Born Yesterday

Starring:Melanie Griffith, John Goodman, Don Johnson, Edward Herrmann, Max Perlich, Michael Ensign, Benjamin C. Bradlee, Sally Quinn, William Frankfather, Fred Dalton Thompson, Celeste Yarnall, Nora Dunn, Meg Wittner, William Forward, Mary Gordon Murray, Ted Raimi, Rondi Reed, Matthew Faison, Kate McGregor-Stewart, Arthur Leeds
Director: Luis Mandoki
Studio: Walt Disney Video
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com

Judy Holliday's Oscar-winning performance is just one of the reasons to watch this terrific 1950 comedy, which is equally acclaimed for its deliciously witty screenplay (based on Garson Kanin's long-running Broadway hit) and George Cukor's silky-smooth direction. Holliday plays Billie Dawn, the floozie fiancée of a junk-dealer millionaire (Broderick Crawford), who is trying to make a good impression among the Washington, D.C., politicos he's hoping to influence. To ensure that Billie gets properly "culturefied," the corrupt Crawford hires a D.C. journalist (William Holden) to give the seemingly dim-witted blonde a crash course in politics, history, literature, and--you guessed it--true love. Billie's not nearly as dumb as she seems, of course, and before long she's graduated from pawn to sassy queen on her husband's political chessboard.

Watching Born Yesterday is a crash course in itself--an object lesson in how low American screen comedy has fallen from these delirious heights. The movie's funny even when there's a pause in the golden dialogue, such as when Holliday tests Crawford's patience in a sublimely comedic round of gin rummy. There's not a single scene in which Holliday (reprising her Broadway role) isn't simply perfect, the cogs turning smoothly behind her dim expressions and coarsely high-pitched squeal. Suave as ever, Holden is her match made in heaven, and Crawford is a brute who's too stupid to be genuinely malevolent. Put 'em all together and you've got a timeless classic, so flawless that a 1993 remake was instantly doomed to pale comparisons. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews:

Born Yesterday.......2007-06-25

New York-born comedienne Holliday had her first real film break the prior year as the wronged wife in the Tracy-Hepburn comedy "Adam's Rib" (1949), and her solid supporting turn helped her clinch the role of Billie, a role she'd done on Broadway. With its witty screenplay and "Pygmalion"-like story, the result was pure gold, netting Holliday the Best Actress Oscar for 1950, and jump-starting her film career in earnest. Broderick is wonderfully crude as her pre-occupied husband, and Holden performs the unheralded job of straight man with finesse. And Judy is fantastic. Smoothly paced comedy from master George Cukor.

Another classic to love.......2007-04-02

I remember seeing this film when I was 12 or so with my Mom. It left an impression and I knew I would have to add this to my classic movie collection. How I enjoyed watching Judy Holliday's performance, she was unique with a wonderful sense of comedic timing. Anyone who collects classic comedies should add this to the list.

What Learning Will Do to You.......2007-04-02

Born Yesterday begins with a narcissistic junk dealer Harry Brock (Broderick Crawford) who is planning a major merger with his company to make loads of money. He uses his dizzy girlfriend Billie (Judy Holliday) as a middleman, though he really controls everything she "owns." She is just content to accept his lavish gifts and be pretty. That is until Paul(William Holden) comes along. He is hired by Harry to educate Billie; she embarasses him in front of sophisticated company. In the process, she learns just how corrupt her fiancee is and why her father has disowned her. She also develops eyes for her teacher.

Holliday won the Oscar for her performance in this film against such professionals as Bette Davis and Gloria Swanson. Indeed, her performance is wonderful. One can watch her character transform before one's eyes from a gold digging chorus girl to an intelligent woman. Her relationship with Holden is believable and powerful. In fact, all of the roles are well developed. The dialogue is conversational but intelligent, making this a very worthwhile film.

Great Performance.......2006-12-04

I'm not a big Judy Holliday fan. She seems to have played the ditzy but smart squeaky-voice role over and over. This said, Born Yesterday is easily her best movie. The script is smart and sweet and she and William Holden have a natural, believable screen chemistry. The performances are excellent as is the Pygmalion like transformation of Holliday's character from mouse to lionness. A great comedy of manners and morality.

A Revival of Sorts........2006-09-11

This original Oscar-winning movie starring Judy Holliday was clever, witty and wise. It was shown on TCM with Nick Clooney guiding us with his winning ways into the mood of the Forties. He couldn't have seen the original at the theaters, either, as he and I are the same age, so I know I didn't see it when I was only ten. I thought the moll was ditzy and pretty dumb with a silly-sounding voice. In Pulaski, Nate Street from Hickman County, a radio personality who liked to be thought of as a drama critic as he always attended dress rehearsal of the college plays, voiced his like for this crazy dame. So, I thought that if he thought she was so good, as she was in "Bells Are Ringing," maybe he was right again.

Today, I saw a revival of "Born Yesterday" with my favorite local actor as the genius, Paul Verrall. He was splendid as I expected, though he did not have the Washington, D.C. accent. The whole performance was professionally done at the Clarence Brown Theater here. Previously, I was lucky to have stumbled into a performance in which Terry Weber was a one-man play about Abraham Lincoln/John Wilkes Booth and have never enjoyed a performance of any play more. He has an unusual talent to be serious, musical, and sometimes funny.

The play centers around political corruption in which Billie becomes unknowingly involved. That is, until Paul tutors her on proper ways of thinking and talking so as to 'fit in.' Judy played to the camera and acted as a silly, dumb blonde. Today, the actress was unusually clever in adopting Judy's unique way of speaking but showing how easy it is to change practically overnight into an educated woman who can fall in love and not just be used by a rich man. She was smart enough to take her furs when she left him. Broaderick Crawford, known for "Highway Patrol" on television, could not have been as brutal as Neil Friedman from Chicago as Harry Brock. He didn't even use his Chicago accent. That was good acting to say the least. Terry was the star of this revival of sorts, a revolution against violence and money laundering of any kind.

Average customer rating:

One of my favorites!!! -- Like it better than the original.
Melanie Griffith/Don Johnson = Fun!
Simply Irresistible
VERY WATCHABLE DESPITE THE AIRHEAD BLONDE CLICHE..
I never saw the original, version, so I loved it.

Born Yesterday
Starring: Melanie Griffith , John Goodman , Don Johnson , Edward Herrmann , and Max Perlich
Director: Luis Mandoki
Manufacturer: Walt Disney Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B00008977E
Release Date: 2003-03-04

Description

Academy Award(R)-nominee Melanie Griffith (Best Actress, 1989 -- WORKING GIRL) stars as Billie Dawn, a Las Vegas showgirl whose lack of sophistication embarrasses her Washington, D.C., millionaire boyfriend (John Goodman -- THE BABE). He, in turn, hires a handsome and well-educated journalist (Don Johnson -- GUILTY AS SIN) to help smarten her up. In no time at all, the millionaire gets much more than he bargains for! And as Billie blossoms into an independent thinker, sparks fly as she uses her learning to turn the nation's capital upside down! You're sure to love BORN YESTERDAY -- the hilariously delightful comedy hit that proves you should never underestimate the power of an underestimated woman!

Customer Reviews:

One of my favorites!!! -- Like it better than the original........2007-05-31

Melanie Griffith is one of my favorite Bombshells. I think she was made for this role & is a role model for being sexy! I rented the original film about 6 months ago. I found the character, that Judy Holliday played, didn't elicit any sympathy from me & I didn't really like her character as a person. One thing I did love discovering, when I watched the original, was that the uncouth but cute "Whaaaaaat?!!!!!!" screamed by Billie Dawn, was from the original movie. Melanie's Billie Dawn makes you want her to succeed & makes you feel for her plight of being uneducated amongst the DC circle. Plus I just love most of Bille Dawn's outfits in this film. I watch this movie when I'm feeling a little flustered, overwhelmed & stupid -- I watch Billie struggle all over again & succeed all over again & it makes me feel like I can do what I set out to do. The movie even inspired me to get a copy of Democracy in America!

Melanie Griffith/Don Johnson = Fun!.......2007-05-06

This 1993 remake of the 1950 film "Born Yesterday" is full of mediocre acting and a contrived plot but the charm of Melanie's character and the chemistry with Don Johnson make it a fun bit of fluff you'll find yourself watching over and over.

Simply Irresistible.......2007-04-12

Melanie Griffith's charm and acting prowess is simply irresistible and like that famous Robert Palmer song, she is gonna have to face it she's addicted to love. With Don Johnson, of all people!

So what do you get when you throw John Goodman, Melanie Griffith, and the effeminately voiced Don Johnson into a bowl, simmer on high for about 2 hours, and then stir it all up? You get fun stew, that's what you get, and "Born Yesterday" is the rare exception of a remake that bests the original by leaps and bounds.

If you haven't seen it, then you really should drop everything that you're doing right now and buy "Born Yesterday." Don't rent it. Renting is for suckas. Besides, you'll probably rent it, think it's the most incredible movie of all time, and then kick yourself because you could have just have bought it to begin with. So my advice, friend, is spare the self-kicking and just plunk down the $79.00 or however much DVDs cost (I don't know how much they go for these days, because I purchase all my DVDs on the streets while they're still in theaters. As illegal bootlegs--that's how I buy them all. It's more efficient that way).

Anyway, in this movie Melanie Griffith is a fish-out-of-water, similar to when she was a Working Girl fish-out-of-water, or when she was a Shining Through fish-out-of-water, but completely dissimilar to when she was a Bonfire of the Vanities fish-out-of-water. She injects into every character she plays, thankfully, that wonderfully crispy and fun-loving voice that is only slightly deeper than Don Johnson's.

You will only not like this movie if your movie taste is bad or if you are Antonio Banderas. All others can rejoice!

VERY WATCHABLE DESPITE THE AIRHEAD BLONDE CLICHE.........2004-06-03

It's difficult for me to tell which group this light film satirizes more: bimbo blondes (our protagonist blonde miraculously amasses sparkling intellect through avid reading of a dictionary and the Constitution) or boorish politicians.

Because the new film can't really tell audiences anything about the idiocy of politics that they don't already know, I'd say Born Yesterday is principally about the blonde's enlightenment and her humiliation of her pompous politician husband.

Overall it is a fairly inoffensive that lesirely goes about its comic business. I've seen it a couple of times and finished it on both occasions. And it's in colour (to counter-argue the whole Original vs New debate that other reviewers seem to be fascinated with).

Recommended rental for sure.

I never saw the original, version, so I loved it........2004-05-13

John Goodman and Melanie Griffith played their parts suberbly.

This is about a millionaire scrap metal tycoon who turns real estate mogul (John Goodman) whose clueless girlfriend (Melanie Griffith) finds herself without a clue in the Washington-Merrie-Go-Round. So her boyfriend (Goodman) hires Paul Verrall (Don Hohnson) to help her with the special skills, small talk, etc.

A problem: boyfriend Goodman, like almost everyone else, as the story demonstrates, are not nearly as smart as they lead everyone else to believe, like the reporter for NPR who pretends to have read de Toqueville, but has not, as Griffith discovers. It is all an act, designed to impress others.

The script is so true to life, full of flakes and phonies, that it is almost laughable.

A great movie, and one you will probably remember for a long time. It shows how we all get bullied by the people with real power over us. Very entertaining, too.

Joseph (Joe) Pierre

author of Handguns and Freedom...their care and mainenance
and other books

Amazon.com

Customer Reviews:

Born Yesterday.......2007-06-25

Another classic to love.......2007-04-02

What Learning Will Do to You.......2007-04-02

Great Performance.......2006-12-04

A Revival of Sorts........2006-09-11

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