Born Yesterday (1950) - film review

Having made his fortune as a scrap metal merchant, Harry Brock moves to Washington DC to expand his empire by buying one or two congressmen.  He takes with him his goofy mistress, Billie Dawn, whom he requires to sign documents periodically to conceal his shady business deals from the government.  Brock is no sophisticate but he is embarrassed by his girlfriend’s complete lack of social skills and general knowledge.  He engages a friendly journalist, Paul Verrall, to give Billie a rudimentary education.  What Brock doesn’t realise is that a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing...

Judging by the result, George Cukor was in his element when he directed this adaptation of the popular play Born Yesterday by Garson Kanin, a huge hit on Broadway which made its lead actress Judy Holliday into a star.  You would think Holliday was the obvious person to play the archetypal dumb blonde in this film, but no, the powers that be at Columbia spent three years looking around fruitlessly before finally realising that the only person who could play the part was Miss Holliday.  

Born Yesterday is essentially a variation on the famous George Bernard Shaw Pygmalion play, which George Cukor would later return to with My Fair Lady (1964).  It is also an effective satire on the shadier side of capitalism, with messages that are just as relevant today.  Broderick Crawford plays the bullying nouveau riche Harry Brock as a kind of Neanderthal Edward G. Robinson, funny but menacing, although he only just manages to hold his own against the scene-stealing Judy Holliday.  The highlight of the film is the hilarious scene where these two are playing gin rummy, with all the sophistication, restraint and self-awareness of two pigs from the lowest stratum of porcine society rolling about in mud.

The film was nominated for five Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Screenplay, but the only win was for Judy Holliday in the Best Actress category – she managed to beat off stiff competition from the likes of Bette Davis and Gloria Swanson.  This success came at a price – Holliday would be typecast for the rest of her career and made just eleven films, preferring stage work.   She died tragically young from throat cancer in 1965.   Her performance is Born Yesterday is the effervescent high point of her career, and an absolute joy to watch.

© James Travers 2008

Write a review for this film...

What do you think of this film?