Born Yesterday (film)

• Release Date: 1950
• Director(s): George Cukor
• Writer(s): Albert Mannheimer
• Principal Actors and Roles: Broderick Crawford (Harry Brock); William Holden (Paul Verrall); Judy Holliday (Emma 'Billie' Dawn); Howard St. John (Jim Devery)
• Book / Story Film Based On: Born Yesterday by Garson Kanin

The 1950 comedy film Born Yesterday was based on Garson Kanin’s play of the same name that premiered on Broadway in 1946. Interestingly, although the screenplay was credited on-screen to Albert Mannheimer, Kanin is the final author of the movie script. According to Kanin, director George Cukor felt the original screenplay was not capturing the essence of the play, and Cukor asked Kanin to rewrite it. For legal or contractual reasons he could not receive credit.

Also according to Kanin, the swinish antagonist of the play and film, Harry Brock, was based on the real head of Columbia Pictures, Harry Cohn. Yet Columbia Pictures happily produced and released the movie. Cohn may have recognized that Born Yesterday would quickly be lauded as one of the all-time great socially conscious comedies, one that raged against the nepotism and corruption of politicians while making the audience howl with laughter.

The play enjoyed a brief bidding war in Hollywood. But Kanin so disliked Cohn that he supposedly told his agent to offer the script to anyone but the Columbia Pictures head. He reputedly said he would not sell the play to Cohn for a million dollars. Ironically, that was the price that Cohn eventually paid, making Kanin’s script the highest priced ever purchased at that point.

Kanin himself considered the play a scathing indictment of the backhanded deals and self-serving machinations of politicians and businessmen in the United States. He said it was an exposé of everything he detested about Washington, DC, and he was convinced that no Hollywood studio would ever produce it. So he wrote a play. Five years later, it was a hugely successful movie.

Plot

A loutish junkyard tycoon named Harry Brock takes his uncultured, loud girlfriend, Emma "Billie" Dawn on a trip to Washington, DC. Also with them is Brock’s sleazy lawyer, Jim Devery. The purpose of the trip is to buy politicians—to influence votes that will impact Brock’s junk businesses. Devery wants the trip to also be a wedding/honeymoon outing for Brock and Billie for the simple expedient that a wife cannot be forced to testify against her husband.

While they are there, Brock becomes annoyed by Billie’s ignorance of social niceties and generally uncouth manner, the fact that his behavior is far worse notwithstanding. To give Billie some class Brock hires newspaperman Paul Verrall to tutor the young woman. Brock concentrates on corrupt politicians and leaves Billie to her lessons.

To even her own surprise, Billie is an outstanding pupil. She quickly learns about a wide range of subjects including art and literature, politics, history, and the law. Billie works hard and soon demonstrates a deeper intelligence than anyone had suspected in her. As she begins to acquire critical thinking skills and applies them to her own circumstances, she concludes that Brock is nothing but a cheap crook. She also begin to fall in love with her tutor, and he with her.

Billie’s new insights cause a problem for Brock. On the advice of Devery, Brock has signed over many of his assets to Billie in order to conceal them from the government. When he wants them back, she demurs. Billie holds Brock’s assets hostage in order to win her freedom from him. She and Paul get married and promise to return Brock’s property in stages, as long as he leaves them alone.

Significance

Born Yesterday is important for a number of reasons, and it was recognized for its significance at the time. The role of Billie launched Judy Holliday into stardom, gaining her a best actress Oscar and a Golden Globe for best actress in a musical or comedy for 1950. What is particularly interesting about the latter accolade is that Holliday was also nominated as best actress in a drama for the same role. She was also named best foreign actress in the 1952 Jussi Awards, Finland’s top movie awards. Her performance established the archetype for the "dumb blonde" character, but the most interesting aspect of the role is how Billie becomes progressively smarter throughout the movie. Her costumes become progressively more elegant and sophisticated as part of the transformation.

However, she was one of the last choices for the role, despite her success with the character on Broadway. Harry Cohn didn’t like her and consistently referred to her in despicable terms, almost exactly replicating the boorishness of the movie’s Harry Brock. Cohn wanted a half-dozen other players to take on the part instead. He wanted Rita Hayworth, Lucille Ball, Barbara Stanwyck, Gloria Grahame, and many others. Although she was too unknown for Cohn to consider her, even Marilyn Monroe was pitched for the role. He finally and reluctantly agreed to use Holliday. Ironically, the film was so successful that Cohn immediately started developing other movies to exploit the unique qualities Holliday brought to the role.

The film received nominations for four other Academy Awards: best costume design—black and white, best picture, best director, and best screenplay. It was also nominated for the Golden Lion award at the Venice Film Festival and named as the best-written American comedy from the Writers Guild of America.

Cukor was already very highly regarded, but Born Yesterday established him as the best "woman’s director" of the era and arguably of all time. The whole movie revolves around Holliday’s performance. The chemistry between Cukor and the star was so good, they made two more movies together, also with scripts by Kanin.

This is particularly interesting because in the "red-scare" days of the early 1950s Born Yesterday was attacked for its "political content" before it was released, largely because of Kanin’s liberal politics. Judy Holliday was accused of belonging to an organization that was a front for the Communist Party. Neither attack worked. Audiences loved the movie and made it the sixth-highest-grossing film of 1951 (it was released in December, 1950).

The Library of Congress selected Born Yesterday for preservation in the National Film Registry in 2012, and the American Film Institute ranked it twenty-fourth on its "100 Years . . . 100 Laughs" listing.

Awards and nominations

Won

• Academy Award (1950) Best Actress: Judy Holliday
• Golden Globe (1950) Best Motion Picture Actress (Musical or Comedy): Judy Holliday

Nominated

• Academy Award (1950) Best Picture
• Academy Award (1950) Best Director: George Cukor
• Academy Award (1950) Best Screenplay (Adapted): Albert Mannheimer
• Academy Award (1950) Best Costume Design (Black-and-White): Jean Louis
• Golden Globe (1950) Best Motion Picture (Drama)
• Golden Globe (1950) Best Director: George Cukor
• Golden Globe (1950) Best Motion Picture Actress (Drama): Judy Holliday

Bibliography

Austerlitz, Saul. Another Fine Mess: A History of American Film Comedy. Chicago: Chicago Review, 2010. Electronic, print.

Bernardoni, James. George Cukor: A Critical Study and Filmography. Jefferson: McFarland, 2013. Print.

"Biography of Garson Kanin." Garson Kanin: Writer & Director. TFT, 2012. Web. 5 Aug. 2015. <http://www.garsonkanin.com/>.

Carey, Gary. Judy Holliday: An Intimate Life Story. New York: Putnam, 1984. Print.

DiBarrista, Maria. Fast-Talking Dames. New Haven: Yale UP, 2003. Electronic, print.

McGilligan, Patrick. George Cukor: A Double Life. Minneapolis: U of Minnesota, 2013. Electronic, print.