The Solid Gold Cadillac **** (1956, Judy Holliday, Paul Douglas, John Williams, Fred Clark) – Classic Movie Review 5702

Director Richard Quine’s entertaining 1956 comedy stars the fizzy, utterly delightful Judy Holliday as Laura Partridge, a resting actress and a small shareholder in a big business, owning just 10 shares.

She upsets the corporate applecart by asking the corrupt chairman and board a few searching questions, and joins up with Ed McKeever (Paul Douglas) to win back the company he founded.

This is a thoroughly enjoyable film of George S Kaufman and Howard Teichmann’s play, which starred Josephine Hull on Broadway, with a crackling screenplay by Abe Burrows, snappy direction and very engaging performances throughout the cast.

Fine character actors John Williams, Fred Clark, Hiram Sherman, Neva Patterson, Ralph Dumke, Ray Collins, Arthur O’Connell, Richard Deacon and Harry Antrim are all seen at their best. George Burns tells the tale in voice over narration.

Charles Lang shoots in black and white but in colour for a Technicolor final sequence to show off Laura and McKeever’s solid gold Cadillac, shot in New York City’s Rockefeller Center. The colour print was restored for home video in the Nineties and is shown on TV.

Also in the cast are Marilyn Hanold, Jean Harvey, Larry Hudson, Jack Latham, Ann Loos, Voltaire Perkins, Maurice Manson, Audrey Swanson, Paul Weber, Joseph Hamilton, Oliver Cliff, Lulu Mae Bohrman and Sandra White.

The movie is an Oscar winner for Best Costume Design, Black-and-White (Jean Louis).

The Broadway production opened at the Belasco Theater on 5 November 1953 and ran for 526 performances till 12 February 1955.

Holliday and Douglas starred together on Broadway in the play Born Yesterday, but she starred with Broderick Crawford in the 1950 Born Yesterday film version.

© Derek Winnert 2017 Classic Movie Review 5702

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