Judy Holliday, began her career in a night-club act, before working in Broadway plays and musicals. Her success in the 1946 stage production of Born Yesterday as "Billie Dawn" led to her being cast in the 1950 film version, for which she won the Academy Award for Best Actress and the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress, Motion Picture Musical or Comedy. She performed in many films in the 1950s. She was best known for her performance on Broadway in the musical Bells Are Ringing, winning a Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical and reprising her role in the 1960 film.
Also in 1954, she performed in a couple of my favorite films with Jack Lemmon in, It Should Happen to You, and again (in 1954), in Phffft!.
Judy Holliday, Kay Starr, Janet Blair and Tyrone Power(1955).
Bells Are Ringing (1960) Romantic/comedy/musical. Director: Vincente Minnelli. Cast: Judy Holliday and Dean Martin.
Brooklyn Switchboard operator Ella Peterson, works for telephone answering service Susanswerphone. Even though Sue's orders are only to "take and give" messages, Ella uses different voices to help her clients with their lives, even posing as Santa Claus to convince a small child to behave. Ella becomes interested in playwright Jeffrey Moss, who calls her "Mom". He just recently lost his writing partner and his having trouble finishing the outline for his play.. "Mom" tries to boost his ego, but instead.. Jeffrey drinks himself to sleep.
Meanwhile, Inspector Barnes and his assistant Francis, suspect that Susanswerphone is really a prostitution ring, pretend to be magazine reporters, interview Ella while wire-taping the switchboard.
Sue's boyfriend, J. Otto Prantz, moves into the apartment to run his music distribution business, Titanic Records, which is really a front for a bookkeeping operation. During a meeting with his bookies, Otto explains the new system: When customers place their bets, they will be translated into a classical music record album code for instance, "Beethoven" is really Belmont Park and "five hundred orders" is a $500 bet.
The next morning, when Jeffrey does not answer Ella's wake up call, she goes to his apartment, excited to finally to know what he looks like. The trouble is, how will she tell him who she really is?
I'm a huge Dean Martin fan!! I thought Holliday and Martin were soooo cute together. At first I thought it might be an odd paring.. The songwriting dentist will give you a few chuckles too.
Fun Facts:
This was Arthur Freed and Vincente Minnelli's last musical for MGM.
Judy Holliday's last film.
Jean Stapleton(born January 19, 1923). She is best known for her portrayal of Edith Bunker, in the 1970s TV comedy, All in the Family.
