Best Actress: Judy Holliday

Fasten your seatbelts, I'm ready for my close-up. [Insert your choice quote from Born Yesterday here to keep up the bit!]

via classicfilmsource

Judy Holliday is such a joy to watch on screen. God, to have been alive at the same time as her; to have seen her on Broadway. Her film output, though small, is perfect. I love getting lost in a Judy Holliday movie despite having seen Born Yesterday or Bells Are Ringing or It Should Happen to You many times over. 

But we're here to talk about Born Yesterday, a film in which Judy plays a 'dummy' named Billie Dawn who undertakes classes in order to become smarter so that her underwordly fiancé, played by Broderick Crawford, won't be embarrassed by what comes out of her mouth. 

Judy originated the role in the Broadway play upon which the film is based, and you get the sense that this is old hat to her (the play premiered in 1946). She feels 'lived in' in the world of Billie Dawn; she knows how to get the laughs (the part where she pauses to go look up the word 'fascist' so she can use it in an argument against her fiancé cracks me up every time) and how to let the emotions cloud her eyes when she's sad. 

Born Yesterday is smart and sophisticated, and Judy plays Billie perfectly. I think anyone else probably would've leaned too far into caricature, Billie needs a joyful heart and an actress who can convincingly portray a naive lady on her way to bettering herself. Judy never makes Billie feel like she's stupid or insincere; you root for her every second she's on screen.

Could this have been the most stacked category of all time? Consider that Judy was up against Bette Davis and Anne Baxter for All About Eve, Eleanor Parker for Caged, and Gloria Swanson for Sunset Boulevard. I mean, throw a dart, if you hit any of these gals, they would've deserved the win (okay, I would have been salty to find out that Anne Baxter triumphed, but you get my meaning). 

This might just be—unless I'm blanking on a yet-to-come category—the biggest and best roster of talent and films that were ever nominated.

I definitely think Judy deserved her Oscar. Comedy is almost harder to pull off than drama. But I would not have been mad in the slightest had Bette, Gloria or Eleanor taken home the gold. 

I guess my point is: you really can't go wrong with any of the films nominated this year. It might just make for a fun day of film watching if you programmed it. 

DID I LIKE BORN YESTERDAY? Absolutely! 

Did you like Born Yesterday? What are your thoughts on Judy Holliday's Oscar win? 

Keep up with all my Rewatching the Best Actresses posts here.