I’m not usually a fan of shrill, but loud ex-showgirl Billy Dawn in the 1950 version of Born Yesterday is actually a joy to behold. In the deft hands of Judy Holliday, original playwright Garson Kanin and screenwriter Albert Mannheimer, Billy Dawn has depth that allows you to be patient with her decibel level — and even enjoy it.

In this Pygmalian-like story, Billy is the kept woman of rich man Harry Brock, played by Broderick Crawford. Both are fine with that arrangement until Harry’s business dealings as a well-to-do junk dealer take him to Washington so he can do a little influence peddling and buy a few national officials. As always, Billy comes along. But for the first time in their long relationship, she’s perceived as a liability because her lack of polish makes her stand out in stuffy Washington D.C.

Enter William Holden in the form of Paul Verrall, a newspaper reporter whom Harry hires to educate Billy and “smarten her up a little.” Engaging Verrall to spend so much time with Billy was a little like letting the fox into the hen house, because as a reporter he was well aware of Harry’s slimy reasons for being in Washington. But he doesn’t flat-out warn Billy about Harry. Instead, Billy sees the light for herself as the story unfolds. And that light does more than educate her about who she’s been living with; it shines on everyone around her and exposes their motives — for good or for bad.

There was a lot of controversy surrounding the casting of Born Yesterday. Although Holliday played the role for four years on Broadway to rave reviews, Columbia head Harry Cohn thought she was too fat for the movies. He tried to give the film role to Rita Hayworth but she knew it wasn’t right for her. Using the excuse that she wanted to spend time with her new husband Prince Aly Kahn, she turned it down. Cohn then tried to draft Celeste Holm, Lucille Ball, Marie McDonald, Shelly Winters, Evelyn Keyes, Paulette Goddard, Ida Lupino and Lana Turner but none of them were right for the job. In the end, he returned to Holliday and asked her to reprise the part she had already perfected on Broadway.

As a result of many years of embodying Billy Dawn, even Holliday’s most subtle movements are perfect: from the way she wiggled her pinky while tallying her cards after beating Harry at gin rummy, to the way she screamed, “W-h-a-a-a-a-a-a-t?” like a bleating goat across Harry’s expensive suite and to the duck noise she made that sounded completely natural, even though it was coming out of a beautiful woman’s mouth.

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And Holliday wasn’t the only one who perfected her role. Director George Cukor actually had the actors rehearse the script like a play. They even gave six performances in front of live audiences so they could hone the timing of the jokes. This relentless pursuit of excellence resulted in Oscar nominations for Best Director, Best Writing, Screenplay, Best Picture and Best Costume Design, and a Best Actress Oscar and Golden Globe for Judy Holliday. Her win was quite a feat, because she was up against Anne Baxter and Bette Davis for All About Eve, Eleanor Parker for Caged and Gloria Swanson for Sunset Blvd.

Because the original version of Born Yesterday was crafted with such distinction, it was brave of Melanie Griffith to try to recreate the role of Billy Dawn in 1993. But to my surprise, Melanie carved out her own unique portayal, while managing to maintain the best aspects of the character Judy Holliday established. In my opinion, that makes both versions of Born Yesterday well worth the popcorn.

Other Tricky Movie Trivia classic movie reviews:
To Kill a Mockingbird
My Man Godfrey
Now, Voyager
The Enchanted Cottage
All About Eve

Image via Wikipedia

Bette Davis was named #2 on The Greatest Screen Legends actress list by the American Film Institute and the 10th Greatest Movie Star of all time by Entertainment Weekly not only because she was a great actress, but also because she knew how to pick good parts.

Below are famous movie quotes from 10 indelible Bette Davis characters. See how many of the quotes you can match with the movies!

In which movies did a Bette Davis character say:

1. “Get outta here, Luke Standish! You smirkin’ Judas!”

2. “I didn’t bring your breakfast, because you didn’t eat your din-din!”

3. “I find one should never look for admirers while at the same time one is falling to bits.”

4. “I didn’t want to be born. You didn’t want me to be born either. It was a calamity on both sides.”

5. “I’ll admit I may have seen better days, but I’m still not to be had for the price of a cocktail, like a salted peanut.”

6. “Sherry, the next time you do NOT want to see anybody, just let me know, and I’ll usher them right in.”

7. “I think I’ll have a large order of prognosis negative!”

8. “This is 1852 dumplin’, 1852, not the Dark Ages. Girls don’t have to simper around in white just because they’re not married.”

9. “Good riddance to bad rubbish.”

10. “You’re going to have a big wedding whether you like it or not! And if you don’t like it, you don’t have to come!”

Scroll down to see the answers.

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Answers

1. The character Charlotte Hollis said, “Get outta here, Luke Standish! You smirkin’ Judas!” in Hush… Hush, Sweet Charlotte.

2. The character Baby Jane Hudson said, “I didn’t bring your breakfast, because you didn’t eat your din-din!” in Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?

3. The character Fanny Trellis Skeffington said, “I find one should never look for admirers while at the same time one is falling to bits.” in Mr. Skeffington.

4. The character Charlotte Vale said, “I didn’t want to be born. You didn’t want me to be born either. It was a calamity on both sides.” in Now, Voyager.

5. The character Margo Channing said, “I’ll admit I may have seen better days, but I’m still not to be had for the price of a cocktail, like a salted peanut.” in All About Eve.

6. The character Maggie Cutler said, “Sherry, the next time you do NOT want to see anybody, just let me know, and I’ll usher them right in.” in The Man Who Came to Dinner.

7. The character Judith Traherne said, “I think I’ll have a large order of prognosis negative!” in Dark Victory.

8. The character Julie Marsden said, “This is 1852 dumplin’, 1852, not the Dark Ages. Girls don’t have to simper around in white just because they’re not married.” in Jezebel.

9. The character Mildred Rogers said, “Good riddance to bad rubbish.” in Of Human Bondage.

10. The character Agnes Hurley said, “You’re going to have a big wedding whether you like it or not!

If you like Bette Davis, you might also enjoy these Tricky Movie Trivia movie reviews:

Now, Voyager
All About Eve

Source: Wikipedia

I have to say, though; I don’t get it. My take is that it’s a movie with greatness at its heart with lots of fluffy show-biz-type stuff covering it up. The fluffiness comes mostly from a stellar cast that for some reason thought campy would play better than sincere. Many of the characters vamp instead of speak in a direct manner and whine instead of interact, which grows old after just a few minutes. This came as a surprise to me because Miss Bette Davis (along with everyone else in All About Eve) obviously can act. Just one example of that is Now, Voyager, which features BD at her most subtle best.

The rest of the fluff comes from a script that takes itself just a little too seriously. This was another surprise. According to the archival interviews, Eve was the only script in which Davis — famous for angering writers and producers by rewriting scripts — never changed a word because she felt it couldn’t be improved.

Having said all that, I hope I haven’t completely poisoned you against All About Eve. There is some witty dialog, and the themes in the movie are just as timely and worthwhile today as they were in 1950. In fact, you could even say the character of Eve is a timeless icon. Throughout the movie, she worms her way into everyone’s hearts, smiling while she stealthily scratches and claws her way to the top. Sycophantic and obsessed, Eve brought herself from waiting every night by the stage door of the theater where her idol Margo Channing stars in a hit play to finally eclipsing the object of her affection. It reminded me a lot of the time I spent in corporate America.

Without giving away the ending, I’ll tell you that it all works out as the old “what comes around goes around” kicks in for Dear Eve. The ending is actually where the script comes to life for me. There’s an ominous quality to it because we know justice is at hand. I couldn’t help having a Cheshire cat grin as the film reached its conclusion because I knew Eve was going to get a taste of her own medicine — even if it was only going to be off-camera. Whatever the movie’s flaws, that fact actually made it worth the popcorn to me.

Movie trivia from All About Eve

• Tallulah Bankhead, Susan Hayward, Marlene Dietrich, Claudette Colbert, Ingrid Bergman and Gertrude Lawrence were all considered for the part of Margo Channing before Darryl F. Zanuck hired Bette Davis.
• According to the casting director’s list, Ronald Reagan and Nancy Davis (eventually, Mrs. Reagan) were considered for the roles of Bill Sampson and Eve Harrington.
• Bette Davis was in the process of breaking up with husband William Sherry while she was making All About Eve. Her raspy voice in the film is due a burst blood vessel in her throat from screaming at her soon-to-be-ex-husband. Director Joseph L. Mankiewicz liked the quality it gave her voice so he encouraged Davis not to try to change it.
• Zsa Zsa Gabor kept coming to the set because she was jealous of her husband George Sanders’ scenes with Marilyn Monroe.
• Bette Davis fell in love with co-star Gary Merrill while shooting All About Eve. They married in July 1950, which was just a few weeks after filming wrapped. They eventually divorced years later.

Other Tricky Movie Trivia classic movie reviews:

• To Kill a Mockingbird
• My Man Godfrey
• Now, Voyager
• The Enchanted Cottage
• Born Yesterday

You might also be interested in our trivia quiz about famous movie quotes from Bette Davis movies.