An outstanding comedy about the desire for fame
Devoid of earthshaking drama, spellbinding action, or belly laughs, some films remain unforgettable for their fun story, delectable performances, and eternal relevance, and such is the case with this week’s pick, “It Should Happen to You”. This delightful comedy stars two comic geniuses – the sensational Judy Holliday and the charismatic Jack Lemmon – along with the devilishly suave Peter Lawford, and rousingly tells the story of an ordinary “nobody” longing to become “somebody”. Directed by the great George Cukor and written by the witty Garson Kanin, it's an insightful and highly enjoyable rumination about fame. I’ve loved this movie since I was a kid, and evidently others love it too, for it garnered a 100% Tomatometer score on Rotten Tomatoes, and when I showed it to a friend, he turned to me and said, “This is my new favorite film”. And in today’s world of influencers, reality TV stars, and the never-ending quest for likes and followers, this film is more timely than ever.
Appropriately, “It Should Happen to You” begins with a man and a movie camera. While filming people in Central Park, such as children playing and two lovers on a hill, he spots a woman strolling without shoes. Intrigued, he follows her. She’s eating peanuts while feeding some to the pigeons, and sits down in the grass next to a man listening to the horse races on a radio. The two get into a tiff, and in one of his barbs, the man with the radio shrieks at her, “Who are you?”, to which she emphatically replies, “Nobody, that’s who!”. The man with the camera captures it on film, and after the event dies down, the filmmaker and the woman strike up a conversation.
The man with the camera is “Pete Sheppard”, a documentary filmmaker making a film about Central Park. The woman with no shoes is “Gladys Glover”, who was just fired that morning from a gig modeling girdles. She can think more clearly with her shoes off and has come to the park to contemplate her fate.
“Gladys” has been in New York less than two years and explains to “Pete”: “The whole reason I came to New York in the first place was to try and make a name for myself and I haven’t even gotten started on it. I’m getting nowhere, you know what I mean?”. Going forward, she sees only two options: one – to kill herself (which she doesn’t feel like doing); or two – move back home, work in a shoe factory, get married like everyone else, and then it’s “goodbye name for yourself, goodbye dreams”. Before parting, “Pete” reassures her that “where there’s a will there’s a way” and hopes she will make a name for herself if that’s what she really wants. A romantic spark ignites between them.
“Gladys” continues wandering aimlessly and ends up at Columbus Circle where she sees an enormous vacant billboard for rent. Removing her shoe, she gets the idea of putting her name on the billboard. She takes her savings, rents the billboard for three months, and her epic-sized name looms over the busy intersection. Because of that billboard, one thing leads to another and “Gladys” becomes a national celebrity. Complicating matters, she and “Pete” fall in love but he’s against her passion for fame. Meanwhile, the dashing and rich advertising executive “Evan Adams III” wants the billboard for the Adams Soap Company, and does what he can to get it from “Gladys”.
What unfolds in all the fun is a playful and very smart film about fame and celebrity – the desire for it, the emptiness, how people’s perceptions change about someone once they’re famous, how far someone will go in their quest for fame, and the thought that having people know your name is not as important as making your name stand for something. Esteemed film critic and director François Truffaut summed it up exquisitely in his 1954 review: “The moral of the story is that it is easier to find glory than to justify it, and that such glory has little meaning since it is acquired within a society that is unconscious of its absurdity”. And as Cukor pointed out in Gavin Lambert and Robert Trachtenberg’s book “On Cukor”: “The idea of becoming a great celebrity without being able to do anything is a very important notion. Publicity can really do it, too. Today it makes Presidents. It’s really the name of the game”. If Cukor could see our world today….
The impetus for “It Should Happen to You” came when film and Broadway writer/director Garson Kanin was driving around Columbus Circle with his wife, writer/actress Ruth Gordon, and in jest, asked her if she would like her name on a billboard over the intersection. That birthed an idea for a film which Kanin thought would make a great vehicle for actor and funnyman Danny Kaye. Gordon liked the idea, but thought it would be better suited for Judy Holliday. Once Kanin began writing, he agreed, and wrote a script with Holliday in mind titled “A Name for Herself”.
Kanin took “A Name for Herself" to Columbia Pictures with the intention of directing it, but studio head Harry Cohn refused to let Kanin direct and appointed Cukor, who’d already worked successfully with Kanin and Holliday. Unhappy with Cohn, studio politics, the film’s producer Fred Kohlmar, and incensed by the change in title from “A Name for Herself” to “It Should Happen to You”, Kanin angrily left Hollywood for Europe to write a novel, but stayed in contact with Cukor to offer suggestions and advice on the film. It was the end of his successful run in Hollywood, and from then on Kanin focused his attention on television and Broadway, writing only a handful more screenplays in the 1960s.
New York-born Garson Kanin dropped out of high school for a life in theater. He began as a musician and comedian, studied acting at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, and started appearing on Broadway with 1933's "Lille Ol' Boy”. While acting, he became the assistant of famed theater producer, writer, and director George Abbott, and in 1937, directed his first Broadway show, "Hitch Your Wagon". After directing a couple more shows, Kanin wrote and directed the 1946 Broadway hit "Born Yesterday", which starred Holliday. Kanin’s long and successful Broadway career included directing nearly two dozen shows and earning three Best Director Tony Award nominations, including one for the original production of "The Diary of Anne Frank". He also directed the original Broadway production of "Funny Girl", starring Barbra Streisand. Kanin made his film directorial debut with 1938's "A Man to Remember", and continued directing films while also writing screenplays (doing both for films such as "Bachelor Mother" and "My Favorite Wife”). He also heavily revised the screenplay for the 1950 film version of "Born Yesterday” without screenwriting credit.
In 1939, Cukor invited Kanin to dinner to meet actress and writer Ruth Gordon, and she and Kanin hit if off and married in 1942. Kanin thought it would be interesting to collaborate with his wife on a screenplay, and the two wrote 1947’s "A Double Life", which earned them both Oscar nominations and one for Cukor as Best Director. And so began a successful partnership between them lasting seven films, ending with “It Should Happen to You”. After “A Double Life” came “Adam’s Rib” (earning Kanin and Gordon a Best Original Screenplay Oscar nomination), “Born Yesterday” (earning Cukor a Best Director Oscar nomination), “The Marrying Kind”, “Pat and Mike” (garnering Kanin and Gordon a third Best Screenplay Oscar nomination), “The Actress” (written solely by Gordon), and “It Should Happen to You” (written solely by Kanin).
Kanin directed eighteen films and TV shows, had a hand in writing over thirty screenplays, and wrote about a half-dozen novels, including "Smash", which was made into a TV series in 2012. In addition to his three Oscar and three Tony Award nominations, Kanin earned five Writers Guild of America nominations, including one for "It Should Happen to You". He remained married to Gordon until her death in 1985, and then married actress Marian Seldes in 1990 until his death. Garson Kanin died in 1999 at the age of 86.
A virtuoso director, George Cukor’s direction in “It Should Happen to You” extracts the best from everyone, letting the performances take center stage while creating a very real and interesting world for them to inhabit. The start of this film is a fine example. It opens with location shots in Central Park as Cukor separately hones in on "Gladys" and "Pete", eventually ending the opening action on a two-shot of them. As they continue to walk and talk through the park, Cukor’s camera glides around them, punctuated by extended closeups showcasing important dialogue and reactions, giving us a chance to get to know and identify with them and witness their electric chemistry. In the book “The Films of My Life”, Truffaut wrote: “‘It Should Happen to You’ is a masterpiece. To keep up the rhythm for ninety minutes with no letup, to keep the smiles constant even between laughs, to direct people that way...that takes a master”.
In a nearly fifty-year career mostly under studio contract, George Cukor directed a multitude of glorious movies and was one of Hollywood’s top directors, especially known for his brilliance at adapting books and plays into top-notch films. His work with Kanin was a period in which he was also able to also show his dexterity at turning original screenplays into remarkable films, like “It Should Happen to You”. Cukor chose to keep his direction invisible, and as a result, he is often unjustly overlooked when people mention cinema’s greatest directors. His films were largely character-driven, had style and sensitivity, and provided immensely enjoyable and touching entertainment. You can read more about the life and career of George Cukor in my previous posts on some of his other classics, "The Philadelphia Story", "Gone with the Wind", "Born Yesterday", "Camille", “Gaslight", and "The Women”. Just click on the film titles to open the posts.
Cukor became known as “woman’s director” (which he hated) because he regularly coaxed spectacular performances from his leading ladies (often the best of their careers), such as Ingrid Bergman, Greta Garbo, Jean Harlow, Joan Crawford, Audrey Hepburn, and most famously, Katharine Hepburn, who he directed in eight films and two TV shows. Another actress Cukor worked with often was Judy Holliday, directing her in five films ("Winged Victory", "Adam's Rib", "Born Yesterday", "The Marrying Kind", "It Should Happen to You”), and here she gives a stellar performance as “Gladys Glover”, a woman desperate for fame.
Though not very worldly, “Gladys” is honest, kindhearted, a bit kooky, very sensitive, and able to stand up for herself, and Holliday mixes all these traits together in a sympathetic and lovably fun performance. Holliday’s a superb listener with genuine emotion and meticulous comedic timing. A stellar example of her gift for comedy is when “Gladys” goes to the Horace Pfeiffer Company on Madison Avenue with the intention of renting the billboard. Without speaking a word, she goes confidently in the building’s revolving door then fearfully out of it, and Holliday’s delicate expressions and physicality make us totally understand this woman’s fears and hopes in a very funny scene. Comedy doesn’t get much better than that.
Judy Holliday became an international star with her 1950 Oscar-winning performance as “Billie Dove” in “Born Yesterday”. “Billie” was a “dumb-blonde” who turned out to be not so dumb after all, establishing what would remain Holliday’s screen persona, even though she was anything but dumb in real life (with an IQ of 172 – above a genius level). Dumb-blonde characters were in fashion in the 1950s (most notably played by stars Marilyn Monroe and Jayne Mansfield), but where Holliday stood separate from her counterparts was that her characters had toughness and vulnerability and could shift through a wide range of authentic emotions on a dime.
In “It Should Happen to You”, Holliday uniquely blends overwhelming innocence with feeling insignificant, which adds comedy and pathos at the same time. There are tinges of both when she interacts with the receptionist at the Horace Pfeiffer Company, or how she’s lost yet determined when meeting with the billboard salesman. Holliday also displays a fabulously humorous satisfaction as people begin to recognize her and ask for autographs. And her chemistry with both costars is sensational. At the beginning of her career, Holliday sang in nightclubs, and in this film she briefly gets a chance to show off her beautiful singing voice. She’s a true joy to behold. As Cukor recalled in “On Cukor”: “Like all the great clowns, Judy Holliday could also move you. She made you laugh, she was a supreme technician, and then suddenly you were touched. She could interpret a text with the subtlest detail, her pauses would give you every comma – she’d even give the author a semicolon if he’d written one. And vocally she was fascinating, she had a way of hitting the note like a bull’s-eye, and the slightest distortion in the recording means that you lost something. If you lost any of the highs you lost a moment of comedy, and if you lost any of the lows you lost a moment of emotion. A true artist”.
“It Should Happen to You” was only Holliday's third starring role and contains one of her most delightful performances. Sadly, she’d only make four more films in her all too brief career. You can read more about the life and career of Judy Holliday in my post on “Born Yesterday”. Be sure to check it out.
Peter Lawford stars as “Evan Adams III”, a spoiled, ultra rich, charmingly manipulative man who has no problem smoothly overstepping boundaries to get what he wants. He’s the son of the owner of the Adams Soap Company, will stop at nothing to get the billboard, and being a playboy, seduce “Gladys” along the way. Lawford is able to keep this man from appearing disagreeable, even with his subtle exasperation with “Glady's" over the billboard, his guardedness and superiority when talking with "Pete", and his brash nuzzling of "Gladys'" neck. Lawford was known for his combination of sophistication and charm, and he uses both to full advantage as “Evan”.
Peter Lawford was born in London to a highly honored British Officer father, though his parents didn’t marry until he was a year old (after double divorces). Lawford spent his early years in France, traveling around, being tutored, learning languages and the arts, and becoming interested in drama. He appeared in two 1931 British films when he was seven, the first being "Poor Old Bill". Originally set to follow in his father's footsteps, when Lawford was fourteen he had an accident going through a glass door which created severe nerve damage to his right arm and hand, rendering him unable to serve in the military (he later learned to hide his impairments). He turned to acting and while in Hollywood, was spotted by a talent scout and landed a minor role in 1938’s "Lord Jeff".
While many male actors were serving in the military during World War II, Hollywood needed actors to play British characters, and Lawford fit the bill. He worked profusely (often in small, uncredited roles) beginning as a pilot in 1942's "Mrs. Miniver". He became an MGM contract player in 1943 and appeared in over two dozen films by the end of 1944, including "Random Harvest", "Someone to Remember", "Sahara", and "Mrs. Parkington". In 1945, he got his first starring role in "Son of Lassie", which was a major hit and made Lawford popular. After a few more romantic lead roles, he became one of the most popular actors and heartthrobs of the 1940s. Though he was not a singer (he could get by), he appeared in many musicals, most notably "Good News", "Easter Parade", "Royal Wedding", and 1947's "It Happened in Brooklyn", where he first worked opposite Frank Sinatra. Lawford and Sinatra became friends, and Lawford became part of what was known at the Rat Pack, a group of Hollywood bad boy entertainers who performed in Vegas (including Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., and Joey Bishop). Lawford appeared in more films with Sinatra and other Rat Pack members, including "Ocean's 11", "Sergeants 3", and "Never So Few".
In the mid-1950s, Lawford also began working on television, and by the end of his life appeared in well over 100 films and TV shows. His other films include "Little Women", "The Picture of Dorian Gray", "Dead Ringer", "Advise & Consent", "Exodus", "The Longest Day", and "That's Entertainment!". He also worked as executive producer on four films (including 1963's "Johnny Cool"), and directed a 1972 episode of "The Doris Day Show".
In 1954, Lawford married socialite Patricia Kennedy, sister of soon to be US President John F. Kennedy. Lawford and the other Rat Pack members famously campaigned for Kennedy starting in 1960, and when President Kennedy was supposed to stay with Sinatra in 1962 but stayed at Bing Crosby’s house instead due to Sinatra's alleged ties with the mob, the angrily devastated Sinatra blamed Lawford and forever ended their friendship. Lawford and Patricia had four children (including actor Christopher Lawford) before divorcing in 1966. He had three more very brief marriages. Peter Lawford died in 1984 at the age of 61.
The third star of “It Should Happen to You” is Jack Lemmon, who plays documentary filmmaker “Pete Sheppard”. Lemmon is a burst of bright energy from the moment he appears with his camera. As “Pete” walks with “Gladys” through Central Park, Lemmon is confident and endearing with a kindness and warmth that permeate his entire portrayal. He’s direct with a strong personality and a sweetness, clearly shown as he kisses “Gladys’” hand goodbye. It’s such a simple gesture that Lemmon turns into one of life’s small and memorable moments, and it believably acts as the unplanned start of a romance. “It Should Happen to You” was Lemmon’s film debut, and in it we can already see the immensely likable, charismatic everyman which Lemmon would come to represent.
In “It Should Happen to You”, Lemmon projects his emotions so clearly and honestly, we feel what he feels, such as his confusion when “Gladys” suggests they sit around Columbus Circle on a date, easygoing disappointment when she cancels their first dinner date for a business engagement, or frustrated anger at how he feels she threw away her money “on nonsense” after he sees her billboard. And Lemmon’s chemistry with Holliday is certainly one of the film’s highlights. The two sensationally play off each other, listening and reacting, even breezily singing together, and as gifted comedy pros, they generate mounds of amusement in the process. One of my favorite moments in the film is at the end of their fight about the billboard, when they both angrily confirm their lunch for Friday. Their precise timing and heightened emotions demonstrates comedy perfection. Watching great performances is one of the most satisfying aspects of movies.
Lemmon loved working with Holliday and the two got on incredibly well. After working in theater, radio, and television, Lemmon had just made his Broadway debut in the short-lived run of “Room Service” when Hollywood called. He was not excited about a film career, as he explained in a 1986 Washington Post interview: "If it wasn't for Judy [Holliday], I'm not sure I would have concentrated on films. I was a snot-nose, I must admit that. I almost didn't go to Hollywood. I would rather have sat around the old Walgreen's drugstore in New York with all the other out-of-work actors, pooh-poohing guys in films. Film was for pretty, curly-haired young men”. He and Holliday were such a success in this film, that they were paired again in “Phffft” (his second film) later in 1954.
Max Arnow, head of Columbia Pictures talent, spotted Lemmon on a TV episode of “Robert Montgomery Presents”, and recalled in Will Holtzman’s book “Jack Lemmon”: “I was taken with this fellow, with the strong personality. In those days, most of the stars were the typical handsome young man rather than the sort who could get by on character and personality. Jack was handsome, but not the typical romantic image”. Studio head Cohn was shown the TV episode, and sent it to Cukor, who was looking for an actor to play opposite Holliday in “It Should Happen to You”. Cohn decided to give Lemmon a screen-test, and if it was successful, he’d get the part and a contract at Columbia. Lemmon scored both.
It became evident on the set that Lemmon’s acting approach was more that of a stage actor than a film actor. Unlike theater, film is an intimate medium, and since the end result will appear larger than life, it requires that an actor bring an appropriate level of natural restraint to a part while allowing the camera to see their inner emotions. In film you are no longer playing to the back row of a theater, but virtually end up in someone’s face, talking to them. As an actor who’s worked in theater and film, I can assure you, film and theater acting are two different animals, with truth being the only common denominator.
In theater, an actor performs and builds their character chronologically, can act bigger than life (as long as you remain truthful), and once the opening night curtain goes up, have total control over your performance. It is truly an actor’s medium. Films are mostly shot out of order, are rarely performed in long sequences (stopping to change lighting and camera set ups for different angles, sometimes after uttering just one line of dialogue), and a performance can be completely shaped (or reshaped) by editing, lighting, camera work, and directors’ choices. Film is truly a director’s medium. As a result, I’ve seen several of filmdom’s greatest actors have lackluster presence on stage, and some of Broadway’s most tantalizing talents give misguided onscreen performances. It takes an actor who can understand and alter their craft to excel at both. Not as easy as it sounds.
Luckily, Cukor, Holliday, and even Kanin, were all from the stage, understood the difference, and helped Lemmon adapt to this new medium. In the book “Hollywood Anecdotes”, Lemon recalled “Every time I’d deliver my lines, he’d [Cukor] say, ‘Less’. After several times of hearing him say ‘Less’ after I finished, I said, ‘Mr. Cukor, if you keep it up, I won’t be acting at all’. And Cukor said, ‘You’re beginning to get it, my boy’”. Lemmon indeed mastered the art of film acting as evident by his glowing performance as “Pete”, and went on to become a major movie star and respected actor, earning eight Academy Award nominations and winning two (among many other accolades). You can read more about the life and career of Jack Lemmon in my posts on "Some Like It Hot” and “The Apartment".
Also appearing briefly in "It Should Happen to You" is a character actress who's appeared in many classics, and that's Cora Witherspoon, who is fantastically funny as the saleswoman at Macy's Department Store who recognizes "Gladys". This was Witherspoon's final film appearance in a career that began in 1931 and included 55 films. She almost always appears in small roles such as this, and you can read more about the life and career of Cora Witherspoon in my post on "Dark Victory", in which she played “Carrie Spottswood”, Bette Davis' snooty friend.
“It Should Happen to You” was shot on location in and around New York City, including Central Park, the Bronx Zoo, Macy’s Department Store, Herald Square, West 69th Street, Columbus Circle, and several television studios. For the sequence where “Gladys” is a panelist on a TV show, the other panelists are real-life celebrities playing themselves: Constance Bennet, one of Hollywood’s biggest stars of the 1920s and 1930s; Ilka Chase, a stage and film actress, radio host, and writer, who among her forty-plus film roles appeared as Bette Davis' sister in law "Lisa Vale" in "Now Voyager”; Wendy Barrie, a British film and TV actress who appeared in nearly 60 films and hosted "The Wendy Barrie Show", one of TV's first talk shows, beginning in 1948; and Melville Cooper, an English actor who appeared in about 100 films and TV shows, including playing the "High Sheriff of Nottingham" in "The Adventures of Robin Hood" and the coroner in Alfred Hitchcock's “Rebecca".
“It Should Happen to You” earned one Academy Award nomination for Best Costume Design for Jean Louis. According to the film’s pressbook, Holliday dons no less than 22 Jean Louis creations, and as Holliday states: “The clothes are so right, dramatically, I think they could be hung in chronological order on a rack and a spectator could realize the change in the girl’s character without knowing what the script is about. Clothes, as far as I am concerned, are as important as dialogue or pantomime”. And thus explains the wondrous talent of Jean Louis, who designed costumes and gowns for about 180 films, including several already on this blog, "Gilda", "Born Yesterday", "From Here to Eternity”, “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner”, Marilyn Monroe's dresses in "The Misfits", and Doris Day's gowns in "Pillow Talk", and you can read more about the life and career of Jean Louis in my post on the latter.
In today’s world of people vying for attention, trying to get more followers, likes, fifteen minutes of fame (more like fifteen seconds), and become a celebrity for celebrity’s sake just to feel worthy, this week’s film is more relevant than ever. It is also a very memorable, highly insightful, and incredibly fun film. Enjoy a joyous treat, “It Should Happen to You”!
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