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Born Yesterday Overview:

Born Yesterday (1950) was a Comedy - Drama Film directed by George Cukor and produced by S. Sylvan Simon.

SYNOPSIS

Holliday at her best as the unschooled girlfriend of a domineering scrap-iron tycoon who hires egghead Holden to tutor off the rough edges. Guess who falls in love? Based on Garson Kanin's Broadway play. Remade in 1993 with Melanie Griffith.

(Source: available at Amazon AMC Classic Movie Companion).

Born Yesterday was inducted into the National Film Registry in 2012.

Academy Awards 1950 --- Ceremony Number 23 (source: AMPAS)

AwardRecipientResult
Best ActressJudy HollidayWon
Best Costume DesignJean LouisNominated
Best DirectorGeorge CukorNominated
Best PictureColumbiaNominated
Best WritingAlbert MannheimerNominated
See More Oscar Winners

Born Yesterday BlogHub Articles:

Broderick Crawford, Judy Holiday, and William Holden in “Born Yesterday”

By Stephen Reginald on Feb 19, 2024 From Classic Movie Man

Broderick Crawford, Judy Holiday, and William Holden in “Born Yesterday” Born Yesterday (1950) is an American comedy directed by George Cukor and starring Broderick Crawford, Judy Holiday, and William Holden. Holiday recreated her role as Billie Dawn which she played on Broadway. Cr... Read full article

KNOWLEDGE IS POWER: The Subtle Messages of BORN YESTERDAY (1950)

By Lara on May 19, 2016 From Backlots

A few days ago, as I spent a sick afternoon at home, I was pleased to discover the delightful Born Yesterday (1950) playing on TCM. This is a movie that has always fascinated me–Judy Holliday’s performance as the dim-witted Billie Dawn won her an Oscar for the Best Actress of 1950, i... Read full article

Born Yesterday (1949)

By Beatrice on Jun 20, 2015 From Flickers in Time

Born Yesterday Directed by George Cukor Written by Albert Mannheimer from a play by Garson Kanin 1949/USA Columbia Pictures Corporation Repeat viewing/my DVD collection Billie Dawn: DOUBLE NEGATIVE! Right? Think what you will about the line-up for the 1949 Best Actress Oscars.  It is impossibl... Read full article

Born Yesterday (1950) (2)

on May 5, 2014 From Journeys in Classic Film

**This post is written as part of the Romantic Comedy Blogathon hosted by Backlots.  Be sure to head over after reading and check out the other participants.** The most dangerous thing to give a person is a book.  Or in this case the movie Born Yesterday.  A surface level analysis of George Cuko... Read full article

SUTS Blogathon: Born Yesterday (1950)

By Duke Mantee on Aug 20, 2013 From Spoilers

“For classic movie lovers, TCM’s annual Summer Under the Stars month-long programming event is like Christmas, the Oscars, the Super Bowl, and every Hollywood red carpet gala rolled into one. For 31 days, fans are treated to an embarrassment of cinematic riches – a collection of films feat... Read full article

See More Born Yesterday Articles

Born Yesterday Quotes:

Billie Dawn: Could have saved yourself the trouble. I don't read papers.
Paul Verrall: Never?
Billie Dawn: Yeah, once in a while the back part... the funnies.
Paul Verrall: I think you should. The, the front part... the not-so-funnies.
Billie Dawn: You an' your big numbers, you don' watch out, you'll be wearing one across yer chest!
Harry Brock: WHAT'S GOIN' ON AROUND HERE?
Jim Devery: A revolution.
Harry Brock: Shut up! You ain't gonna be tellin' nobody nothin' pretty soon!
Billie Dawn: DOUBLE NEGATIVE! Right?
Paul Verrall: Right.
Billie Dawn: How about the story of your life?
Paul Verrall: Oh no. Much too long... and mostly untrue.
See More Quotes from Born Yesterday
Born Yesterday Facts
To help facilitate shooting, George Cukor decided to rehearse Born Yesterday as if it were still a stage play. For two weeks, the cast worked on their lines while a construction crew built a 300-seat mini-theater within one of the studio's sound-stages. It was there that Judy Holliday, William Holden and Broderick Crawford gave six performances in front of a live audience so that Cukor could precision-time the pacing of the film's jokes.
To help build up Judy Holliday's image, particularly in the eyes of Columbia Pictures chief Harry Cohn, Katharine Hepburn deliberately leaked stories to the gossip columns suggesting that her performance in Adam's Rib was so good that it had stolen the spotlight from Hepburn and Spencer Tracy. This got Cohn's attention and Holliday won the part in Born Yesterday.
After Rita Hayworth put her career on hold due to her recent marriage to Prince Aly Khan, Harry Cohn was forced to recast the part of Billie Dawn. He considered a host of candidates rumored to have included Celeste Holm, Marie McDonald, Evelyn Keyes, Paulette Goddard, and Ida Lupino. He finally found the perfect Billie Dawn with the actress who had created the part 4 years before on Broadway.
The "teapot" referred to was "Teapot Dome Scandal", an unprecedented bribery scandal and investigation during the administration of President Warren G. Harding.
In his autobiography, Garson Kanin wrote that Harry Cohn paid the record $1 million for the films rights because he had heard that Kanin said he "wouldn't sell the rights to Harry Cohn for any amount - not even a million dollars."
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