It Should Happen to You

The Garson Kanin screenplay isn't out of his top drawer, but it has a cute idea at the heart of it, one that has become more timely with the passing years: Celebrity can be bought. Judy Holliday plays a nobody who wants to be a somebody, and with the help of a cynical agent and a clever marketing ploy, she becomes one. Indeed, with the media machine grown so disproportionately huge since, this movie cries out for a remake. But who could ever match Holliday's musical, clinically precise line readings, or her wide-eyed facial expressions? There really is only one of her.

Jack Lemmon, in his movie debut, is likeable and accomplished, and some amusing faces turn up in supporting and cameo roles -- Constance Bennett, Ilka Chase, Peter Lawford. There's some gritty New York location filming, approximately where Lincoln Center is now (and where "West Side Story" was shot years later), adding to the verite motif in the subplot (Lemmon plays a documentary filmmaker).

With Cukor's sure direction, everybody seems to be having a wonderful time. So will you.