Movie Monday: It Should Happen To You 1954
Sixty-five years ago, today, the most popular film at the box office was It Should Happen to You. I am changing my wording from “#1” to “most popular” as I am having great difficulty determining if my “older movie” posts are actually number ones. It is hard to tell.
Starring Judy Holliday, Peter Lawford, Jack Lemmon and Michael O’Shea, this romantic comedy (Rom-Com) was written by Garson Kanin, directed by George Cukor, was originally titled A Name For Herself and was supposed to be a Danny Kaye movie.
Holliday is Gladys Glover of Binghamton, N.Y., who has come to N.Y.C. to make a name for herself and does so by plastering her moniker across a Columbus Circle billboard.
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.
Trivia Bits:
♦ This film was the début of actor Jack Lemmon.
♦ Teenage John Saxon has an uncredited cameo in Central Park.
♦ Gossip columnists reported that during the filming of It Should Happen to You, Holliday dated her co-star Peter Lawford. The actress was having marital problems at the time and did, reportedly, enjoy a romantic fling with Lawford (it only lasted until the production wrapped) which may be why their scenes together have a genuine spark.
♦ The same year of the movie release, co-star Peter Lawford married Patricia Kennedy, daughter of Joseph P. Kennedy and sister of the future President. Of the extended Kennedy clan, Lawford was closest to his brother-in-law Robert.
Nominations
♢ Best Costume Design/Black & White (Jean Louis/1955 Academy Awards)
♢ Best Written American Comedy (Garson Kanin/1955 Writer’s Guild of America (WGA) Award)
February 5, 2019 at 12:02 PM
I’ve never watched a Judy Holliday movie. John Saxon is great and is still acting.
“did, reportedly, enjoy a romantic fling with Lawford”…I think Peter Lawford had a fling with everyone.
February 5, 2019 at 3:42 PM
Heh. Neither have I. Until the post, I’d never heard of her.
I like Saxon, too.
Lawford certainly fit well with the Kennedys. Schwarzenegger, too.
February 5, 2019 at 3:48 PM
I’ve read some about her… she died at an early age…
When I think of Saxon I think of Enter the Dragon… but he has been in a lot of things
Oh yes he would have
February 5, 2019 at 4:43 PM
I remember seeing Saxon in Starsky & Hutch, then Wonder Woman…1976. Then, he showed up in Battle Beyond the Stars…1980. I probably saw him on The Six Million Dollar Man & The Rockford Files. He was on Quincy, Hawaii 5-0, The A-Team, Dynasty, all kinds of Sci-Fi. He was in so much that everyone knows who he is. He covered every genre. Hellyweird just doesn’t have character actors like him, anymore. He was a true entertainer, not a “Star”.
February 5, 2019 at 4:48 PM
Hard worker…Over 200 credits… That is the definition of a working actor.
There were at one time great character actors like Thomas Mitchell and many others. Now they want to be Stars.
Frank Capra had some great ones in his movies.