There were moments, in Born Yesterday, when Judy Holliday reminded me of Lucille Ball doing her famous hair-brained TV character--but doing a better job of that kind of funny, I thought. In black-and-white, there are some physical resemblances between the two, but Holliday's comedy in this picture is nuanced, rather than milked. It's a surprise, but a nice one, to read that she beat out two famous performers in two dramatic films--Sunset Boulevard and All About Eve--to take Best Actress Oscar for this comic role.
Holliday and Broderick Crawford's "funny" voices--perpetually raised and in a key of harsh could have been awful, but they remain hilarious from front to finish. I admired how the script and the director avoided some obvious, easy to imagine pitfalls with this story arc. Holliday's character may have an intellectual and moral awakening, but she's still swapping loud brash repartee with her Harry all the way through.
At points, this picture made me think of some of my favourite French films in which minor or unglamorous characters, who would occupy cinematic bit parts in most movies are pushed into the spotlight for a closer look. Born Yesterday engaged in that kind of affectionate recasting and gave these actors room to strut their classic best.
Holliday and Broderick Crawford's "funny" voices--perpetually raised and in a key of harsh could have been awful, but they remain hilarious from front to finish. I admired how the script and the director avoided some obvious, easy to imagine pitfalls with this story arc. Holliday's character may have an intellectual and moral awakening, but she's still swapping loud brash repartee with her Harry all the way through.
At points, this picture made me think of some of my favourite French films in which minor or unglamorous characters, who would occupy cinematic bit parts in most movies are pushed into the spotlight for a closer look. Born Yesterday engaged in that kind of affectionate recasting and gave these actors room to strut their classic best.