It Should Happen to You

A lonely women feeling insignificant rents a giant billboard in the high traffic locale of Columbus Circle to gain notoriety. That's the premise of 'It Should Happen To You'. Best known for being Jack Lemmon's first film (he would go on to win a supporting Oscar for 'Mr. Roberts' in 1956 - a mere two years later) and also starring a dashing Peter Lawford, mid career and recently released from his MGM contract, this Judy Hollliday rom com (she won an Oscar for 'Born Yesterday' in 1951) revolves around the pursuit and consequence of sudden dubiously acquired fame. Sound familiar? It's relatable enough, but instead of thefacebook and YouTube, the post war era of commerical advertising and television are the medium to fame and fortune. Judy Holliday made a career out of playing the unsophisticated and guileless "dumb bunny" and Lemmon plays the affable guy next door (that would be the mainstay of his early movie roles). Holliday is not a comedian, she is an actress who finds herself in comedic situations, which lends an emotional depth to her performance. Lemmon and Lawford were close in age but it's Lemmon's kinetic earnest energy and confident ease, representative of the new generation of actors of that era, that leaps through the screen and is in direct contrast to the tempered and old school reserve of Peter Lawford. Garson Kanin, responsible for the smart snappy banter made famous by Spencer and Hepburn in classics like 'Adam's Rib', wrote the screenplay and so the dialogue has a familiar rhythm but without the gravitas. The result is a light, cheery and unsubstantial movie.

The Garson Kanin screenplay isn't out of his top drawer, but it has a cute idea at the heart of it, one that has become more timely with the passing years: Celebrity can be bought. Judy Holliday plays a nobody who wants to be a somebody, and with the help of a cynical agent and a clever marketing ploy, she becomes one. Indeed, with the media machine grown so disproportionately huge since, this movie cries out for a remake. But who could ever match Holliday's musical, clinically precise line readings, or her wide-eyed facial expressions? There really is only one of her.

Jack Lemmon, in his movie debut, is likeable and accomplished, and some amusing faces turn up in supporting and cameo roles -- Constance Bennett, Ilka Chase, Peter Lawford. There's some gritty New York location filming, approximately where Lincoln Center is now (and where "West Side Story" was shot years later), adding to the verite motif in the subplot (Lemmon plays a documentary filmmaker).

With Cukor's sure direction, everybody seems to be having a wonderful time. So will you.

Holliday is radiant in this excellent comedy about a nobody who wants to be a somebody. It's the story of an average woman who devises a plan to plant her name on a billboard. She immediately hits it big, doing commercials and public appearances and the only one who sees the danger in it is her boyfriend, played by Lemmon, in his scene stealing film debut.

Holliday, a master of play on words is hilarious in this well made romance-comedy, perfectly paced and directed by George Cukor.

A true comedienne is something of a rarity. Judy Holliday will always be remembered as one of the stage and screen's finest comediennes. The problem facing top comedians has always been finding the right material to suit their talents. More often than not they find themselves saddled with inferior material, (Bob Hope, Peter Sellers, Jerry Lewis….the list goes on).

In her brief screen career Judy Holliday was fortunate in having vehicles that managed to show off her talents. Yet there remains a nagging sense that even a movie as successful as "It Should Happen to You", does not quite do Holliday justice. It's pleasant and amusing viewing, but ultimately Holliday deserved more.

A young Jack Lemmon proves an almost perfect foil for Holliday. In his very first screen role he is a pleasure to watch. As the years passed Lemmon began to lean more and more on his famed idiosyncrasies.

The theme of "It Should Happen to You" is as relevant as ever in its dealing with the public's fascination with vacuous celebrity. Clearly not much has changed over the past fifty years.

I have a friend who has always wanted to be famous. Not famous for doing something, like writing a novel or acting in a movie or robbing a bank, but simply for existing.

Apparently, there have always been people like my friend, because It Should Happen to You is about a woman who comes up with a scheme for attaining fame unattached to greater purpose.

This movie could be described as likable actors making unlikable characters likable. Holliday, who begins the movie by obliviously tossing bird on a man, is a narcissist. Lemmon is the guy who claims he loves her yet continually harangues her. And sure, Holliday's idea is nuts, but why does Lemmon continually attacks her dream, and, for that matter, why on earth does he like her?

It is a tribute to Holliday that she manages to make it all work, exuding a mix of sex, innocence, softness and steel that suggests someone more interesting than the script is offering.

Holliday is funny and likable, and for that reason I'd say this is worth watching.