TCM Afternoon Movie: George Cukor & Judy Holliday
TCM, Beginning at 2 p.m.
Actress/comedian/singer Judy Holliday (born Judith Tuvim) was another brilliant star whom we lost at way too early of an age; she passed away from cancer on June 7, 1965, just a few weeks shy of her 44th birthday. But her bright light was notably seen in even just the few films she made over her
roughly 20-year career, and her talent was certainly noticed by equally gifted artists, including legendary director George Cukor. After directing Holliday in one of her earlier films, 1944’s Winged Victory, Cukor must have seen something in the actress even in her smaller part in that drama, something
he would describe as “that depth of emotion, that unexpectedly touching emotion, that thing which would unexpectedly touch your heart.” Five years later, when it came to making his classic romantic comedy/ drama Adam’s Rib, Cukor — along with that film’s legendary co-stars, Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn, who also certainly would have known a star in the making when they saw one — worked to get Holliday a key part in the movie, and it paid off with the actress receiving a Golden Globe nomination and a stepping stone into Hollywood leading-lady status. Cukor went on to direct Holliday in three of her most enduring films after she attained this stardom, and those titles are airing this afternoon in a triple feature on Turner Classic Movies. Up first is the Best Picture Oscar-nominated 1950 comedy/drama Born Yesterday, co-starring Broderick Crawford and William Holden. The film earned Holliday a Best Actress Oscar
win and a Golden Globe Award for Best
Actress — Musical or Comedy, while Cukor received Best Director Oscar and Golden Globe nominations. After that is
Happen to You (pictured) (1954), a romantic comedy also featuring Peter Lawford and Jack Lemmon in his first major film appearance. The lineup then concludes with The Marrying Kind (1952), a comedy/drama co-starring Aldo Ray and with a screenplay by Ruth Gordon and Garson Kanin, who had also written Adam’s Rib.