MovieChat Forums > Born Yesterday Discussion > Ju-dy, Ju-dy, Ju-dy!! She Deserved That...

Ju-dy, Ju-dy, Ju-dy!! She Deserved That Oscar

posted 20 years ago by csu16387
42 replies | jump to latest

My personal pick for Best Actress would have been Gloria Swanson in Sunset Boulevard. After seeing Sunset Boulevard and All About Eve for the first time a while back, I had to check to see who won between Gloria or Bette Davis. To my complete surprise it was Judy Holliday in Born Yesterday. I could not believe how anyone could have beat those actresses for their superb performances. I've been wanting to see Born Yesterday for a long time and have finally seen it. Judy earned and deserved that Academy Award, IMHO. She plays her role so well with her perfect comedic timing. The last half-hour of the film is all Judy. Other great moments were when she's playing gin with Broderick Crawford, her first kiss with William Holden, that hilarious line when she replies to what a peninsula is, and many others. I loved her voice and accent as well. I wonder if Jean Hagen studied Judy's voice for Singin' in the Rain?

Sadly, this was only my second film I've seen Judy Holliday in. After watching this, I will definitely plan to see more of her films.

Other comments? Do you think Judy Holliday deserved her Oscar for Born Yesterday?

"Dry your eyes baby, it's out of character."

[–] lucas_woodstock 19 years ago

I didn't see Born Yesterday, but I tend to be very skeptical about it, since Davis, Swanson and Baxter were beyond perfect!! They should become saints. Academy does these little twisted tricks giving awards to people/movies that are hardly remembered later [and in my opinion not always the best among the nods] such as this case [I doubt that aside the cinema-freaks like us someone else remembers Born Yesterday ever existed], or: Halle Berry in 2001, Swank's two Oscars, Million Dollar Baby in 2004 and even Crash this year.

[–] lucas_woodstock 19 years ago

Ohh ok, I finally saw it this weekend and oh my, Judy is marvelous!!! She's beyond adorable!! Her timing is genius and that voice!! I LMAO with her infamous first line; it's so dang funny how in the 1st 10 minutes or more of movie she doesn't say a thing and her first line is a loud, eloquent and squeaky "WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!"!!! Lol...sorry folks, I got a bit carried away. That scene when Harry drags Mr Hedges to the living-room and she's listening to the radio and singing-along the song is so funny! Every time I remember it I laugh hard.

But alright folks, the film itself is very cute, sweet and with a deep message about America and Western societies. I totally loved Judy Holliday in it, but Davis [my personal pick for that year] or even Swason were really robbed, because no matter how lovely and outstanding Judy's performance in Born Yesterday was, she could never overcome nor Davis, nor Swason neither Baxter that year.

[–] LittleLotte815 18 years ago

I personally haven't seen Bette Davis in anything, but that's twice now I've heard that she was pretty hammy in All About Eve. And while Gloria Swanson was GREAT in Sunset Blvd., I think Judy deserved it because not only did the role of Billie require good dramatic acting (as did the role of Norma Desmond), it also required a lot of comedic timing, which is harder to get down than drama. Judy had the perfect combination of both, and that's why I think she deserved it. Although I agree with what someone posted before: they probably should have given out a triple Oscar that year.

I never did it either. I'm not a nymphomaniac, I'm a compulsive liar.

[–] ladylavende 18 years ago

What a great year for the Best Actress category. It kind of makes this year look really pathetic.

http://www.imdb.com/mymovies/list?l=8093247

[–] Liza-19 18 years ago

What a great year for the Best Actress category. It kind of makes this year look really pathetic.

LOL, you mean with Helen Mirren and... um... wait, I forget, is anyone else nominated this year? ;)

I don't care about money. I just want to be wonderful. - Marilyn Monroe

[–] Liza-19 18 years ago

I don't envy the Academy voters in 1950. They had a really tough time with Best Picture, and especially Best Actress. Honestly, I don't know who I would have voted for. I think I would have been in a tie between Anne Baxter and Gloria Swanson. Judy Holliday did a great job, and any other year I would have voted for her - but her competition was HARD. Did Judy deserve the Oscar? Yes, definately. Did she deserve it over the other nominees that year? I really don't know.

The only other year I can think of that had such a tight Best Actress race was 1945. Gene Tierney gave the best performance of her life that year in Leave Her to Heaven, Jennifer Jones was magnificent in Love Letters, Ingrid Bergman was nominated that year too, and it went to Joan Crawford in Mildred Pierce. That's another case where she deserved her award, but I don't think she was better than her fellow nominees.

I don't care about money. I just want to be wonderful. - Marilyn Monroe

[–] Oliver_Alla 18 years ago

Yes, Judy deserved that Oscar, but Bette Davis and Gloria Swanson deserve it too. They all three were great in their parts. Anyway, I would gave that Oscar to Bette Davis.

[–] jrbyrne 17 years ago

it's on tcm right now....kind of a spry & charming performace - however, not too realisitic. in my book, there's really no comparision between her and bette davis, who i think should have won it hands down. too bad there are some years that are overloaded w terrific work....while other years - the compeittion is medicore the winner is nothing too special - ala louise fletcher, Helen Hunt, Reese Witherspoon. reese was ok....but if she were pitted against mary tyler moore in ordinary people, kathleen turner in peggy sue got married, sisssy spacek in in the bedroom, diane keaton in somethings gotta give - reese would have been blown away.

[–] Isaac5855 18 years ago

I have to admit that if I had been giving out the Oscar that year, it would have gone to Bette Davis, but with her and Baxter nominated for the same film and Swanson also nominated for SUNSET BOULEVARD, it doesn't surprise me that Holliday snuck in there and won...and for a comedy too! One of the few Best Actress Oscars given for a performance in a comedy but when I finally saw the film, I could not deny that Holliday's performance in this film was nothing short of genius.

[–] koolduk 18 years ago

first off... oh yeah, she so deserved that oscar - despite a fine performance from broderick crawford, the film is carried squarely on her shoulders. as regards jean hagen's role in sinin' in the rain... comden and green, who wrote singin' in the rain, had been friends with holliday going back to the 30's. also, jean hagen briefly played billie dawn in one of the road show versions of born yesterday. so, probably safe to say that there was a lot of influence on the lina lamont character from billie dawn.

notorious quote? nice.

[–] Isaac5855 18 years ago

I still think Jean Hagen was robbed of an Oscar for SINGIN IN THE RAIN.

[–] Frengers 18 years ago

I would have to pick Gloria Swanson's legendary Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard, although it's a very close tie between her and Bette Davis' magnificent Margo Channing in All About Eve. In fact I think Eve may be Bette's greatest performance ever. A very tough contest between those two. Of course, they cancelled each other out at the Oscars, which is no surprise.

[–] Harold_Robbins 18 years ago

I've just watched BORN YESTERDAY again for the first time in many years, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Did Holliday deserve that Oscar? Yes, she did - it's a terrific performance - it's just that some people feel that Holliday's win (for a definitive performance) robbed Gloria Swanson and/or Bette Davis of a win for their definitive performance - as has been mentioned, Academy voters had a tough job that year. Personally, I'm a great admirer of all three performances, and it's really hard to pick one over the others without feeling somewhat disloyal. For many people Holliday's win has always had a little cloud over it, for which she's certainly not to blame: she did her best work and was rewarded for it.

Did actors who created a role on stage have an advantage over actors creating a role from scratch for a film? There are those (including some actors) who think so - I'm planning to go through the Oscar nominees and winners to see how many were nominated for recreating roles they'd played on the stage, and how many of those nominations resulted in wins. Thank goodness for Charles Matthews' book OSCAR A TO Z, which will make it very easy to accomplish this through 1994!

"I don't use a pen: I write with a goose quill dipped in venom!"---W. Lydecker

[–] Tessie2004 18 years ago

I love your siggy quote. One of the best films ever.

"Tessie" is the Royal Rooters rally cry.
"Tessie" is the tune they always sung.

[–] bjnevin 17 years ago

Though so many people say that she robbed Bette Davis and Gloria Swanson of the Oscar, I feel that Judy Holliday deserved Best Actress- I'm not saying that Davis or Swanson didn't, they certainly did too with their career-defining roles. I'm glad, however, that her performance was not overlooked. Unfortunately people often have a Citizen Kane/How Green Was My Valley bash at her performance before they even see the film.

I totally enjoyed her performance (just check out that voice!) and will glad to watch it again!

[–] dinasztie13 16 years ago

Judy... Well... Let me say this film mostly worked because Judy was so wonderful and flawless. She richly deserved the Golden Globe for the Best Actress in a Comedy, but an Oscar? Her competiton was quite strong, Gloria Swanson and Bette Davis were brilliant as the aging divas. I feel the main reason that neither of them won was that their performances seem quite similar if you don't watch them carefully. But still... They were equally brilliant, and both should have won. In 1951 I would have surely voted for Gloria Swanson. The second is Bette and Judy is only the third. But they are ALL outstanding.

[–] netshopper-2 15 years ago

I have to agree. Both Swanson and Davis delivered tour de force performances. Holliday seems to have won by the votes splitting. She was good but not on the level of the other two.

[–] TommyPman 14 years ago

I just saw this movie for the first time and I thought Judy was excellent, one of the best comedic perfprmances I have ever seen. I think she did deserve her oscar for this role, I thought she was better than Gloria Swanson and though I have never seen "All About Eve" I still believe I would feel the same way. My experience w/ Bette Davis is that she has a tendency to over act and in my opinion comedy is much harder to pull off than drama and Judy did it impecabbly in this movie.

Guns don't kill people, metaphors kill people!

[–] TheManInOil 13 years ago

Sunset Blvd is one of my 10 favorite films. Bette Davis is my favorite actress.

I don't begrudge Judy Holliday a bit. I don't think she was better than the others but she was in the same league. It could have gone any way and I'd be satisfied.

She carried this film, outshining talented co-stars and making it her own.

"I'll book you. I'll book you on something. I'll find something in the book to book you on."

[–] mforum-1 11 years ago

I was stunned to recently read that Judy Holliday had an I.Q. of 172 which possibly makes her the smartest actress in film history. She often said that it took a lot of smarts to convince people that her characters were stupid.

I find it fascinating that a woman with a genius IQ was so good at portraying dumb characters.

[–] Ethereal-Cloud 11 years ago

She always seemed to have a little gleam in her eye to let the audience know she was a whole lot sharper than she was letting on, especially in her roll on 'Solid Gold Cadillac'.

[–] 11 years ago

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[–] HarlowMGM 9 years ago

Completely agree with you, Swanson's also my choice for the best of the trio but certainly Holliday is superb and a very strong second and deserved an Oscar for a work. The hardcore fans of Swanson or Bette Davis just cannot accept the fact that a good many people feel Judy's work is not only on that level but even superior. In fact, her work is easily more rich and complicated than Bette Davis' cool but cold Margo in ALL ABOUT EVE which I don't feel holds up as well as her best Warner Bros. work but it was a big comeback for her in 1950, as SUNSET BLVD was for Swanson, so their fans still can't get over this win.