MovieChat Forums > Born Yesterday Discussion > Broderick Crawford was Excellent

Broderick Crawford was Excellent

posted 9 years ago by PretoriaDZ
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Kind of a thankless part but watch how still he sits when he and Billie are playing cards, just watching her with a look of unbelief on his face as she titters and tats away to herself while rearranging her cards.

I too felt sorry for his character and his bewilderment when Billie leaves him. I know he is purported to have had somebody killed in the past but hey, I used to feel sorry for Tony Soprano sometimes when he couldn't get a handle on a relationship and reacted with a hurt look on his face. Even brutes can hurt. And if an actor can make me feel that even if his character is generally unlikable, that's good acting. Remember Humphrey Bogart in The Cain Mutiny when he starts in about the strawberries and then stops, realizing he sounds nutty? The captain was an unlikable character but I felt sorry for Bogie.

The character I found most unbelievable was Harry's lawyer.

This positively infantile preoccupation with bosoms!Terry-Thomas about US 1963.Hasnt changed much!

[–] HarlowMGM 9 years ago

He was outstanding - almost as hilarious as Judy but menacing and surprisingly vulnerable and sympathetic in moments. He's a riot in the scenes where he's determined to prove he's still smarter than Billie. He deserved at least an Oscar nomination though the studio might have pushed for him as Best Actor in a tough year (after all he had won it the previous year for ALL THE KING'S MEN) but he could have been in the supporting category since he's off screen for long periods of time. I like his work much better than George Sanders' smug bad guy in ALL ABOUT EVE who won that year in the supporting category.