Lemmon was excellent as the chimp at the zoo. He jumped on the fencing like a total idiot, and I feel that this is one of those good acting assignments that a director would ask: "Be a chimp at the zoo. Be a robot in a laboratory. Be an alien from outer space." You get the picture. Lemmon even asked the crowd to throw peanuts at him, but alas, they got carried away. But I digress . . .Lawford smarmy. I liked his character better in "Good News". The car in this movie was fabulous. Gladys should have known she would be taken for a ride, and not in the innocent sense. Lemmon was right that Lawford was a masher, and Gladys was too naive to see it.Judy the greatest. She also had a great dramatic part in "Adam's Rib", being questioned on the witness stand by Katharine Hepburn. In "It Should Happen", Judy is that wide-eyed bumpkin with a naive notion of NYC fame. Today, in stereotypical parlance, she wouldn't be walking in the park alone, and talking with strangers. Her bare feet would be running into used "medical" needles and other such trash. She might certainly be hit up by panhandlers and other such bums.In this movie, Judy meets up early with an idiot who only wants to fight with her in the park. Later, she meets him again at the water fountain. Maybe today, he would catch a disease at the fountain. Good thing I never saw him again in the movie.Gladys certainly had faith in herself. Even if no one else did, all of a sudden when she showed the cash she was almost taken seriously. Too bad Lawford was such a schmuck to want to do her out of her famous 15 minutes.I liked the singing parts between Judy and Lemmon. Did they do their own singing? They are all gone now. Judy, Lemmon and Lawford. I do like to look back at their old movies.12/10

This is one of those movies that could only be pulled off in the days of Golden Age Hollywood. The story is quite ludicrous, with Judy Holliday's character, in a last-ditch effort for fame, using her life savings to put up her name on a prominent billboard in New York City, and subsequently, through fortunate coincidences, becoming a famous model and spokesperson.That said though, the movie's still a delightful watch, thanks to the charms of Holliday and Jack Lemmon, whose debut performance this was. Judy Holliday plays such a lovable un-dumb blonde. She comes across as ditzy, but like the real person (Holliday reputedly had a high IQ), her character, while not shrewd, has enough savvy to get what she want and know what she won't put up with (e.g. her rich boss's amorous advances). And Lemmon, wow. Even before he became famous he already had that energetic Lemmon personality that would make him stand out in all his roles.It Should Happen to You was directed by George Cukor - one of my favorites, since he was known for being an actor's director and bringing out the best performances, as evident here.

IT SHOULD HAPPEN TO YOU is a fluffy comedy about a girl (JUDY HOLLIDAY in another dumb blonde role) who fancies seeing her name on a billboard even if she has to put it there herself. PETER LAWFORD is the head of a corporation that wants to use the empty billboard to advertise their soap product. JACK LEMMON, in his film debut, plays the kind of role he would play many times over throughout his career--a carefree guy in love with an empty-headed woman.It's true that none of the characters are particularly likable, but these three go about their paces with such personal charm that you tend to forget their characters are really pretty obnoxious people.George Cukor directs with skill and the result is a likable enough comedy that manages to keep the laugh meter busy for most of its running time.Summing up: Harmless fun with Judy Holliday at her best and Peter Lawford proving that he should have attempted more light comedy roles.

Judy Holliday struck gold in 1950 withe George Cukor's film version of "Born Yesterday," and from that point forward, her career consisted of trying to find material good enough to allow her to strike gold again.It never happened. In "It Should Happen to You" (I can't think of a blander title, by the way), Holliday does yet one more variation on the dumb blonde who's maybe not so dumb after all, but everything about this movie feels warmed over and half hearted. Even Jack Lemmon, in what I believe was his first film role, can't muster up enough energy to enliven this recycled comedy. The audience knows how the movie will end virtually from the beginning, so mostly it just sits around waiting for the film to catch up.Maybe if you're enamored of Holliday you'll enjoy this; otherwise I wouldn't bother.Grade: C