington, D.C., where Brock has come to bribe a few congressmen, Billie learns not only how to beat him at gin, but also what kind of man she's got. The kinder, more sensitive Paul naturally looks a lot better.Directed by George Cukor, who earned his fourth unrewarded Best Director Oscar (he would win for My Fair Lady (1964) on his fifth and last nomination), with a screenplay by Albert Mannheimer, who earned his only Academy recognition with a nomination for his Screenplay, adapted from Garson Kanin's play. The film received a nomination for Best Picture as did its B&W Costume Design. #24 on AFI's 100 Funniest Movies list. Added to the National Film Registry in 2012.Remade in 1993 with Melanie Griffith, John Goodman, and Don Johnson.

Are you folks sure this is a good movie? I'm halfway through and it just gets worse and worse, moving slower and slower and slower to the point that I'm afraid it will never end.Comedy? Maybe people actually laughed in the movie theater 60 years ago, but it's mighty quiet here.Hasn't anyone in this movie heard of "subtlety"? Talk about over-acting. Judy Holliday and Broderick Crawford look like they came out of a prequel to Dumb and Dumber. And William Holden is wishy washy, never clearly defining his character or motivation for any of the things he is doing, aside from getting laid by a not especially pretty moll of a gangster, which is a pretty darn stupid thing to do for a supposedly in the know Washington reporter. (This is either a violation of basic journalistic ethics or a deposit on some concrete galoshes.)Neither Holden nor Holliday fit their parts. Put Marilyn Monroe and Kirk Douglas in them and this might sizzle. Monroe knew how to play the dual levels of a smart inner dame and an outer ditsy dame, as seen in Bus Stop. And Douglas wrote the book on cynical reporting in Ace in the Hole. As it is, there is no chemistry between them, zero, and none between Holliday and Crawford, either. Crawford "really loves" Holliday? Why? She is as charming as screeching chalk on a blackboard.So Cukor rehearsed the cast before a live audience to get the timing. That might have had some relevance when this was shown in a theater. But on home video half a century later all this cast produces is puzzled silence.I suppose there was something edgy about taking on political corruption in a more innocent time. Except it had been done, far better, two years before in State of the Union, and earlier by Frank Capra in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington and Meet John Doe. Whatever shock value there might once have been (were voters every really that naive?) is long gone in today's world of rampant scandals. OK, I'll try to finish it. And I'll try to like it. But I have the feeling it's not going to be easy.Update:OK, I finished it. Spoiler alert:It ends just like you think it is going to end, the plot unfolding with about the excitement of a AAA road map.There's a reason most people have never seen this "classic": It's boring. To be specific, the acting is boring, the plot is boring, the script is boring, the characters are boring and the directing is boring. I don't remember if the music is boring. Was there any music?But who am I to judge? Apparently, some people just love boring movies. After all, there are a lot of boring people in the world.