''Born Yesterday'' is a 1993 American

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

based on '' Born Yesterday'', a play by

Garson Kanin Garson Kanin (November 24, 1912 – March 13, 1999) was an American writer and director of plays and films. Early life Garson Kanin was born in Rochester, New York; his family later relocated to Detroit then to New York City. He attended ...

. It stars

Melanie Griffith Melanie Richards Griffith (born August 9, 1957) is an American actress. She began her career in the 1970s, appearing in several independent thriller films before achieving mainstream success in the mid-1980s. Born in Manhattan, New York City, ...

John Goodman John Stephen Goodman (born June 20, 1952) is an American actor. He gained national fame for his role as the family patriarch Dan Conner in the American Broadcasting Company, ABC comedy series ''Roseanne'' (1988–1997; 2018), for which he rec ...

and

Don Johnson Donnie Wayne Johnson (born December 15, 1949) is an American actor, producer and singer. He played the role of James "Sonny" Crockett in the 1980s television series ''Miami Vice'', for which he won a Golden Globe, and received a Primetime Emm ...

. It was adapted by Douglas McGrath and directed by

Luis Mandoki Luis Mandoki (born August 17, 1954) is a Mexican film director working in Mexico and Hollywood. Luis Mandoki studied Fine Arts in Mexico and at the San Francisco Art Institute, the London College of Printing, and the London International Film S ...

. It is a remake of the 1950 film of the same name that starred Broderick Crawford,

Judy Holliday Judy Holliday (born Judith Tuvim, June 21, 1921 – June 7, 1965) was an American actress, comedian and singer.Obituary '' Variety'', June 9, 1965, p. 71. She began her career as part of a nightclub act before working in Broadway plays and mus ...

(in an Oscar-winning performance) and

William Holden William Holden (born William Franklin Beedle Jr.; April 17, 1918 – November 12, 1981) was an American actor, and one of the biggest box-office draws of the 1950s. Holden won the Academy Award for Best Actor for the film ''Stalag 17'' (1953) ...

Plot

A wealthy but crude businessman, Harry Brock, on a trip to the nation's capital, is socially embarrassed by his ditzy, uncultured

showgirl A showgirl is a female dancer or performer in a stage entertainment show intended to showcase the performer's physical attributes, typically by way of revealing clothing, toplessness, or nudity. History Showgirls date back to the late 180 ...

girlfriend, Billie Dawn. He hires a reporter, Paul Verrall, to educate her ("teach her the ropes"). Harry comes to regret his idea when Billie not only becomes more savvy, questioning his unscrupulous deals and rebelling against his bullying, but also falls in love with Paul.

Cast

as Billie Dawn *

as Harry Brock *

as Paul Verrall *

Edward Herrmann Edward Kirk Herrmann (July 21, 1943 – December 31, 2014) was an American actor, director, and writer. He was perhaps best known for his portrayals of Franklin D. Roosevelt in both the miniseries ''Eleanor and Franklin'' (1976) and 1982 film ...

as Ed Devery *

Max Perlich Max Perlich (born March 26, 1968) is an American film and television actor. In 1990, Perlich won the Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male for his performance in the hit indie film '' Drugstore Cowboy'' and was nominated for the same ...

as JJ *

Michael Ensign Michael Ensign (born February 13, 1944) is an American actor who mostly played very small roles. One of his most-known roles was Benjamin Guggenheim in the 1997 film ''Titanic''. Early life Ensign was raised in both the United States and Englan ...

as Phillipe * Benjamin C. Bradlee as Alex Duffee, Sect. of the Navy *

Sally Quinn Sally Sterling Quinn (born July 1, 1941) is an American author and journalist, who writes about religion for a blog at ''The Washington Post''. Early life Sally Quinn was born in Savannah, Georgia, to Lt. General William Wilson "Buffalo Bill" ...

as Beatrice Duffee * Fred Thompson as Sen. Hedges *

Celeste Yarnall Celeste Jeanne Yarnall (July 26, 1944 – October 7, 2018) was an American actress primarily of the 1960s and 1970s. She started her career on television before moving to feature film roles. Career A native of Long Beach, California, Yarnall w ...

as Mrs. Hedges *

Rondi Reed Rondi Anne Reed (born October 26, 1952) is an American actress of stage and screen. A longtime member of Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre Company, she has appeared in more than 50 productions at that theater. Also active on Broadway, she won the 20 ...

as Victoria Penny * Kate McGregor-Stewart as Mrs. Hulse

Reception

Reviews to ''Born Yesterday'' were mostly negative, as it holds a 26% approval rating on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

based on 27 reviews, with an

average rating In ordinary language, an average is a single number taken as representative of a list of numbers, usually the sum of the numbers divided by how many numbers are in the list (the arithmetic mean). For example, the average of the numbers 2, 3, 4, 7 ...

of 4.1/10. The site's critics consensus reads: "Not even Melanie Griffith's charisma can inject fresh energy into this ill-conceived remake, which awkwardly retreads through the classic original's story without any of its charm." Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade of "B+" on scale of A+ to F. Melanie Griffith was nominated for the 1993 Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actress for her performance in the film, where she lost to Madonna for her work in '' Body of Evidence''.

References

External links

* * * * * * 1993 films 1990s romantic comedy-drama films American romantic comedy-drama films Remakes of American films Films scored by George Fenton American films based on plays Films directed by Luis Mandoki Films set in Washington, D.C. Hollywood Pictures films Films with screenplays by Douglas McGrath 1990s English-language films 1990s American films {{1990s-romantic-comedy-film-stub ja:ボーン・イエスタデイ#リメイク