Review of It Should Happen to You (1954) by Dave S — 04 Dec 2010

Judy Holliday was often the best thing about mediocre movies (yes, even in "Born Yesterday") but here she's just about even with the material for once. Actually, the implausibility of her character is one of the main flaws here - even with the slight backstory she's given it's hard to understand how someone so naive and absentminded actually made it to this point in her life.

But a lot works here, especially the main interplay between Lemmon and Holliday which is affecting while nicely undercutting the whimsy of the premise. Even the premise of a woman renting her own ad space is given an unexpected amount of realism, since she doesn't become an overnight sensation in a montage.

Instead, a few opportunist ad people eventually decide to book her for gigs that the general public seems just as confused by, which is both realer and funnier. Also unexpectedly real: the filming in locations around New York is really beautiful, especially the opening sequence in central park - getting material like this out in the open instead on a studio lot was a great decision, as it helps everything seem less canned and stagey even when the plot contrivances kick in a bit more.