Born Yesterday

Starring: Judy Holliday, William Holden, Broderick Crawford, Howard St. John, Larry Oliver, Barbara Brown
Directed by: George Cukor
Rating: Not rated
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance
1950

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A brutal businessman (Broderick Crawford) hires a journalist (William Holden) to teach his uneducated partner (Judy Holliday) how to navigate the elite world of Washington.

Review:

Tim: I have to say, George Cukor's Born Yesterday surprised me. The film won 1 Academy Award, but even that didn't prepare me for how good it was. There's a few things that prevent it from being great, but this is a thoroughly enjoyable movie that makes some powerful points about humanity, education, honor, and culture. It's obviously helped by being based on a stage play, but this is an exceptionally well made movie.

The source material is obviously strong, as the story presented is fascinating and deep. We meet this uncouth, corrupt businessman who always get what he wants, typically by bowling people over. When he comes to Washington D.C., he's embarrassed by his uneducated mistress and her lack of education. So, he hires a respected journalist to tutor her. This sets off unexpected changes that accumulate in a chain reaction he never saw coming. This story is fascinating because the heart of it all is the power of education. I loved this message. Educating your mind is perhaps the greatest objective in our lives (pairing this with a good heart filled with morality helps, too). When I look around at the world today, this is the cause of so much suffering and pain- either uneducated morons shouting loudly when they know nothing, or educated minds that have been corrupted and don't care who they hurt. We desperately need more knowledge, less "my own truth" thinking. This movie vividly shows what life is like for someone uneducated, verses what happens when they begin to challenge their mind. I loved seeing the transformation of the character of Billie Dawn. It was poignant and beautiful and it reiterates how important learning is. That's the biggest reason to see this film.

It helps that the movie has an incredible cast. We should start with Judy Holliday, as she won an Academy Award for Best Actress. Holliday had a leg up since she originated this role on Broadway. When the movie started, she was loud, crass, and obnoxious. I appreciated her fully embracing this role, but I wondered why she won an Oscar for it. As the film goes on, though, I was mesmerized by what she did with her performance. Slowly, subtly, she starts to change. She goes from someone uneducated to someone with an inkling of knowledge, to someone who is more confident in their own reasoning ability. Holliday is able to convey all this is a way that feels authentic and believable. The character's transformation works because Holliday sells it so beautifully. Her performance is remarkable, exceptional. She manages to be obnoxious early on, she's funny throughout, she has several moments of vulnerability that allow you to connect with her character, and eventually emerges as someone you can respect. Holliday does so many small things perfectly here- her mannerisms, how she moves her eyes. It's one of the finest performances I've seen in many years. She is incredible.

She has a strong cast around her, too. I'm a big William Holden fan and this movie furthered my esteem for him. His performance is more restrained, but it felt so natural. He's likeable, honorable, and interesting. What he brings to the character, his interactions with Holliday and Broderick Crawford, Holden gives a performance that never steals the limelight from Holliday, but makes the film better with every scene he's in. Broderick Crawford is excellent, too. He perfectly captures this boorish, unethical business tycoon. He absolutely feels like a guy from the wrong side of the tracks who will stop at nothing to continue his meteoric rise. He's larger than life and his performance forces us to sit up and pay attention. I loved how his character sucked the wind out of every room he's in. He takes up space, demands our attention. He makes a fantastic contrast to the other characters. Crawford feels so comfortable in this role and emerges as one of the most memorable aspects of the film. The pairing of Holliday-Holden-Crawford is a dream trio.

In addition to Holliday's win, the film was nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay, and Best Costume Design B&W. It didn't win any of these, but they speak to the effectiveness of Cukor's film. I've been giving this film nothing but praise, so why don't I consider it a great film? It's a tough question to answer. Maybe it's because of the play source material, but Cukor's film doesn't always maintain a sense of forward progress. The movie feels like it cycles around a bit in the middle. It's always moving forward, but too slowly, where it feels too imperceptible. The middle sags a bit and it blunts some of the effectiveness at the end. There's a few aspects of the story that feel too farfetched. None of these are fatal, but they pull the movie down just a bit.

I don't want to dwell on that, though. I really enjoyed Born Yesterday. Many movies of this era were stylish and enjoyable as you watched them, but you never needed to think about them again. That's not the case here. This film has real substance and you find yourself thinking about long after the credits roll. This is a strong, exceptionally made movie.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 7.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Gaslight, My Fair Lady, A Star is Born