Judy Holliday is one of those actors beloved by critics and a small portion of the Movie audience - and no one else. IMDB is full of hysterical praise for "Judy" - and the prominent Critics aren't much better. Adjectives like "Genius" "Hilarious" "Brilliant" and my favorite: "the greatest comic actress of all time" are tossed around.
Fortunately for Holliday, she had powerful friends who agreed. Writer Garson Kanin gave her the Broadway role in Born Yesterday after Jean Arthur dropped out, and later revised Adam's Rib to specifically highlight her talents. Altogether, Holliday starred in 4 movies written by Kanin. Another pal was George Cukor who directed 5 of her first 5 movies. And when Holliday went back to Broadway, she found a leading role in Bells are Ringing written for her by good friends, Comden and Greene. And I haven't even talked about the undeserved 1950 Academy Award for her third picture and first starring role.
All the praise mystifies me - I just don't see the greatness - and find her "dumb blond" persona somewhat annoying. I agree she was a good actress, but nowhere in the same league with Lucille Ball, Marilyn Monroe, or Doris Day. And I think Jean Hagen was just as funny. And that's pretty much what the American public thought. Despite all the high-powered support, and an Oscar, her movies were only moderately successful and mostly forgotten.
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