Demônio de Mulher

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.

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.

A 1954 comedy starring Judy Holliday & Jack Lemmon (in his film debut) directed by George Cukor (The Women/A Star is Born). A woman strolls along the park where she meets cute w/a documentarian who takes note of an argument she's having w/a fellow park denizen. Holliday is a recent transplant to New York where she feels moorless but when she sees a sizable blank building wall for rent (for ads & such), she strikes upon the idea to take over the space w/her name the sole occupant. At first the landlords want to buy back the space since they have a more lucrative offer (from future Rat Packer Peter Lawford) but a price is not agreed upon so the agency offers Holliday a trade for at least six other spaces throughout the city causing a stir amongst the inhabitants to find out who this person is. Now a celebrity model, she finds herself at odds w/the attention her scheme has gotten her which alienates Lemmon & forces them to define their relationship. Holliday, who I only know from Born Yesterday (which I still haven't seen), shines in the role w/her guileless street smarts complementing her winsome looks to perfection. Lemmon is more low key here than we'd come to find him in later years but makes enough of an impression to see the star he'd become.

This movie was made at a time when Reality TV wasn't in the vocabulary, yet it foretold the future, in this tale of a young woman (Judy Holliday) who longs for fame and hates being unknown, prompting her to rent billboard space, so everyone in New York City will know the name Gladys Glover! She gets her wish and discovers it's not all she thought it would be.

Jack Lemon was on the road to fame with his portrayal of Pete Sheppard, the young man Gladys meets in Central Park, who's soon a tenant in her west side apartment building, then her boyfriend, then the guy she loses and must win back (in a reversal of the usual boy-meets-girl routine).

Peter Lawford plays the other man in the picture, wealthy Evan Adams, whose family company wanted the billboard space Gladys rented and made a deal with her, launching her "reality" career, and sparking Evan's interest in the new "star", though his intentions are not exactly honorable!

There are some great location shots, a chance to see some scenes of New York City in the 1950's. This is a fun and entertaining movie.