Born Yesterday is a play written by Garson Kanin. It premiered on Broadway in 1946 and starred Judy Holliday as Billie Dawn, a role that made her a star. It was made into a film in 1950. It showed recently at The Public Theater.
The play is a take on Pygmalion with a political/business corruption theme set in the 1940's. A rough, self-made millionaire (Harry Brock) with gangster connections comes to Washington D.C. to cement his relationship with a senator (Sen. Norval Hedges) with whose legislative help he hopes to complete a huge deal. With him has come his "dumb broad" mistress. (Billie Dawn). Brock sincerely loves Billie but becomes sensitive to her social shortcomings. Fearing Billie's coarseness might impair his business plans, Brock hires a journalist (Paul Verrall) to polish her up. As she begins to learn, Billie becomes more curious and finally more judgmental of Brock and his dealings. In the end she she destroys all of Brock's plans and leaves Brock for Paul.
There is a lot of mild tension in the play. Undue influence and crooked politics seem more ugly, as if America were newer and cleaner then. Brock really loves Billie but his decline in her eyes is easier than it might have been. The lawyer, Ed Devery, has had a moral fall but it is never emphasized more than an ironic regret. Paul is "fair and balanced;" he has no real animosity for Brock or the Senator.
The real story is Billie and her transformation, a change that is neither complete nor wholly satisfying to either her or the audience. She begins defiant: "I'm stupid and I like it." But soon it is obvious that she is more complicated. "I know what I want'" she says (of her furs), "And I know how to get it." She regularly clobbers Brock at gin rummy. And she wants her winnings; she wants what she's earned. As her education progresses the books pile up with her indignation. She begins to find fault with Brock's business plans, his illegality, the Senator's corruption, and her inadvertent involvement in all of it. But, as the drama intensifies, she is still fiery but is reduced to malapropism.
This is an enjoyable production, physical and sharp, that runs out of gas in the last act. The dialogue is crisp and clever. Melissa Miller is very good in Holliday's dreaded shadow as Billie, Ted Koch does well giving some dimensions to the often thuggish Brock, and Michael McKenzie's Devery is careful not to inject too much tragedy into the fun. Daniel Krell's Verrall is a bit academic and soft; one always worries that Billie might eventually eat him alive.
Kanin's original vision was to show that anyone--even a ditsy chorus girl--has the power to create change. And Billie does change everything, Brock's plans, his relationship with her, the Senator, Paul and, of course, herself. But the important change, the change in her, is bittersweet. She is less of what she was and little of what she might become. Nor has her education been entirely beneficial. At one moment she laments, "I don't know what I want," a real negative change from the solid individual the audience started with. Still, it's a fun night if it's not taken too seriously.
The play is a take on Pygmalion with a political/business corruption theme set in the 1940's. A rough, self-made millionaire (Harry Brock) with gangster connections comes to Washington D.C. to cement his relationship with a senator (Sen. Norval Hedges) with whose legislative help he hopes to complete a huge deal. With him has come his "dumb broad" mistress. (Billie Dawn). Brock sincerely loves Billie but becomes sensitive to her social shortcomings. Fearing Billie's coarseness might impair his business plans, Brock hires a journalist (Paul Verrall) to polish her up. As she begins to learn, Billie becomes more curious and finally more judgmental of Brock and his dealings. In the end she she destroys all of Brock's plans and leaves Brock for Paul.
There is a lot of mild tension in the play. Undue influence and crooked politics seem more ugly, as if America were newer and cleaner then. Brock really loves Billie but his decline in her eyes is easier than it might have been. The lawyer, Ed Devery, has had a moral fall but it is never emphasized more than an ironic regret. Paul is "fair and balanced;" he has no real animosity for Brock or the Senator.
The real story is Billie and her transformation, a change that is neither complete nor wholly satisfying to either her or the audience. She begins defiant: "I'm stupid and I like it." But soon it is obvious that she is more complicated. "I know what I want'" she says (of her furs), "And I know how to get it." She regularly clobbers Brock at gin rummy. And she wants her winnings; she wants what she's earned. As her education progresses the books pile up with her indignation. She begins to find fault with Brock's business plans, his illegality, the Senator's corruption, and her inadvertent involvement in all of it. But, as the drama intensifies, she is still fiery but is reduced to malapropism.
This is an enjoyable production, physical and sharp, that runs out of gas in the last act. The dialogue is crisp and clever. Melissa Miller is very good in Holliday's dreaded shadow as Billie, Ted Koch does well giving some dimensions to the often thuggish Brock, and Michael McKenzie's Devery is careful not to inject too much tragedy into the fun. Daniel Krell's Verrall is a bit academic and soft; one always worries that Billie might eventually eat him alive.
Kanin's original vision was to show that anyone--even a ditsy chorus girl--has the power to create change. And Billie does change everything, Brock's plans, his relationship with her, the Senator, Paul and, of course, herself. But the important change, the change in her, is bittersweet. She is less of what she was and little of what she might become. Nor has her education been entirely beneficial. At one moment she laments, "I don't know what I want," a real negative change from the solid individual the audience started with. Still, it's a fun night if it's not taken too seriously.
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