Garson Kanin
Garson Kanin was an influential American playwright, director, and screenwriter, best known for his hit play "Born Yesterday," which premiered on Broadway in 1946. The play, which addressed themes of political corruption and personal transformation, became a significant success, running for 1,642 performances and later adapted into a Hollywood film in 1950. Kanin's work often explored moral and ethical responsibilities, as exemplified by the character development of Billie Dawn, who evolves from a naive mistress to a socially aware individual. Despite the early success of "Born Yesterday," Kanin faced challenges in replicating that acclaim, as seen with his subsequent work "The Smile of the World," which closed after only five performances. However, he returned to Broadway success in 1960 with a musical adaptation of his novel "Do Re Mi." Kanin was also active in film, directing several movies before and during World War II, and collaborated with his wife, actress Ruth Gordon, on multiple film scripts. His contributions to theater and film have left a lasting legacy in American arts and culture.
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Garson Kanin
- Born: November 24, 1912
- Birthplace: Rochester, New York
- Died: March 13, 1999
- Place of death: New York, New York
Biography
Garson Kanin had the misfortune of succeeding too well too soon. After he was discharged from the U.S. Army at the end of World War II, he produced his first play, Born Yesterday, in 1946. It drew rave reviews and ran for 1,642 performances on Broadway.
No play could have been more appropriate for its time. Written and directed by Kanin, Born Yesterday deals with political corruption and influence peddling. Harry Brock, a junk dealer, attempts to bully the government. Much of his arcane activity is masked by having the name of his mistress, Billie Dawn, appear on the legal documents he needs to conduct his business. Dawn is the stereotypical dumb blonde, uneducated, inarticulate. This all changes when, with Brock’s blessing, Paul Verrall is hired to tutor her and to transform her into a socially acceptable lady. The rub is that in doing so, Verrall helps her understand the immorality of what she has been doing at Brock’s bidding. Now, instead of signing papers blindly, she reads what she is expected to sign and often declines to lend her name to the deceits that Brock is perpetrating. The transformation of Dawn is hilariously funny and results in the wholly justified downfall of the dishonest bully who was her lover. The play’s underlying and pervasive theme is that people have a responsibility to act ethically.
Born Yesterday was made into a Hollywood film in 1950, with the script written by Kanin and Albert Mannheimer; it was directed by George Cukor and starred Judy Holliday, William Holden, and Broderick Crawford. In 1956, Kanin wrote an adaptation of the play for television. Kanin had considerable previous experience working in film, having directed four Hollywood films before he entered military service in 1942, the year in which he married actress Ruth Gordon. During his years in the military, Kanin wrote and directed several films, including The True Glory (1945), the official film report of war in the European theater distributed by the Department of War.
Kanin followed Born Yesterday with a play that addressed some of the same issues. The Smile of the World, however, did not have the appeal, sense of purpose, or ring of authenticity of Born Yesterday and closed after five performances. Kanin did not have another Broadway hit until 1960, when a musical adaptation of his novel Do Re Mi, with lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolphe Green and music by Jule Styne, had a Broadway run of four hundred performances. Kanin’s remarkable productivity, however, included four film scripts and four more collaborative film scripts with his wife, Gordon.