Grade: C
Synopsis: A burly scrap-metal tycoon (Broderick Crawford) pays a Washington D.C. newsman (William Holden) to make his girlfriend (Judy Holliday) couth.
Born Yesterday is an easy enough ride, provided you don’t think too much about it.
This is Judy Holliday’s movie and it succeeds largely due to her performance. While she comes off as somewhat grating at first, she quickly warms you over with genuine charm and charisma.
Of course, it doesn’t hurt that the supporting players are so good. Broderick Crawford does a wonderful job playing a bear of a man who’s a crook and doesn’t even realize it, and William Holden is smooth as always as the newsman who opens Holliday’s character’s eyes. Amazingly though, Holden is the weak link here, as he’s somewhat miscast. Holden is inherently too tough and too cynical to inhabit his character, which would have been perfect for a younger James Stewart. Fortunately, Holden is so good you don’t realize this until the film’s long over.
Born Yesterday is something of a magic trick. The film opens grounded in a very real-world cynicism, then gradually morphs into a fantasy, with the ending being downright outlandish. That said, director George Cukor makes the change with remarkable subtly, so that, again, you don’t realize it until long after the film’s over.
As a postscript, fans of Bruce Timm’s Harley Quinn character from the various DC animated series will immediately recognize Judy Holliday’s performance as Arleen Sorkin’s vocal inspiration.
Bottom Line: With a great cast, Born Yesterday is an entertaining enough fantasy, providing you don’t think about it too much.
