MovieChat Forums > Born Yesterday Discussion > I found this movie almost unbearable!

I found this movie almost unbearable!

posted 17 years ago by mptnla
14 replies | jump to latest

Broderick Crawford's bellowing and Judy Holiday's sqeaky high-pitched voice throughout the entire movie drove me bananas. The unnecessary scene where Bille and Harry play gin with Harry shouting and Billie singing almost caused me to turn off the film. I also didn't understand Paul's attraction (other than physical) to Billie. I watched this film only because Holiday won an Oscar, but would never be able to sit through it again. I found the performances to be like nails on a chalkboard and was quite dissapointed.

"This calls for a special blend of psychology...and extreme violence."

[–] celestey-1 17 years ago

I, on the other hand, found this movie absolutely delightful and have seen it many times. I especially like the gin rummy scene -- truly a classic. Judy Holliday was brilliant in the part of Billie, Broderick Crawford, perfect as the thug he portrayed, and William Holden masterful in how he unwittingly steps in to save the day. I'm sorry you found it disappointing.

[–] tseybert 10 years ago

Yeah, the gin rummy scene is hysterical. I DVRed Born Yesterday and watched it last night. (I've seen it before but it's been a while.) I deleted it when I was done, but all day I've been wishing I'd kept it one more day just to watch the card-playing scene.

When the original commenter said that it drove him crazy, I could only think: "Poor guy! He was obviously in the wrong movie!"

One of the things I love about Born Yesterday is that there's nothing like it. Is it comedy? Is it drama? Is it a Washington D.C. travelogue? A character study? A story about corruption?

I give it a "10" because it all comes together beautifully and competes with the two other great movies - Sunset Boulevard and All About Eve - in a really tough year. (Geez! I just realized Asphalt Jungle is the same year!)

Janet! Donkeys!

[–] PenTheater 17 years ago

Broderick Crawford's bellowing and Judy Holiday's sqeaky high-pitched voice throughout the entire movie drove me bananas

That and the fact that I said, Do I care about any of these people?
The answer was NO, so I don't know how it ended.

[–] 17 years ago

[deleted]

[–] PenTheater 17 years ago

You obviously know nothing about real acting.

No, with decades of movie watching, plays and other live performances - we know nothing. I wish someone had told us before, think of all the hours we wasted, and not to mention money. Why the hell couldn't we have had the QueenofCool teach us 45 years ago. It was Judy "Billie" Holiday this whole time!
GD.
Please add me to that ignore list.

[–] parisel 17 years ago

I had never seen this version until today and was so disappointed. It's unimaginable to me that Judy Holliday won an Oscar for this. All she did was whine and shriek and smirk. That smirk of hers was insufferable. Harry was over the top, but so was she. She was a caricature of the dumb blond. There was never a real person who came close to being like Billie. Ms Holliday may have been a wonderful woman, and certainly her early death was sad, but this performance was not Oscar worthy.

And when she got a little learning she be came so self righteous it was nauseating.

It was also unbelievable that a man like Paul would fall for her.

And please don't bother coming at me with the lame old chant that I know nothing about acting because I don't agree with you. I feel like the kid in the Emperor's New Clothes.

I guess it's like looking at clouds. You see one thing and I see another. Peace.

[–] BwlBoy 17 years ago

Gloria Swanson's failure to win the Best Actress Oscar that year has to be one of the greatest ever robberies in the history of the Academy Awards perhaps only matched by Judy Garland's failure to win for A Star is Born. Judy Holliday's performance was different but deeply irritating. Her performance was obviously used as a template for Jean Hagen's performance in Singin' In The Rain but even Hagen's performance is better than Holliday. Born Yesterday I found to be a hugely disappointing film.

[–] j_hughes2000 16 years ago

I just realized EXACTLY what I just wrote in the last post was already written by BwlBoy.

[–] j_hughes2000 16 years ago

The fact that Holliday's Billie beat Swanson's Norma and Davis' Margot is unimaginable. I finally got to see what they lost to and it is both disapointing and maddening. the only other oscar robbery as big as this is when judy garland lost for a star is born to GRACE KELLY!

[–] vicky_lc2001-1 11 years ago

I have to agree, I cannot believe that Holiday won an Oscar for this over Swanson's in Sunset Blvd.

[–] Trax-3 11 years ago

I don't think it's a very good movie, but Judy was by far the best thing about it so I don't get the attacks directed at her.

[–] jbwood421 16 years ago

This was the film that introduced me to Judy Holiday. I was already a big Holden fan, and I have to say, the first time I tried to watch this movie, I got about 15 minutes into it, and then erased it from my Tivo. Then, I gave it a second chance, and I absolutely loved it! Judy Holiday is an absolute gem in this movie, and every time she opens her mouth, I was laughing practically. Broderick Crawford gives a perfomance that is sometimes hard to watch, he is so crass, but that's the character! And William Holden is just good in about anything he does, so I would definitley have to recommend this movie.

"Do what I'm tellin' ya!" -Billie Dawn

[–] jackboot 16 years ago

Wow! I'm sorry to hear that so many people felt so negatively about this movie!

I just watched it, for the first time, and I thought it was terrific. I laughed out loud many times. I thought that George Cukor's hand was evident - there were some wonderfully subtle touches amidst all that blustery blow-hard carrying on by Harry and Billie.

Also, I grew up around DC, so it was great to see all the location shots! DC looked a little nicer back then. And no police state shakedowns to visit all those great landmarks. Try to get into the Capitol building today. I especially liked seeing the Watergate Concert near the Memorial Bridge, right about where the infamous and until recently named Watergate Hotel currently is.

But, as for the acting, considering the characters they were asked to play (I mean Harry and Billie), I thought they were actually quite masterful. Of course, given that Billie's screeching voice was not exactly easy on the ears. I got Harry as the ham fisted thug who always got things done his way. But I got her too. She was a caged canary and once armed with a little knowledge, she became dangerous to Harry. I think that maybe they were playing at the level that one might to a live theatre audience, where, in order for one to communicate things with the same intensity, one must ratchet everything up several notches. But it still worked for me.

Anyway, I've known women like Billie, when I lived in New York, believe it or not, they still exist, and I thought the movie worked well in all ways.

[–] glasshull 10 years ago

Yeah, I turned it off. People used to think boisterous and obnoxious was cool.