The dizzy blonde girlfriend of a shady business tycoon gets tutored by a handsome newspaperman in Washington, D.C.; she learns about U.S. Government and more...enough to know that the abusive blowhard she's with is giving her a rough deal. Dated comedy, based on the hit Broadway play, with an erratic tone that switches off and on between the three main characters: brassy (Judy Holliday), romantically sedate and sane (William Holden) and raucous (Broderick Crawford). Crawford in particular doesn't seem to know he's in a comedy, and director George Cuckor doesn't allow his ill-tempered behavior a respite; worse, the writers are so tough on Crawford that we end up caring more about him than was probably intended. Scene-stealing Holliday won the Best Actress Oscar, and she's half a delight; in the first two acts, her brittle witticisms and wide-eyed incredulousness are engaging, but once she smartens up there's nothing left for her to do but trail the men around. Holden doesn't do much except show up looking handsome; his pre-conceived character is just an outline, and Holden can't do much except be easy and charming. The jaunts to the usual D.C. sites have a faint whiff of superficiality (with Holliday's Billie getting fired up over seeing The Constitution), but at least the picture still has some comic drive. By the final act, the writing is too faithful to the play, wrapping things up in a stale, obvious fashion. Billie gets a sweet, funny send-off, but the film is a cut-and-paste job, with a smarter-than-thou sheen which leaves some dissatisfaction behind. **1/2 from ****
Review of Born Yesterday
