Broderick Crawford, Judy Holiday, and William Holden in “Born Yesterday”

Born Yesterday (1950) is an American comedy directed by George Cukor and starring Broderick Crawford, Judy Holiday, and William Holden. Holiday recreated her role as Billie Dawn which she played on Broadway. Crawford replaced Paul Douglas who played opposite Holiday as Harry Brock and Holden replaced Gary Merrill who played Paul Verrall, both of whom created their respective roles on Broadway.

The film concerns Billie Dawn (Holiday), an uneducated woman involved with an older business tycoon Harry Brock (Crawford) who is in Washington to try and “buy” a congressman. Because Billie is uneducated, Harry hires Paul Verrall (Holden), a journalist, to educate her. During her “education,” she realized that Harry was a corrupt businessman. Due to Paul opening her eyes to a whole new world, Billie falls in love with him.

Judy Holiday, Broderick Crawford, and William Holden

George Cukor (1899 – 1983) was an American director. He was famous for directing comedies and literary adaptations of classics like Little Women (1933) and David Copperfield (1935). He was famously fired from directing Gone with the Wind (1939), but that incident didn’t mar an impressive directorial career that included The Philadelphia Story (1940), Gaslight (1944), and Born Yesterday (1950). Cukor won an Academy Award as Best Director for My Fair Lady (1964).

Broderick Crawford (1911 – 1986) was an American stage, film, radio, and television actor. Born in Philadelphia to a show business family, Crawford acted with his parents on stage and then established himself as a talent on his own by winning acclaim as Lenny in the original Broadway production of Of Mice and Men in 1937. He later moved to Hollywood and began acting in small roles and bit parts throughout the 1940s. He finally got his chance at stardom in All the King’s Men (1949), the film version of Robert Penn Warren’s award-winning novel. The film was a big hit and Crawford won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance as Willie Stark. Now a star, Crawford starred in more prestigious productions including Born Yesterday (1950) receiving top-billing over co-stars Judy Holiday and William Holden. Crawford became a television icon as Dan Matthews in the police dram Highway Patrol (1955 – 1959.) 

Judy Holiday (1921 – 1965) was an American actress, comedian, and singer. She started out in show business playing nightclubs before making her way to Broadway. Her role as Billie Dawn in Born Yesterday in 1946 made her an “overnight” sensation. When she recreated the role for the film version, she won the Academy Award for Best Actress of the Year. Other films include The Marrying Kind  (1952), It Should Happen to You (1954), Phffft (1954), The Solid Gold Cadillac (1956), Full of Life (1956), and Bells Are Ringing (1960), recreating her Tony Award-winning performance. Holiday died of breast cancer in 1965 at the age of 43.

William Holden (1918 - 1981) was an American actor and major movie star. He was one of the most bankable stars of the 1950s. Holden starred in some of the most popular and beloved films of all time including Sunset Boulevard, Sabrina, Picnic (1955), The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957), and Stalag 17 for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor. Holden became a star with his very first role in Golden Boy (1939). He had lead roles in other popular films like Our Town (1940), and  I Wanted Wings (1941). World War II interrupted his career. Holden was a first lieutenant in the United States Army Air Force. After the war, he made some popular but forgettable films. It wasn’t after he collaborated with director Wilder on Sunset Boulevard that Holden’s popularity and stature in Hollywood grew to superstar status.

 

Crawford who got top billing on the screen is listed last on this lobby card.

Born Yesterday trivia

• Judy Holiday’s role in Adam’s Rib (1948) was an audition to convince Columbia Pictures studio chief Harry Cohn that Holiday was up to the task of playing Billie Dawn on the screen.
• Judy Holiday and Broderick Crawford played gin-rummy on the train to Washington, D.C. for location shooting. Holiday won $600 from Crawford. This cemented their friendship and they remained lifelong friends.
• Marilyn Monroe screen-tested for the role but Harry Cohn never watched it.
• Holiday’s wardrobe became more sophisticated as her character grew.
• William Holden originally turned down the role fearing that he would be overshadowed by Crawford and Holiday. Because of this, Holden’s role was built up for the screen.
• Director George Cukor had Crawford, Holiday, and Holden perform their roles in front of a live audience so that he could time the laughs between the dialogue.

 

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Discussion questions

1. Born Yesterday was released in the mid-20^th century. Do you think it holds up today?
2. Judy Holiday is so identified with the role of Billie Dawn. Can you see anyone else as successful in the role?
3. Was Broderick Crawford believable in the role of Harry Brock?
4. Holiday beat out Gloria Swanson (Sunset Blvd), Bette Davis and Anne Baxter (All About Eve), and Eleanor Parker (Cage). Do you think she deserved to win?
5. Holden was afraid that he would be overshadowed by Crawford and Holiday. Do you think this was the case or did he hold his own in the less showy role as Paul Verrall?

William Holden and Gloria Swanson are prisoners of Sunset Boulevard

Sunset Boulevard (1950) is an American film noir directed by Billy Wilder and starring William Holden, Gloria Swanson, and Eric von Stroheim. The screenplay was written by Charles Brackett, Wilder, and D. M. Marshman Jr. The supporting cast includes Nancy Olson, Fred Clark, and Jack Webb. The cinematography was by John F. Seitz and the music was by Franz Waxman.

Holden stars as Joe Gillis, a down-on-his-luck screenwriter who by a set of strange circumstances is drawn into the orbit of Norma Desmond (Swanson) a retired silent film star set on a return (don’t you dare say comeback) to the screen.

Norma hires Joe to work on her screenplay of Salome, the picture she believes will put her back on top. For the money, Joe takes the work on but knows it’s not going to go anywhere. Norma is convinced that the picture is sure to be a hit and that Cecil B. DeMille will direct it. DeMille worked with Norma during her reign as the queen of the silent screen.

Joe still dreams of getting his screenplay ideas sold and finds himself involved with Betty Schaefer (Olson), a script reader working at the Paramount Studio. Joe keeps his relationship with Norma a secret and finds himself falling in love with Betty, who just so happens to be engaged to Artie Green (Webb), an assistant director who is working on location. All the while, Norma has fallen in love with Joe and becomes more and more dependent on him.

How will this all end? Will Norma make a successful return to the screen? Will Joe and Betty find happiness together? Or will Norma’s hold on Joe destroy everything?

Billy Wilder (1906 - 2002) was an Austrian-born American film director, screenwriter, and producer. He won six Academy Awards for his writing and direction and was nominated twenty-one times over a career that spanned five decades. Wilder started his career as a writer, penning the screenplays for Ninotchka (1939), Ball of Fire (1942), Double Indemnity (1945), The Lost Weekend (1946), Sunset Boulevard (1951)  Boulevard (1951), Sabrina (1955), Some Like it Hot (1960), and The Apartment (1961). As a director, he won Academy Awards for directing The Lost Weekend (1946) and The Apartment (1961). Wilder directed fourteen different actors in Oscar-nominated roles. He is considered one of the most versatile directors from Hollywood’s Classical period.

William Holden (1918 - 1981) was an American actor and major movie star. He was one of the most bankable stars of the 1950s. Holden starred in some of the most popular and beloved films of all time including Sunset Boulevard, Sabrina, Picnic (1955), The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957), and Stalag 17 for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor. Holden became a star with his very first role in Golden Boy (1939). He had lead roles in other popular films like Our Town (1940), and  I Wanted Wings (1941). World War II interrupted his career. Holden was a first lieutenant in the United States Army Air Force. After the war, he made some popular but forgettable films. It wasn’t after he collaborated with director Wilder on Sunset Boulevard that Holden’s popularity and stature in Hollywood grew to superstar status.

Gloria Swanson (1899 – 1983) was an American actress who was a major star during the silent era. Swanson, a Chicago native, got her start in film at Essanay Studios where silent film star Francis X Bushman was under contract. Also employed by Essanay were Charlie Chaplin and Wallace Beery. Swanson married Beery in 1916. He was the first of here six husbands. Swanson, Chaplin, and Beery eventually moved to Hollywood where their careers flourished. Swanson was nominated for three Best Actress Oscars. The first two were for silent films and the third was for Sunset Boulevard. Swanson made the transition to sound, but her career stalled and her star power faded.

Sunset Boulevard trivia

• Norma Desmond was based on the several stars from the silent era including Mary Pickford, Mae Murray, and Clara Bow.
• Montgomery Clift was originally cast as Joe Gillis but left the broke his contract two weeks before production.
• Gloria Swanson was asked to do a screen test which she didn’t want to do. Her friend the director George Cukor told her to do ten screen tests if necessary.
• After a private screening of the film, Barbara Stanwyck knelt in front of Swanson and kissed the hem of her dress.
• Willian Holden and Billy Wilder became close friends during the production of Sunset Boulevard.
• Nancy Olson wore her own clothes in the film because Wilder wanted her to be herself on film.

 

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Discussion question

1. Sunset Boulevard is considered one of the greatest films of all time. Do you think its reputation as such is well deserved?
2. The film lost the Best Picture Academy Award to All About Eve. Sunset Boulevard is about the film industry and All About Eve is about the theater. Which film holds up the best in 2023?
3. William Holden wasn’t even in Billy Wilder’s top five choices for the role of Joe Gillis. What do you think of his performance?
4. Gloria Swanson had hoped her performance and Oscar nomination would revive her movie career but it didn’t. What did you think of her performance?
5. Do you have a favorite scene or line of dialogue (the film is filled with great lines)?
6. Can you see any other actress from Swanson’s era in the role of Norma Desmond?
7. Is Hollywood the same today as it was in 1950? Does Hollywood treat women better today?
8. Bill Wilder was a director working in Hollywood. Was he exempting himself from the criticism? Was he any different than Cecil B. DeMille?

William Holden romances Kim Novak in “Picnic”

Picnic (1955) is an American drama film directed by Joshua Logan and starring William Holden, Kim Novak, and Rosalind Russell. The film is based on the Broadway play of the same name by William Inge. The movie features Susan Strasberg, Cliff Robertson, Betty Field, Arthur O’Connell, and Reta Shaw.

Hal Carter (Holden) arrives by freight train in a small Kansas town on Labor Day morning to visit a fraternity friend, Alan Benson (Robertson). While staying with Helen Potts (Verna Felton), he meets Alan’s girlfriend Madge Owens (Novak), Madge’s younger sister Millie, and their mother Flo (Field). Alan promises Hal a job at his family’s grain elevator operations.

Things don't go well at the Labor Day picnic for Hal. An intoxicated Rosemary Sydney (Russell) forces herself on Hal and creates a scene that makes him look bad in front of Alan and the picnic crowd. Hal flees the party and is followed by Madge. Will Madge trade rich boy Alan for an uncertain life with Hal?

Joshua Logan (1908 – 1988) was an American theater and film director, playwright, and screenwriter. He was also an actor. He shared a Pulitzer Prize for co-writing the musical South Pacific. During his college years, he was involved with the University Players (an intercollegiate summer stock company) with James Stewart, Henry Fonda, and Margaret Sullavan. During the late-1930s, Logan went to Hollywood where he wrote some of the dialogue for The Garden of Allah (1936), History is Made at Night (1937), and Suez (1938). Logan’s film directing career included Picnic (1955) and Fanny (1961), both were film adaptations of Broadway plays that he directed for the theater. He also directed Bus Stop (1956), Sayonara (1957), Tall Story (1960), Camelot (1967), and Paint Your Wagon (1969).

William Holden (1918 - 1981) was an American actor and major movie star. He was one of the most bankable stars of the 1950s. Holden starred in some of the most popular and beloved films, including Sunset Boulevard, Sabrina, Picnic (1955), The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957), and Stalag 17, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor. Holden became a star with his first role in Golden Boy (1939). He had lead roles in other popular films like Our Town (1940), and I Wanted Wings (1941). World War II interrupted his career. Holden was a first lieutenant in the United States Army Air Force. After the war, he made some popular but forgettable films. It wasn’t after he collaborated with director Wilder on Sunset Boulevard that Holden’s popularity and stature in Hollywood grew to superstar status.

Kim Novak (1933 - ) is an American film and television actress. She retired in 1991. Novak was one of the last “studio-created” stars during a time when the studio system was in decline. Born Marilyn Pauline Novak in Chicago, her name was changed to Kim after she signed a long-term contract with Columbia Pictures in 1954. By the next year, Novak was a major star working opposite the likes of Frank Sinatra and William Holden. Some of her significant films include Picnic (1955), The Man with the Golden Arm (1955), The Eddy Duchin Story (1956), Pal Joey (1957), and Bell, Book and Candle (1958). Perhaps her most celebrated film is her dual role in Vertigo (1958) co-starring James Stewart and directed by Alfred Hitchcock. In 2012, the British Film Institute’s Sight & Sound critic’s poll voted Vertigo as the best film of all time. After retiring from film, Novak has devoted herself to painting and has exhibited her work publicly.

Rosalind Russell and Arthur O'Connelll

Rosalind Russell (1907 - 1976) was an American film and stage actress. She was nominated for four Best Actress Academy Awards throughout her career. She won five Golden Globe Awards and a Tony for Best Actress in a Musical for her performance as Ruth in Wonderful Town. Russell was a versatile actress who excelled at both comedy and drama. She was also one of the few actresses of her day to portray lawyers, judges, and psychiatrists. Some of her famous films include The Women (1939), My Sister Eileen (1942), Sister Kenny (1946), Picnic (1955), Auntie Mame (1958), Gypsy (1962), and The Trouble with Angels (1966).

Picnic trivia

• William Holden almost turned down the film role, thinking at 37, he was too old.
• Holden didn’t want to do the dance scene with Kim Novak. “I just don’t know how to dance,” he told co-star Cliff Robertson. To get over his fear, he did the scene intoxicated. Holden danced in only three other movies: Dear Ruth (1947), Sunset Boulevard (1950), and Sabrina (1954).
• Columbia Pictures wanted to promote Rosalind Russell for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. Russell refused because she didn’t want to be considered a supporting actress.
• Arthur O’Connell, Reta Shaw, and Elizabeth Wilson recreated their Broadway roles for the film version.
• Kim Novak’s hair was dyed a reddish auburn color, rather than her usual platinum-blonde look, to give her a more innocent and youthful look.

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Discussion questions

1.      1. William Holden thought he was too old for the role of Hal Carter. Do you agree?

2. This film made Kim Novak a superstar. Was she believable as Madge Owens?

3. Do you think Rosalind Russell would have won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar if she allowed Columbia Pictures to campaign on her behalf? What did you think of her performance as Rosemary?

4. The film’s supporting cast is impressive; do you have a favorite?

5. Was the film relatable?

6. Do you think Hal and Made have a chance at happiness?

7. Does the film hold up in 2023 or is it a relic of its time?

Jeanne Crain, William Holden, and Edmund Gwenn in "Apartment for Peggy"

Apartment for Peggy (1948) is an American comedy-drama directed and written by George Seaton (Miracle on 34th Street) and starring Jeanne Crain, William Holden, and Edmund Gwenn. The supporting cast includes Gene Lockhart, Randy Stewart, Charles Lane, and Cliff Barnett. The screenplay was based on the novel An Apartment for Jenny (1947) by Faith Baldwin.

Jeanne Crain and William Holden play a young married couple trying to cope with the GI housing shortage after the war. The movie begins with Peggy (Crain), who appears to be very pregnant, taking a short rest on a park bench next to retired Professor Henry Barnes (Gwenn). Peggy immediately likes the old professor; she calls him “pops” and baffles him with her rapid-fire speech and modern slang. When she finds out that Barnes’s friend, Professor Bell, (Lockhart) might have “suction” with veteran housing on campus, Peggy asks Barnes to please put in a good word for her.

Before you know it, Peggy and Jason are turning Professor Barnes’s attic into a very comfortable and functional living space. Even Professor Barnes is amazed at the transformation. Reluctant at first to this “home invasion,” Professor Barnes learns to enjoy sharing his home with the young couple, although living with Peggy can be challenging at times.

What Peggy and Jason don’t know, is that before they moved in, the professor was planning his own suicide. The university forced him to retire years earlier and Barnes thinks his usefulness has come to an end. His wife is deceased and his only son was killed in the First World War. He concludes that he’s lived a satisfying life and feels it’s time to exit on his own terms.

What will become of the professor, Jason, and Peggy?

William Holden and Jeanne Crain

George Seaton (1911 - 1979) was an American director, screenwriter, and producer. Seaton started out as an actor and played the Lone Ranger o the radio. He got a job as a contract writer at M-G-M in 1933. His first credited script was for the Marx Brothers’comedy A Day at the Races (1937). Unhappy with only working on comedies, Seaton moved to Columbia in 1940. In the early 1940s, he went to 20^th Century-Fox where he achieved his greatest success as a writer and director. At Fox, he wrote the scripts for That Night in Rio (1941), Moon Over Miami (1941), and The Song of Bernadette (1943). He made his directorial debut with Diamond Horseshoe (1945) starring Betty Grable. He wrote and directed Junior Miss (1945) starring Peggy Ann Garner. Seaton wrote and directed the classic Miracle on 34^th Street. He won an Academy Award for his screenplay. Other films directed by Seaton include Apartment for Peggy (1948), The Country Girl (1954), Teacher’s Pet (1958), The Counterfeit Traitor (1962), 36 Hours (1964), What’s So Bad About Feeling Good (1968), and Airport (1970), the biggest hit of Seaton’s career.

Jeanne Crain (1925 – 2003) was an American actress whose career spanned more than three decades. While still a teenager, she was asked to take a screen test with Orson Welles. He was testing for the part of Lucy Morgan in his production of The Magnificent Ambersons (1942). She didn’t get the part (Anne Baxter did), but she was on her way. She had a bit part in The Gang’s All Here (1943), but had a leading role in Home in Indiana (1944). The film was a box office hit and Crain became a favorite of film fans everywhere. She had another hit with Winged Victory (1944) and co-starred with Dana Andrews in the musical State Fair (1945). That same year, she was the “good girl” opposite Gene Tierney’s “bad girl” in Leave Her to Heaven. More good roles came her way including leads in A Letter to Three Wives (1949), The Fan (1949), and Pinky (1949). The latter won her a Best Actress Oscar nomination. She lost that year to Olivia de Havilland. Crain’s popularity continued into the 1950s but suffered when she was released from her exclusive contract with 20th Century-Fox. She continued to work in films and on television until 1975.

William Holden (1918 - 1981) was an American actor and major movie star. He was one of the most bankable stars of the 1950s. Holden starred in some of the most popular and beloved films of all time including Sunset Boulevard, Sabrina, Picnic (1955), The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957), and Stalag 17 for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor. Holden became a star with his very first role in Golden Boy (1939). He had lead roles in other popular films like Our Town (1940), and  I Wanted Wings (1941). World War II interrupted his career. Holden was a first lieutenant in the United States Army Air Force. After the war, he made some popular but forgettable films. It wasn’t after he collaborated with director Wilder on Sunset Boulevard that Holden’s popularity and stature in Hollywood grew to superstar status.

Edmund Gwenn (1877 – 1959) was an English stage and film actor. He is best remembered for his role as Kris Kringle in Miracle on 34^th Street (1947) for which he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. Gwenn made his Hollywood film debut in Sylvia Scarlett (1935) and went on to have a long career in that town. He was a member of what was known as the British Colony—British ex-pats who were working in Hollywood. So of his other films include Pride and Prejudice (1940), Foreign Correspondent (1940), Lassie Come Home (1943), The Keys of the Kingdom (1944), Undercurrent (1946), Apartment for Peggy (1948), and Mister 880 (1950). The actor Cecil Kellaway was Gwenn’s cousin.

William Holden, Jeanne Crain, and Edmund Gwenn in a publicity photo for
Apartment for Peggy

Apartment for Peggy trivia

• Charles Lane as Professor Collins, Jason’s chemistry professor, was uncredited in spite of his reasonably significant role toward the movie’s end.
• Edmund Gwenn both appeared in Miracle on 34^th Street.
• Gene Nelson has an uncredited role as one of the G.I. students.
• Helen Ford’s (Emmy Swasey in The Model and the Marriage Broker) film debut.
• Lux Radio Theater broadcast a 60-minute radio adaptation of the movie on February 28, 1949, with Jeanne Crain, William Holden, and Edmund Gwenn reprising their film roles.
• Jeanne Crain was the first actress to portray an obviously pregnant woman on screen. 

To watch the movie on YouTube, click on the link below.

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Discussion questions

1. The film gives us a glimpse of what life was like after the end of World War II and its effects on returning war veterans. Was it successful in capturing that time period?
2. What did you think of the performances of Jeanne Crain and William Holden? Were they believable as a young, married couple?
3. This was Edmund Gwenn’s second film under the direction of George Seaton. Was he as good here as in Miracle on 34th Street?
4. A lot of the film is lighthearted but it does deal with some difficult issues. Was the film successful in blending comedy with drama?
5. Did the film have a theme or message?
6. New York Times movie critic, Bosley Crowther thought Appartment for Peggy was a better movie than Miracle on 34th Street. Crowther also noted that Crain’s “vivid characterization” as Peggy contributed to the film’s overall success. Do you agree with his review?

Bogart, Hepburn, and Holden star in Billy Wilder's "Sabrina"

Sabrina (1954) is an American romantic comedy directed by Billy Wilder and starring Humphrey Bogart, Audrey Hepburn, and William Holden. The screenplay was by Wilder, Ernest Lehman, and Samuel A. Taylor. The supporting cast includes John Williams, Martha Hyer, Francis X. Bushman, Ellen Corby, and Nancy Kulp.

Sabrina Fairchild (Hepburn), the daughter of the Larrabee family’s chauffeur (Williams) has been in love with David Larrabee for as long as she can remember. David has been married three times and is the handsome, non-working playboy younger brother of the hard-working Linus (Bogart). Sabrina has lived at the Larrabee estate on Long Island her entire life. To David, she is still a little girl.

As a way to help her forget David, her father has arranged for her to attend the Le Cordon Bleu culinary school in Paris. Before she is supposed to leave, she leaves her father a suicide note and proceeds to start all the cars in the garage in an effort to kill herself. Linus, who happens to walk by the garage and hearing all the car engines running, finds Sabrina about the pass out from the fumes. Linus saves Sabrina and brings her to her family’s apartment above the garage.

Sabrina goes to Paris and after completing her cooking course, she comes back to Long Island a sophisticated young woman who David doesn’t even recognize. David finds Sabrina enchanting but there’s one problem; he’s engaged to be married to socialite Elizabeth Tyson (Hyer).

What will happen to Sabrina? Will she find happiness with her childhood crush, David, or is there someone else who is a better match?

Billy Wilder (1906 - 2002) was an Austrian-born American film director, screenwriter, and producer. He won six Academy Awards for his writing and direction and was nominated twenty-one times over a career that spanned five decades. Wilder started his career as a writer, penning the screenplays for Ninotchka (1939), Ball of Fire (1942), Double Indemnity (1945), The Lost Weekend (1946), Sunset Boulevard (1951)  Boulevard (1951), Sabrina (1955), Some Like it Hot (1960), and The Apartment (1961). As a director, he won Academy Awards for directing The Lost Weekend (1946) and The Apartment (1961). Wilder directed fourteen different actors in Oscar-nominated roles. He is considered one of the most versatile directors from Hollywood’s Classical period.

Humphrey Bogart (1899 – 1957) was an American film and stage actor. He is one of the most famous and popular movie stars of Hollywood’s Golden Age. Nicknamed Bogie, the actor toiled in supporting roles in both A and B pictures for a decade before his breakout role as Roy Earle in High Sierra (1941). Many more film roles followed including The Maltese Falcon (1941), Casablanca (1942), Key Largo (1948), and The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948). His career continued with good roles in films like In a Lonely Place (1950), The Caine Mutiny (1954), and Sabrina (1954) co-starring William Holden and Audrey Hepburn. Bogart died from cancer in 1957.

Audrey Hepburn and William Holden

Audrey Hepburn (1929 – 1993) was a British actress. Hepburn won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her first starring role in Roman Holiday (1953), co-starring Gregory Peck. Peck predicted that Hepburn would be a big star during production and insisted that she receive equal screen building with him. Hepburn also starred on Broadway in Gigi and Ondine. Other film roles include Sabrina (1954), War and Peace (1955), Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961), My Fair Lady (1964), How to Steal a Million (1966), Wait Until Dark (1966), Two for the Road (1967). Besides her acting career, Hepburn was a fashion icon and a humanitarian working as Goodwill Ambassador with UNICEF.

William Holden (1918 - 1981) was an American actor and major movie star. He was one of the most bankable stars of the 1950s. Holden starred in some of the most popular and beloved films of all time including Sunset Boulevard, Sabrina, Picnic (1955), The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957), and Stalag 17 for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor. Holden became a star with his very first role in Golden Boy (1939). He had lead roles in other popular films like Our Town (1940), and  I Wanted Wings (1941). World War II interrupted his career. Holden was a first lieutenant in the United States Army Air Force. After the war, he made some popular but forgettable films. It wasn’t after he collaborated with director Wilder on Sunset Boulevard that Holden’s popularity and stature in Hollywood grew to superstar status.

Sabina trivia

• Cary Grant was Wyler's first choice to play Linus. 
• Humphrey Bogart wanted his wife (Lauren Bacall) to play Sabrina.
• Bogart did not enjoy working with Hepburn and Holden. Bogart thought Hepburn was inexperienced.
• The script was being worked on as they filmed. Reportedly, one scene was written in the morning and shot that afternoon. Writer Ernest Lehman had a nervous breakdown during production.
• Hepburn was 24, Holden was 35, and Bogart was 53 during the film's production.
• Bogart was paid $300,000, Holden $150,000, and Hepburn $15,00.

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Bogart, Hepburn, and Holden

Discussion questions

1. Would you have rather seen Cary Grant in the role of Linus or did you think Humphrey Bogart was just right for the role? Joseph Cotten played Linus in Sabrina Fair, the play on which the movie is based. Can you see Cotten in the Bogart role?
2. Some critics think that William Holden was miscast as David; do you agree with the critics?
3. This was only Hepburn's second major film role. What did you make of her performance?
4. Do you think Lauren Bacall would have made a good Sabrina?
5. Did this film remind you of any other romantic comedies you've seen?

William Holden is a prisoner in “Stalag 17”

Stalag 17 (1953) is an American comedy-drama directed by Billy Wilder set in a German prisoner of war camp during World War II. The film is based on the Broadway play of the same name written by Donald Bevan and Edmund Trzcinski. Bevan and Trzcinski based the play on their experiences as prisoners in Stalag 17B in Austria. The film stars William Holden, Don Taylor, and Otto Preminger.

The camp has prisoners from several nations including many Americans. At the beginning of the film, two Americans try to escape through a tunnel but are shot by guards waiting for them. It becomes obvious to the other prisoners that there is a traitor in their midst. The men suspect that J. J. Sefton (Holden), a man who trades with the Germans for food, blankets, and other luxuries is the one betraying their plans to the Germans. Things get more complicated when another prisoner, Lieutenant Jame Dunbar (Taylor) arrives at the camp. 

After being beaten by the other prisoners who suspect he is the traitor, Sefton sets out to discover who the real culprit is.

William Holden

Billy Wilder (1906 - 2002) was an Austrian-born American film director, screenwriter, and producer. He won six Academy Awards for his writing and direction and was nominated twenty-one times over a career that spanned five decades. Wilder started his career as a writer, penning the screenplays for Ninotchka (1939), Ball of Fire (1942), Double Indemnity (1945), The Lost Weekend (1946), Sunset Boulevard  (1951), Sabrina (1955), Some Like it Hot (1960), and The Apartment (1961). As a director, he won Academy Awards for directing The Lost Weekend (1946) and The Apartment (1961). Wilder directed fourteen different actors in Oscar-nominated roles. He is considered one of the most versatile directors from Hollywood’s Classical period.

William Holden (1918 - 1981) was an American actor and major movie star. He was one of the most bankable stars of the 1950s. Holden starred in some of the most popular and beloved films of all time including Sunset Boulevard, Sabrina, Picnic (1955), The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957), and Stalag 17 for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor. Holden became a star with his very first role in Golden Boy (1939). He had lead roles in other popular films like Our Town (1940), and  I Wanted Wings (1941). World War II interrupted his career. Holden was a first lieutenant in the United States Army Air Force. After the war, he made some popular but forgettable films. It wasn’t after he collaborated with director Wilder on Sunset Boulevard that Holden’s popularity and stature in Hollywood grew to superstar status.

Others in the cast include Don Taylor, best know for playing Elizabeth Taylor’s husband in Father of the Bride (1950) and its sequel Father’s Little Dividend (1951), and producer-director Otto Preminger. Preminger directed many popular films including Laura (1944), Forever Amber (1947), The Man with the Golden Arm (1955), and Anatomy of a Murder (1959).

Robert Strauss (Stanislas “Animal” Kuzawa) and Harvey Lembeck (Harry Shapiro) played the same characters in the original Broadway production.

Stalag 17 trivia

• William Holden didn’t think he deserved to win the Academy Award for Best Actor over Burt Lancaster and/or Montgomery Clift who were nominated for Best Actor the same year.
• Holden thought the character of Sefton was too selfish and wanted Wilder to make him more likable. Wilder refused.
• Charlton Heston and Kirk Douglas were originally considered for the role of Sefton. 
• The film was shot in chronological order.

To watch the movie on YouTube click on the link below.

To join the discussion on March 30, 2021, at 6:30 p.m. Central Time, click here. Once you RSVP, you will receive an email with an invitation and link to the meeting on Zoom.

Questions for discussion:

1. Did you like William Holden’s character? 
2. How realistic do you think the film was?
3. Did you have any suspects as to who the informer was before it was revealed?
4. Were you surprised to see Otto Preminger in an acting role?

Why watch Stalag 17?

• It is a fictionalization of real-life events during World War II.
• Director Billy Wilder is considered one of the best writer-directors from Hollywood’s Golden Age.
• To see William Holden’s Oscar-winning performance and see how it holds up today.
• It’s a rare opportunity to see producer-director Otto Preminger in front of the camera instead of behind it.
• The film is an example of what the studio system was capable of producing.

Screening of “Golden Boy” with discussion afterward September 23 at Daystar Center

“Stanwyck on State Street” Series: Golden Boy (1939)
Where: Daystar Center, 1550 S. State Street
When: September 23, 2017
Time: 6:45 p.m.
Hosted by Stephen Reginald

Golden Boy (1939) is the movie adaptation of the hit play by Clifford Odets, directed on film by Rouben Mamoulian. Barbara Stanwyck plays Lorna Moon, a girl from the wrong side of the tracks who tries to raise her station in life by being the mistress of Tom Moody (Adolphe Menjou), an older boxing promoter. Things get complicated when Joe Bonaparte (William Holden), a new young boxer, signs on with Moody. Joe’s first love is music—he plays the violin—but he gets caught up in the excitement and big money a prize fighter can earn. William Holden became a star, in, this, his film debut, but it almost didn’t happen. The producers didn’t think Holden was right in the role, but Barbara Stanwyck came to Holden’s defense and helped coach him to a successful performance.

William Holden, Adolph Menjou, and Barbara Stanwyck

This is part of the “Stanwyck on State Street” series.

Backstory: William Holden plays the Golden Boy, but the producers weren’t sure they made the right decision. When the rushed came in, many thought Holden’s acting was lacking and were ready to replace him. Barbara Stanwcyk came to Holden’s defense, helping the young actor with his line readings and basically boosting his confidence. Stanwyck basically saved Holden’s movie career, a fact that Holden acknowledged at the 1973 Academy Award ceremony. You can see that clip below.

Have some Joe and Enjoy the Show!

You can bring food and beverages into the auditorium; we even have small tables set up next to some of the seats. General Admission: $5 Students and Senior Citizens: $3.

Join the Chicago Film club; join the discussion

Twice a month we screen classic films and have a brief discussion afterward. For more information, including how to join (it’s free), click here. The Venue 1550 is easily accessible by the CTA. Please visit Transit Chicago for more information on transportation options.

Stephen Reginald is a freelance writer and editor. He has worked at various positions within the publishing industry for over 25 years. Most recently he was executive editor for McGraw-Hill’s The Learning Group Division. A long-time amateur student of film, Reginald hosts “Chicago Film Club,” a monthly movie event held in the South Loop, for the past two years. Reginald has also taught several adult education film classes at Facets Film School, Chicago.

Classic Films in Context: “Apartment for Peggy”

Of all the movies made about returning World War II veterans and their struggles, Apartment for Peggy (1948) probably isn’t the first one that comes to mind. Directed by George Seaton and released a year after his award winning holiday classic Miracle on 34th Street, Apartment for Peggy holds up remarkably well.

William Holden, Jeanne Crain, and Edmund Gwenn

Jeanne Crain and William Holden play a young married couple trying to cope with the GI housing shortage after the war. The movie begins with Peggy (Crain), who appears to be very pregnant, taking a short rest on a park bench next to retired Professor Henry Barnes (Edmund Gwenn). Peggy takes an immediate liking to the old professor; she calls him “pops” and baffles him with her rapid-fire speech and modern slang. When she finds out that Barnes’s friend, Professor Bell, (Gene Lockhart) might have “suction” with veteran housing on campus, Peggy asks Barnes to please put in a good word for her.

Before you know it, Peggy and Jason are turning Professor Barnes’s attic into a very comfortable and functional living space. Even Professor Barnes is amazed at the transformation. Reluctant at first to this “home invasion,” Professor Barnes learns to enjoy sharing his home with the young couple, although living with Peggy can be challenging at times.

What Peggy and Jason don’t know, is that before they moved in, the professor was planning his own suicide. The university forced him to retire years earlier and Barnes thinks his usefulness has come to an end. His wife is deceased and his only son was killed in the First World War. He concludes that he’s lived a good, satisfying life and feels it’s time to exit on his own terms.

Peggy (Crain, center) and Jason (Holden, right)
serve Professor Barnes tea in his renovated attic.

With all the veterans attending college, learning new things, the wives feel left out in the cold. Some think their husbands are drifting away. Peggy feels that it would be great if there was some way for the wives to get an overview of what their husbands are learning so they can grow together instead of apart. Peggy “volunteers” Professor Barnes for the job of organizing the instruction. At first he is annoyed with Peggy for saying he would take on such a task, after all, he has a suicide to arrange. But after a few classes with the wives, Barnes finds himself enjoying teaching like he never did before. He also discovers that he’s becoming involved in the lives of Peggy and Jason, something he never imagined.

At her baby shower, Peggy feels that something is wrong. She goes to the hospital where she miscarries, leaving Jason and Professor Barnes at a loss for words. Jason and the professor walk home from the hospital in silence, grief and disappointment etched on their faces.

When Jason gets a job in Chicago as a used car salesman, things begin to fall apart for Peggy and Professor Barnes. Peggy’s dreams of having a chemistry-teacher husband evaporate like steam from a teakettle. And what’s worse, Peggy is convinced that Jason really wants to be a professor, but thinks that he should be earning more money to provide for his wife.

Peggy reluctantly announces that she’s moving out to be with Jason in Chicago. Once again, Professor Barnes feels that he has no useful purpose in life. In his despair, he takes an overdose of sleeping pills. When Peggy finds out what he’s done, she forces black coffee down his throat and makes him walk around the house to stay awake. When Jason arrives on the scene and finds out what the professor has done, he gives him a tough-love speech. The speech is effective enough that Professor Barnes decides he really wants to live. In the end, Jason decides that he wants to be a chemistry teacher in spite of it all.

Holden as Jason Taylor

Seaton demonstrates his ability to portray characters that are true to life. The interactions between Crain, Gwenn, and Holden seem natural, not forced. Seaton manages to inspire the audience without being corny or overly sentimental. He also gets wonderful performances from the three stars, but Crain really shines as Peggy. The success of the movie rests on her shoulders. If you don’t care about Peggy, the movie falls apart. New York Times movie critic, Bosley Crowther thought Appartment for Peggy was a better movie than Miracle on 34th Street. Crowther also noted that Crain’s “vivid characterization” as Peggy contributed to the film’s overall success.

Through Seaton’s writing and direction, we see how liberating education, and not just the book kind, can be. The enthusiasm the wives show in Professor Barnes’s philosophy class is inspiring; the joy of learning is obvious and contagious. And what about the joy the instructor expresses? Seaton makes it clear there is wisdom in old age and it should be respected and appreciated, not thrown away or pushed aside.

Apartment for Peggy is a time capsule of what life was like (including the colorful slang of the day) during post-World War II America. It’s funny without being overly cute. It’s sad without being depressing. Seaton manages to capture the entire human experience in a wonderfully entertaining package. It’s a neglected classic that needs to be given its due.


Backstory: Apartment for Peggy was the first movie to actually portray a pregnant woman on screen with a large belly! Prior to this film, women were not pictured on screen in the “family way.”

Apartment for Peggy is available on DVD as part of Twentieth Century Fox’s Cinema Archives releases. The Technicolor Print is adequate, with interior scenes appearing on the dark side and with little contrast. The sound is perfect, but as with all of the on-demand Cinema Archives editions, it has no extras. It’s unfortunate that Fox didn’t think this film was worthy of a restoration with extras, considering the talent involved. It really deserves a better presentation on video.

Jeanne Crain: More Than Just a Pretty Face

A Fan's Perspective
I’m an unabashed fan of Jeanne Crain. Today is her birthday; if she were still with us, she’d be 86 years old. Crain was a beauty for sure, but she was also a talented movie actress who doesn’t get the credit she deserves. On screen she had a unique quality. Film fans loved her. During the war years, her fan mail was second only to Betty Grable's.

A studio photograph of Jeanne Crain

Home at Twentieth Century Fox
Signed to an exclusive contract with Twentieth Century Fox in 1943, Crain went through the star making machine. Cast in small roles at first alongside bigger stars, Crain made Home in Indiana and In the Meantime Darling in 1944. A hit with the public from the start, Crain received her best critical notices that same year in Winged Victory. But bigger roles and greater fame were on the horizon.

From Second Lead to Major Star
In 1945, Crain starred as Margy Frake in the hit musical, State Fair opposite Dana Andrews. That same year she played Gene Tierney’s stepsister in the box office blockbuster, Leave Her to Heaven. The film was a triumph for Tierney, earning her a best actress nod, but Crain had the film’s final closeup, beautifully photographed in Technicolor by none other than Academy Award winning cinematographer, Leon Shamroy. Next up for Crain was another musical, Centennial Summer (1946). Fox’s answer to M-G-M’s Meet Me in St. Louis, featured original music by Jerome Kern. But it would be her next film that would make her a household name and pop culture icon.

Crain made the cover of Life in 1946.

Historic Bubble Bath
With hers the only name above the title in Margie (1946), studio chief Darryl Zanuck propelled Crain to movie superstardom. As Margie MacDuff, a shy high school student during the roaring twenties, Crain was pitch-perfect. Noting Crain’s increasing popularity, Life magazine did a feature on the young actress, calling her “…one of Hollywood’s most talented young stars.” The feature goes on about the movie magic required to film a bubble bath scene that required “…a specially designed machine which could blow 250 [bubbles] per second out of a mixture of soap and glycerine…the small army of technicians present agreed that this was a scrubbing sensational enough to make Claudette Colbert’s historic 1932 milk bath in The Sign of the Cross look like Saturday night along Tobacco Road.” They don’t write publicity pieces like that anymore!

William Holden, Crain, and Edmund Gwen starred in the classic Apartment for Peggy.

Neglected Classic
In 1948, Crain starred in Apartment for Peggy with William Holden and recent Academy Award winner, Edmund Gwen. One of the neglected post-World War II films, Apartment for Peggy explores the housing shortage veterans encountered, among other issues, upon returning home. Directed by George Seaton (Miracle on 34th Street), Crain received some of her best reviews ever. The New York Times’s Bosley Crowther had this to say about the film: “It is the true demonstration of a GI student, which William Holden plays, and, especially, the vivid characterization, by Jeanne Crain, of his wife… Anyone who doesn't see it will be missing one of the best comedies of the year.”

Crain received her one and only Best Actress nomination for Pinky.

One Amazing Year!
On a winning streak and with world-wide popularity, Crain made three successful films released in 1949: A Letter to Three Wives, directed by Joseph Mankiewicz, The Fan, directed by Otto Preminger, and Pinky, directed by Elia Kazan. The latter earned Crain her one and only Best Actress Academy Award nomination, playing a light-skinned black woman passing for white. The controversial movie was the top grossing film of the year. All this success brought Crain to Grauman’s Chinese Theatre and the honor of immortalizing her hands and footprints in cement.

Crain's hands and footprints at Grauman's Chinese Theatre

 

Pregnant Pauses
Other successes followed Crain into the 1950s, but the actress was growing tired of playing teenagers when she was in real life a wife and mother. Seemingly forever pregnant, Crain missed out on several top roles Zanuck had lined up for her. Supposedly, he “punished” Crain by casting her in some B-pictures that did nothing to move her career forward. Frustrated, Crain bought out her contract and left Fox where she had been a major star for 10 years. Unfortunately, Crain’s freelance work never equaled the success she attained at her former studio. The movie business was changing and the studios were dropping major stars and hiring new (and cheaper) talent.

One of Crain's last films for Fox

Enduring Popularity
Crain’s film career pretty much ended in the early-1960s, but her popularity with movie fans continued until her death in 2003. Liked and admired by her costars as well as the public, Crain left a tremendous body of film work that is a testament to both her talent and radiant beauty.