Movie Monday: It Should Happen to You (1954)
It Should Happen to You is yet another classic film that loves to play around with the idea of advertising/advertisements. In this film, Judy Holliday plays a character that comes up with the very original idea to advertise her own name on a billboard in the hopes of becoming famous. Well, the billboard project works! But I will leave what happens in the rest of the film out in case you haven’t ever seen it before. It is a great film though, and I highly recommend watching it!
These photos are not mine.
This Jack Lemmon’s first role in a Hollywood film! Unlike his role in Some Like It Hot, Lemmon plays a more subtle part of this film. He played the counter part to Judy Holliday the best of all the leading men she starred with, in my opinion. He takes a backseat to Holliday in this movie and lets her shine. Lemmon’s character in It Should Happen to You balances out Holliday in her character’s wild escapades instead of being the one who is in the spotlight creating the memorable moments of the film.
The overall feeling of the plot of this movie is one of naivety and discovery. We see someone who has a false view on what is valuable in life, and we witness them realizing that they never truly pursued what was important in the first place. This kind of creative way of going about a classic story is exactly what makes this George Cukor film legendary.
These photos are not mine.
So much of It Should Happen to You also reminds me of When Harry Met Sally. Not only is this movie set in New York like the 1980’s classic, but it also focuses on defining the line of men and women being friends. How do you know when it is more? How can you tell if it is one sided? How would you even tell someone you view them as more than a friend? Well, It Should Happen to You answers all of these questions each in a heartwarming way.
These photos are not mine.
Although today we consider It Should Happen to You as a classic and it is revered as one of Judy Holliday’s best films, it was largely ignored by the Academy at the Oscars when it came out in 1954. However, Holliday at the time of this film’s release already won an Oscar for Best Actress in her role in Born Yesterday. Despite the lack of accolades from the Academy, It Should Happen to You was given an heap of positive reviews when it originally premiered.
Much Love,
Sarah
Source for some of the fun facts found in this review: http://www.tcm.com/this-month/article/359465%7C87904/It-Should-Happen-to-You.html
