The magnificent Judy Holliday had been entertaining audiences for nearly a decade before she came to Hollywood's attention as the gun-toting wife in "Adam's Rib". The following year, she shot to stardom by winning an Oscar for "Born Yesterday". For her third major screen appearance, she helped a young actor named Aldo Ray shoot somewhat into fame if not to stardom, and if he isn't a well known name today it certainly isn't because he doesn't have any talent.
This is a comedy about a marriage which begins in divorce court as a series of flashbacks told to the judge. Holliday and Ray meet in a way that just screams "romance"; walking with a friend through Central Park, and turning around after noticing the other. Before long, they are married with two children, and then the trouble begins. There are a lot of laughs along the way, but it is a tragedy which is the stepping stone to their visit to divorce court. What really comes out is that Ray is not comfortable with Holliday ending up the breadwinner (thanks to a sudden inheritance) so he must come to terms with that and she must respect his manly pride.
What could be a generic comedy comes out to be so much more because of some masterful writing (by Garson Kanin and Ruth Gordon), realistic performances and superb direction by the master, George Cukor. The same story was basically done as "Penny Serenade" a bit more romantically. This takes the similar plot (minus the adoption angle) and gives it a more realistic touch. Holliday continues her performances of lovably quirky characters that you might run into at your grocery store, while Ray's sort of gruff young husband is quite different than the usual handsome leading man Hollywood was still searching for in the early 1950's.
This is a comedy about a marriage which begins in divorce court as a series of flashbacks told to the judge. Holliday and Ray meet in a way that just screams "romance"; walking with a friend through Central Park, and turning around after noticing the other. Before long, they are married with two children, and then the trouble begins. There are a lot of laughs along the way, but it is a tragedy which is the stepping stone to their visit to divorce court. What really comes out is that Ray is not comfortable with Holliday ending up the breadwinner (thanks to a sudden inheritance) so he must come to terms with that and she must respect his manly pride.
What could be a generic comedy comes out to be so much more because of some masterful writing (by Garson Kanin and Ruth Gordon), realistic performances and superb direction by the master, George Cukor. The same story was basically done as "Penny Serenade" a bit more romantically. This takes the similar plot (minus the adoption angle) and gives it a more realistic touch. Holliday continues her performances of lovably quirky characters that you might run into at your grocery store, while Ray's sort of gruff young husband is quite different than the usual handsome leading man Hollywood was still searching for in the early 1950's.