Born Yesterday

When the woman opens her mouth the first time and yells, “What!” it’s a cross between a braying donkey and a fire engine siren. She’s a beautiful blond, but that voice, if you could call it that, will curdle your blood.Judy Holliday is the girlfriend of Broderick Crawford, a junkyard bigshot, who’s come to Washington, DC, to work out some “deals” with a few shady legislators. He and she are two of a kind, both coarse and uncivilized. The difference is that Crawford is crooked while Holliday is clueless. What a pair they make, as they sashay into the hotel with their dozen suitcases and flop themselves in the penthouse,e suite.A suave Congressman and wife are invited for tea and are shocked by Holliday’s boorish behavior. She’s an embarrassment, and she can easily jeopardize Crawford’s bribery plans. So he hires a smart and handsome journalist, William Holden, to give a crash course on culture. Well, scholar and student take one look at each other, and the sparks fly.Holliday makes the first move. “Sweet talk to me. I like it,” she tells him. Soon after that, “I got a yen for you.” Later she looks into his eyes, and both lean in for a long smooth kiss. Afterwards Holden puts on the breaks. “Things are complicated enough without complicating them further,” he mutters. Meanwhile he gives her books about Thomas Paine, Robert Ingersoll, and Jefferson and newspapers to read. It turns out Holliday is no dummy. She’s a whiz at gin rummy—there’s a hilarious scene—and she absorbs Holden’s lessons in art, music, poetry, and government, like a duck to the Potomac River.To enhance the book-learning, he takes her to the Capitol Rotunda, the Library of Congress, a Watergate concert, the Lincoln and Jefferson Memorials, and the National Gallery of Art. These tourist sites are magnificently filmed, and we get a mini-course in civics, taught by a charismatic teacher, in a setting (my town) never more beautiful.Holden plays Pygmalion to the girl’s growing understanding of government. Repeatedly he explains how tyranny differs from freedom. Eventually she gets it. When she discovers Crawford’s corrupt plans, she turns to Thomas Jefferson for help.Crawford and Holliday dazzle as the uncouth couple. Their acting was perfected, no doubt from playing the roles for months on stage. But Holden, never trained in the theater and learning the whole script in only 3 days, is equally terrific. He provides counterbalance to his co-stars, and it’s no surprise that his deep voice, good looks, and intelligent line-reading make him ideal for the role.This is a masterpiece by director George Cukor. Enjoy dreamy Holliday and dreamboat Holden as they upend the nation’s capitol!

Judy is truly the star of this picture. Her accolades are absolutely deserved. Well photographed, well scripted, it was a delight to view.

This is a great comedy starring Judy Holiday. So great, in fact Judy Holiday won the Oscar for her performance. The entire cast is perfect and each character plays perfectly off of each other. Judy Holiday plays Billie Dawn, who is portrayed as a a really ditzy blonde bombshell. Broderick Crawford plays her loud mouthed, husband, who literally pushes his weight around and wants his wife to appear intelligent and classy for a number of bigwigs he is trying to impress. The arguments between the two are brilliantly funny. ( The gin rummy scene is comedy at its best) Crawford never realizes how foolish and stupid HE sounds compared to everyone around him. Watching Holidays mannerisms, listening to her voice and sarcastic comebacks is amazing acting and not to be missed. William Holden is hired by Crawford to give Holiday a mental"makeover" in order to impress a group of bigwigs from Washington. He doesn't want his "dumb" wife to botch things up for all the big plans he has all his money and reputation (such as it is) riding on. The chemistry between Holden and Holiday is something to see. As always Bill Holden gives a great performance and lets Holiday shine. The screenplay is a work of art and in my humble opinion, you can not find movies made like this today. The dialogue is fast and furious and it is hard to imagine how much REAL work went into making a movie of this caliber. I've watched this movie three times in my life now and it just keeps getting better. This is not a goofy, stupid, funny movie. Born Yesterday is all class and true comedic bliss. One of my all time favorites from the 50's.

I do just love her, so it's a great story and it's so good to know we've come a long way baby from the times when treating women like this was the norm. Refreshing

Laughs, but with a heart, soul, and brain. Judy's performance is one for the ages, but every role is perfectly cast and brought to life, with great direction, pacing and camera work. Even if you typically avoid the black-and-whites of yesteryear, don't miss this.

My wife likes this series and we used to watch it on TV then it went out of service so now we have the series.

One of the main characters uses the words dame and broad a lot. This movie made me mad, sad and laugh all at once. Relax and enjoy.

The acting genius of Judy Holiday, William Holden and Broderick Crawford in this comedy-drama is superb. Nothing's changed in the DC political swamp- to date. This film is set in the 1950's;A blow hard, low-life (Broderick Crawford) who made his millions in JUNK arrives in DC to "buy" a Congressman -already lined -up with his hand out, and takes along his mistress, he recused from a chorus-line (Judy Holiday) with him. He feels she's not classy or educated enough to interact with politicians and their wives. He engages a newspaper reporter of distinction (William Holden) to create another 'Pygmalion' miracle.Holden gives her books to read, and as they traverse the capital, congress, she read the original document of our forefathers,he schools her on the greatness of our founding fathers, presidents, and what makes America special and why honest politics and politicians are important. Holden and Holiday's characters turn the table on Crawford's character- I'll say just this much more...you'll love this film if you're into the classics.It was a product of Hollywood when it was Pro-USA, social graces, decency and values and Hollywood was not ruled by communist liberal morons.

This production deserves a rating in excess of five stars.Eliza Doolittle (from Shaw's Pygmalion) character role, represented here by Billie Dawn and played with consummate skill by Judy Holliday, proves that for a film to succeed there is no need for incidental audio backdrop. Here the only music (apart from a short scene towards the end of the film) emanates from the story itself--Billie enjoys her "woofer" without regard to onlookers, no matter whomsoever they may be. But all this is to change under the tutelage of her mentor, Paul, played by William Holden, a journalist engaged by Billie's bullying, coarse self-made millionaire "partner" Harry Brock (Broderick Crawford--compare him in Human Desire  Human Desire [DVD ]).Take, for example, the scene some way into the film where Billie and Harry settle down to play gin rummy. Minutes pass in silence (apart from the clicking of the cards and other natural sounds), simply the action to entertain the mind--unique!Set in Washington DC, Billie does the rounds of the great institutions and even comes to terms with Beethoven in the Second Symphony! A fine blend of comedy and "corruption", with comedy proving the winner in this tale. Human Desire [DVD

Judy Holliday plays the dumb blonde mistress of a scrap iron dealer. She is taken to Washington and given a crash course on how to speak properly and conduct herself in a sophisticated way. She learns fast and soon outwits her scrap dealer lover (played by Broderick Crawford), and falls for her tutor (William Holden). This is the basis of the plot which was originally a stage play and adapted for the screen. The movie, directed by George Cukor, is a great comedy made so by the talent in this area of Judy Holliday. So good that she won the best actress Academy award (Oscar)for her performance. The film itself was nominated for best picture. This was her first film and sadly she made only a half dozen others due to her early death. If you enjoy early postwar, 'noirish' black and white movies you'll probably enjoy this one.

Loved this old movie. Judy Holliday is terrific as a mobsters moll...she is so funny...watch her outplaying Broderick Crawford at gin rummy...supposed to be a dumbblonde but she’s a quick learner.

Really enjoyed this film. It's well acted, Judy Holliday is excellent but so are both Brodrick Crawford and William Holden. The dialog crackles along, is funny and perceptive. Basically Judy plays a character called Billie who is 'dumb' blonde girlfriend of a crooked scrap metal dealer. For his own sharp reasons he decided that she needs to smarten up. Won't say anymore beyond if you enjoy a clever and witty film you could do a lot worst than this, a lot worse!

Born yesterday is a great but little known American classic. Set back and forgotten over time, this lovely film has been bought back from the dead with a superb remaster of both sound and picture.