Judy Holliday's film trajectory resembles that of numerous other talented performers whose potential gifts were denied full expression because of an unfortunately abbreviated career. It is tragic that these actors left the world so early causing us to wonder just what more could have happened had they been given the opportunity to live out a normal lifetime. The list is a long one, and includes such notables as Jean Harlow, James Dean, Laird Cregar, Mario Lanza, Carole Lombard, Jeffrey Hunter, Tyrone Power, Gail Russell, Marilyn Monroe and Natalie Wood to name just a few. The question of "what might have been" achieved in the future by these special people can never be answered, and remains but another one of Hollywood's many unresolved mysteries.
It Should Happen to You (ISHTY) is one of Holliday's most endearing movies, and it is probably helped (at least in part) by the presence of co-star Jack Lemmon in his cinematic debut. They had a wonderful chemistry together, with Holliday's spunky Gotham hopeful being ably supported by Lemmon's idealistic neophyte documentary maker. The corrosive effect of fame (and the search for it) on these two nice people forms much of the basis for ISHTY's insightful and delightful narrative. Ruth Gordon and Garson Kanin's dialogue is sharp and funny, while Holliday and Lemmon shine in their roles as two essentially likable young folks who ultimately find happiness in their relationship despite the presence of many threatening negative challenges encountered along the way. The film is given polished direction by George Cukor, and the New York City location photography adds to its charm and realism. Altogether, ISHTY is quite a lovely little film with considerable appeal and entertainment value.
I must be one of the few people still around who actually saw Judy Holliday perform on the stage. In February, 1963, I was in Washington, D. C. attending a training program while Holliday was briefly appearing at the National Theatre in the first series of tryout performances for what ultimately proved to be her final stage appearance-------a new musical titled Hot Spot. The show was one of those very costly large efforts where all the good individual ingredients did not combine to produce a worthwhile final product. The show eventually made it to the Majestic Theatre on Broadway the same year only to fold after just a very few more performances. Nonetheless, I was privileged to see Holliday live in Hot Spot, and two years later she died at age 43 from a reoccurrence of the throat cancer that first struck her in 1960. What an entertainer! What a star!
It Should Happen to You (ISHTY) is one of Holliday's most endearing movies, and it is probably helped (at least in part) by the presence of co-star Jack Lemmon in his cinematic debut. They had a wonderful chemistry together, with Holliday's spunky Gotham hopeful being ably supported by Lemmon's idealistic neophyte documentary maker. The corrosive effect of fame (and the search for it) on these two nice people forms much of the basis for ISHTY's insightful and delightful narrative. Ruth Gordon and Garson Kanin's dialogue is sharp and funny, while Holliday and Lemmon shine in their roles as two essentially likable young folks who ultimately find happiness in their relationship despite the presence of many threatening negative challenges encountered along the way. The film is given polished direction by George Cukor, and the New York City location photography adds to its charm and realism. Altogether, ISHTY is quite a lovely little film with considerable appeal and entertainment value.
I must be one of the few people still around who actually saw Judy Holliday perform on the stage. In February, 1963, I was in Washington, D. C. attending a training program while Holliday was briefly appearing at the National Theatre in the first series of tryout performances for what ultimately proved to be her final stage appearance-------a new musical titled Hot Spot. The show was one of those very costly large efforts where all the good individual ingredients did not combine to produce a worthwhile final product. The show eventually made it to the Majestic Theatre on Broadway the same year only to fold after just a very few more performances. Nonetheless, I was privileged to see Holliday live in Hot Spot, and two years later she died at age 43 from a reoccurrence of the throat cancer that first struck her in 1960. What an entertainer! What a star!