Born Yesterday

Harry Brock is a crude, wealthy scrap-metal dealer who arrives in Washington with his girlfriend, former showgirl Billie Dawn, intending to buy influence among politicians. Her lack of polish embarrasses him in the circles he wants to court, so he hires journalist Paul Verrall to teach her manners and culture. The arrangement has consequences he did not plan for, as Billie becomes more self-assured and begins to understand how Brock's business is conducted at her expense.

George Cukor directed this 1950 Columbia Pictures comedy, the twelfth of the seventeen features he made in chronological order, arriving between Adam's Rib and A Star Is Born. Albert Mannheimer wrote the screenplay, and S. Sylvan Simon and Max Gordon produced. Judy Holliday plays Billie, with Broderick Crawford as Brock and William Holden as Paul; Howard St. John, Frank Otto and Larry Oliver appear in supporting roles.

The film holds a score of 8.2 out of 10 from 83 reviews from film critics, while audiences rate it 7.5 on IMDb from around 14,000 votes and 7.3 on TMDB from a much smaller group of 189 votes. Both audience measures point to a well-liked film, and the critics' rating sits somewhat higher than either.