Touchstone and Beyond: "Born Yesterday"

This is a film that should have stayed a classic from 1950.

Marquee Attraction: Born Yesterday

Release Date: March 26, 1993

Budget: $14 million

Domestic Box Office Gross: $17,952,857

Plot Synopsis

Harry Brock is in Washington D.C. hoping to lobby for support in his construction projects. The problem is that Harry’s girlfriend Billie is not the sharpest tool in the shed and could cause him problems in his lobbying activities. So, Harry employs reporter Paul Verrall to help tutor his girlfriend to fit into Washington society.

Paul helps Billie to adapt to the Washington party scene, and Billie wants to learn and improve her knowledge. Weeks pass by with Paul tutoring Billie helping her to gain a better aptitude. The reporter quickly realizes that Harry could be up to no good in his lobbying of multiple senators. Paul’s attraction to Billie forces an end to their time together.

Billie, the former Las Vegas dancer, has greatly improved her intelligence and she starts to learn that Harry is not a nice guy, and may have committed some illegal acts. When she has a fight with Harry, Billie runs to Paul for help, and the two learn that Harry has been lying to her for a long time.

Standing Ovation

The chemistry between Johnson and Griffth is undeniable, and from the first moment on screen, they click perfectly.

Melanie Griffith doesn’t get enough credit for acting. She plays a perfectly clueless former showgirl at the start of the movie, and by the end, the viewer will buy her transformation to an intelligent knowledgeable good citizen.

Time for the Hook

Harry hitting Billie is an awful scene. It is jarring and completely opposite from the rest of the tone of the film. This is supposed to be a lighthearted comedy, and when domestic violence starts it’s brutal.

John Goodman’s performance is manic and out of control. I feel like Goodman is trying to bring his best to the role, but the script has Harry Brock part Charles Foster Kane and part psychopath. I love John Goodman, but I do not like his work in this film.

For a film set in Washington D.C. it would have been great to have seen the actors in actual recognizable Washington sites. Couldn’t Paul take Billie to the Lincoln Memorial?

Bit Part Player

Fred Thompson as Sen. Hedges. Thompson, who long before he had his political career as a Senator from Tennessee, was widely seen in a variety of supporting roles throughout any political thriller of the 1990’s. Fred Thompson is the perfect actor for a short part that leaves a lasting memory in the film.

Did You Know?

The Secretary of the Navy and his wife are played by Ben Bradlee and his real-life wife Sally Quinn. Bradlee is the famed former Washington Post editor during Woodward and Bernstein’s investigation into President Richard Nixon and the Watergate Hotel burglary.
Fred Thomposn, who plays Sen. Hedges, was a minority counsel to the Republican Senators on the Watergate Commission, which investigated if Richard Nixon had committed a crime.
Tom Selleck was offered the part of Harry Brock.
Nick Nolte was in contention for the role of Paul Verrall.
This was the last film to be produced by Silver Screen Partners.
This is a remake of the 1950 film of the same name starring William Holden and Judy Holliday. Holliday won an Oscar for her work on the film. These two movies were based on the 1946 play of the same name.
Though the film was set in Washington D.C. most of it was shot in Los Angeles.
The movie earned almost $6 million on its opening weekend.
A viewer will notice Disney synergy at its best as Billie in one scene is watching Home Improvement.

Best Quotable Line

Billie’s line after the event where she was able to wow Harry’s friends with Paul’s five essential lines for conversation success. “Well, if you saw a great ventriloquist, who would you compliment, the dummy?"

Bill’s Hot Take

Sometimes classic movies do not need to be remade. I don’t care what kind of cast the producers and director’s line up for the film classics need to stay classic.

Casting Call

Melanie Griffith as Billie Dawn
John Goodman as Harry Brock
Don Johnson as Paul Verrall
Edward Herrmann as Ed Devery

Production Team:

Directed by Luis Mandoki

Produced by Hollywood Pictures / Touchwood Pacific Partners I

Written by Garson Kanin / Douglas McGrath

My Critical Response

{Snub-Skip this Film, Lifeboat Award-Desperate for Something to Watch, Commuter Comforter-A Perfect Film for Any Device, Jaw Dropper- You Must Watch This Film on a Big Screen, Rosebud Award- This Film is Cinema.}

I want to like this movie more, but I can’t. The off-putting nature of John Goodman’s character is just too disruptive to the happy go lucky narrative of the film. It’s not a bad movie, but it certainly isn’t great.

Born Yesterday is a light-hearted comedy with dark moments that gets my Lifeboat Award. Watch this film if you have nothing else to do. Don’t worry if you miss it.

Coming Soon

Next week, a look back at the Ashton Kutcher Amanda Peet comedy, A Lot Like Love.