It Should Happen to You (1954)

it should happen to you! poster It Should Happen to You (1954)

Run time: 86 min
Rating: 7.1
Genres: Comedy | Romance
Director: George Cukor
Writers: Garson Kanin
Stars: Judy Holliday, Jack Lemmon, Peter Lawford
Storyline
Gladys Glover has just lost her modelling job when she meets filmmaker Pete Sheppard shooting a documentary in Central Park. For Pete it’s love at first sight, but Gladys has her mind on other things — like making a name for herself. Through a fluke of advertising she winds up with her name plastered over 10 billboards throughout city. Suddenly all of New York is clamoring for Gladys Glover without knowing why and playboy Evan Adams III is making a play for Gladys that even Pete knows will be hard to beat. Written by A.L.Beneteau <albl@inforamp.net>
Details:
Release Date: 18 January 1954 (USA)
[youtube]http://youtu.be/oCJ0fJX1i8Q[/youtube]

4 responses to “It Should Happen to You (1954)”

  1. IMDBReviewer says:

    Judy Holliday as Gladys Glover, working girl of the 50’s just looking for her 15 minutes of fame, finds more than that with Jack Lemmon as Pete Sheppard. Judy has a gift for capturing the childlike quality of the pure of heart "dumb blonde". It is oh so sad that we lost this comedic genius well before her time. But at least we have this treasure with Jack Lemmon at his comedic best opposite her. Add this all time comedic classic to your film library.

  2. rgkeenan says:

    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.

  3. rgkeenan says:

    This immensely funny comedy, which we had seen years ago, popped up suddenly on cable. It was just a reminder of those innocent years of New York in the 50s. It shows what a great director, George Cukor, working with a frequent collaborator, Garson Kanin, can do as they bring magic to Manhattan.

    New York is a magnet for people with dreams and ambitions that come to the city to make their name known, as is the case of Gladys Glover, a transplant from upstate that hasn’t yet made her mark in Gotham. It doesn’t take long before Gladys is a minor celebrity because of her name being plastered all over town in billboards that only show her name.

    There’s a funny scene that takes place in Macy*s where Gladys had gone shopping with Pete Sheppard. She’s buying towels that are on sale for 54 cents! Oh, and there are others for 64 cents! When she gives her name to the sales lady, the woman immediately realizes she has a celebrity in her department because she can see Gladys’ name through an open window! Talk about logic, Mr. Kanin, or even Mr. Cukor, probably never set foot on the Herald Square store: there are no windows in any of the big Manhattan department stores!

    The brilliant Judy Holliday makes this picture her own. She was such an accomplished comedienne that she could do anything and outshine anyone near her. It’s a shame this funny lady’s life was cut short of an impressive career in the stage and in movies. Ms. Holliday was an actress who brought a lot of joy to any of the roles she undertook, as proved here; we don’t doubt for a moment she is Gladys because she acts without any effort.

    Jack Lemmon, in his first movie, is also very likable as the documentary photographer, Pete Sheppard, who can’t help himself falling in love with Gladys. Mr. Lemmon showed his huge talent from the beginning. Playing opposite Ms. Holliday must have been the answer to any aspiring young actor starting in films. He was also a natural who could do anything at all on the stage and later in his long years in front of the camera.

    Watching this film is like taking a nostalgic trip to the New York of that era.

  4. IMDBReviewer says:

    There’s just something about a ditzy woman miraculously making herself a name that always seems to be a winner. I loved the way Gladys and Pete interacted throughout the entire story, through friendship, frustrations, unreturned feelings, and finally contented love.

    It is certainly a feel-good movie, and accomplishes this task rather well. Recommended for all you touchy-feelies out there.

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