Born Yesterday (1993)

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General		Extras
Category	Romantic Comedy	None
Rating
Year Of Production	1993
Running Time	98:08 (Case: 96)
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Language Select Then Menu
Region Coding	2,4	Directed By	Luis Mandoki
Studio Distributor	Walt Disney Studios Home Ent.	Starring	Melanie Griffith John Goodman Don Johnson Edward Herrmann Max Perlich Michael Ensign Benjamin C. Bradlee Sally Quinn William Frankfather Fred Dalton Thompson Celeste Yarnall Nora Dunn Meg Wittner
Case	Amaray-Transparent-Secure Clip
RPI	$19.95	Music	George Fenton

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s) French Dolby Digital 5.1 (384Kb/s) Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 (384Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.85:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	1.85:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English English for the Hearing Impaired French Spanish Swedish Norwegian Danish Finnish Dutch Spanish Titling	Smoking	Yes
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

Born Yesterday was originally a play written and first directed by Garson Kanin which was adapted into a successful 1950 film, directed by George Cukor. It was later remade again in 1993 with Melanie Griffith in the original Judy Holliday role as Emma "Billie" Dawn, John Goodman in the original Broderick Crawford role as Harry Brock and Don Johnson in the original William Holden role as Paul Verrall. This production was directed by Luis Mandoki.

The premise of Born Yesterday is quite simple. Harry Brock is a multi-millionaire. He works seven days a week and for him happiness is wealth. But unfortunately, Brock isn't a pleasant person to be around; he is demanding, particular and often uses his temper to negotiate business deals. Brock's better half is former Las Vegas show girl Emma "Billie" Dawn, a woman who finds happiness in the exquisite jewels and clothes she receives as gifts from Brock.

Both Brock and Dawn are most happy when they are away from business but Brock is currently finalising a major business deal which forces him to move to Washington. Dawn unwillingly follows him and finds herself the laughing stock of the town as she is unable to fit in with the yuppie political scene. Brock, somewhat embarrassed by Dawn's ignorance, convinces journalist and teacher Verrall to educate Dawn about culture and politics. Verrall agrees not for the financial benefit but because he likes Dawn. Over the course of a few weeks the two meet regularly and Verrall helps Dawn with her self-confidence and her ability to understand her surrounds. The two fall for each other, but Verrall resists as Dawn is involved with Brock. Brock's dealings with the political senators in Washington alarm Verrall and Dawn and the three find themselves contemplating ethical and emotional choices which affect them all.

As the film is derived from a play, the enjoyment of the film is attributed to the cast and all three deliver very good performances, especially Goodman. At the time of production, Melanie Griffith and Don Johnson were married and they work quite well together. Griffith plays the transformation of her character quite low key and Johnson plays Verrall modestly - his performance is far removed from that of James 'Sonny' Crockett, which allows Goodman to play the tycoon character outlandishly. All three actors are commendable and I enjoyed this movie.

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There are no extras on this release.

The R1 release is identical.

An enjoyable film which is faithful to its origins. The DVD is of average quality with no extras included.

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