Born Yesterday Page #3

Synopsis: Uncouth, loud-mouth junkyard tycoon Harry Brock descends upon Washington D.C. to buy himself a congressman or two, bringing with him his mistress, ex-showgirl Billie Dawn. Brock hires newspaperman Paul Verrall to see if he can soften her rough edges and make her more presentable in capital society. But Harry gets more than he bargained for as Billie absorbs Verall's lessons in U.S. history and not only comes to the realization that Harry is nothing but a two-bit, corrupt crook, but in the process also falls in love with her handsome tutor.
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Director(s): George Cukor
Production: Columbia Pictures
  Won 1 Oscar. Another 3 wins & 10 nominations.
 
IMDB:
7.6
Rotten Tomatoes:
95%
APPROVED
Year:
1950
103 min
2,097 Views


- 10:
00 all right?

- That's pretty early for me.

I'll say.

- 11:
00?

- Okay.

- I can drop by here, if that's okay.

- Sure. It's right on your way.

We can discuss the entire operation

and get a head start.

Wanna wash your hands

or anything, honey?

I hope you're free Friday night.

Doing a little dinner.

- A few people I want Harry to meet.

- And who want to meet him, I'm sure.

I want to thank you, Mr. Brock,

for everything.

Call me Harry,

will ya, Congressman?

I haven't written you about it, Harry,

because... Well, you understand.

You know what I'm interested in.

Scrap iron. I wanna buy it and sell it.

I don't wanna get stuck

by falling prices.

- I have a copy of the preliminary...

- Give it to me fast.

I didn't come down here

to do paperwork.

The way I work,

it's every man for himself.

You gotta get the other guy

before he gets you.

Exactly.

What I got in mind is

an operatin' combo all over the world.

There's enough in it for everybody.

Up till now, I'm doing just fine.

Everybody understands everybody.

- I wanna get movin'.

- In legislation of this kind...

That, to me, is just a lot of hot air.

I ain't talkin' about peanuts.

This jam the committee's

gotten itself into.

Give them enough rope.

I've said so...

The trouble with these

professional do-gooders is...

They never seem to know when to stop.

I've said that...

There's a way to get this thing done.

It's up to you and Jim to find out how.

Yes, the Hedges/Keller Amendment,

for example...

guarantees government support of scrap

iron price levels, foreign or domestic.

- We're trying to get it through quickly.

- See that you do.

That's why I'm here...

to see that I get what I paid for.

How do things look?

- Generally?

- Yes, generally.

I said to Sam only last week,

this country wilt soon have to decide...

if the people

are going to run the government...

or the government run the people.

- That's good, sound thinking, Norval.

- Thank you.

- Worthy of Holmes.

- Great man, Holmes.

My personal god.

Who?

- Oliver Wendell Holmes.

- A wonderful man.

He gonna be here Friday night?

- I don't think so.

- Too bad.

- Well, we mustn't keep you.

- No, we mustn't.

- Good night, Mrs. Brock.

- Good night.

- Good night, Norval.

- Good night, Jim.

- See you at 11:
00.

- That's right.

- Good night, Anna. It's been so nice.

- Good night. And thank you.

For what? Wait till I'm here a while.

I'll give you somethin' to thank me for.

Good night, all.

- Drips.

- What?

- They're drips.

- Who are you to say?

- I'm myself, that's who.

- Well, nobody asked you. Shut up.

Pardon me for living.

- Get lost.

- Not yet.

Get lost, I told ya.

- She's gonna be in the way, that dame.

- What are you gonna do about it?

I feel like givin' her the brush.

- Pretty complicated.

- Yeah, I know.

She owns more of you than you do

on paper.

She's gonna louse me up

all the way down the line. Dumb broad.

You may be right.

Listen, Harry.

- Send her home.

- No.

Why not?

I'm nuts about her.

- Can't have your cake and eat it.

- What?

- Just a saying.

- That don't make any sense.

All right.

- What's cakes got to do with it?

- Nothing, Harry.

- Must be a way we can smarten her up.

- I suppose so.

Some school we could send her to?

- I doubt that.

- Then what?

We might be able to find someone

who could smooth the rough edges off.

- How?

- Let me think about it.

- I'd like you to think about something.

- What?

- About marrying her right away.

- Why get married all of the sudden?

If you ever got dragged into court, a

wife can't testify against her husband.

Anyway, you've been engaged seven years.

Why have you waited this long?

I didn't want to be rushed.

This way, I give her something,

I'm swell.

We get married,

she's got it comin'... she thinks.

- Billie's not like that.

- A broad's a broad.

- You'll be sorry.

- All right, I'll let you know.

But if I do or don't,

we stilt gotta do somethin' about her.

Every time she opened her kisser tonight

somethin' wrong come out.

- Couldn't you talk to her?

- It'd take more than a talk.

- Then what?

- It's not easy to make a person over.

- Maybe impossible.

- Wait a minute.

That interview guy. What's his name?

He's a pretty smart cookie.

- Paul Verrall.

- He knows the angles.

- He's very classy.

- He could do it, but he won't.

- Why not?

- Well, he's not...

- I'll pay him whatever he wants.

- I don't think so.

- I'll bet you. What's his number?

- Harry, I'm not sure...

I like it. What's his number?

Come on, come on, come on.

- You ate already, huh?

- Yeah.

- You want some pie?

- No, thanks.

- How about a drink?

- No, thanks.

Okay, pal,

I wanna ask you somethin'.

Sure.

- How much you make a week?

- What am t, an accountant?

I love this guy.

- What's your name again?

- Verrall.

- I mean your regular name.

- Paul.

Look, Paul, I got a friend, a good kid.

Maybe you seen her around. Billie?

- Oh, yes.

- She's a good kid, but a tittle stupid.

It's not her fault, mind you.

I got her out of the chorus.

For the chorus she was smart enough,

but she might he unhappy in this town.

Never been around such people.

You know?

- No, I don't.

- A guy like you could help her out.

- Me too.

- How?

Show her the ropes.

Kinda explain things to her.

- What do you say?

- No, I don't think I could handle it.

It'd mean an awful lot to me.

I'll give you $200 a week.

- All right, I'll do it.

- I love this guy.

- When do I start?

- Right now.

- Fine.

- Come with me. I'll introduce ya.

You can take it from there.

Come down here a minute.

Come on in.

She's a nice kid.

You're gonna like her.

- I'm gettin' dressed.

- It's all right.

He's a friend of the family.

Come on, I'm tellin' ya!

- Honey, this is Paul Verrall.

- Yes, I know.

- He wants to talk to you.

- What about?

You'll find out.

Jim and I got some work to work on.

I'm gonna have to leave you two.

Well, your friend Mr. Brock

has an idea.

He'd like us to spend

a little time together.

You and me, that is.

- You don't say.

- Yes.

Well, what are you,

some kind of gigolo?

- Not exactly.

- So what's the idea?

Well, it's nothing special.

He'd just like me

to put you wise to a few things...

show you the ropes,

answer any questions.

- I got no questions.

- I'll give you some.

Thanks.

It might be fun for you.

There's a lot to see down here.

I'd be glad to show you around.

- You know the Supreme Court?

- Yes.

- I'd like to take that in.

- Fine.

- We're on, then?

- How do you mean?

The arrangement.

I don't mind.

Got nothin' much to do.

Good.

What's he paying you?

- Two hundred a week.

- Sucker. You could've got more.

- He's got plenty.

- I'd have done it for free.

- I would.

- Why?

This isn't work.

I like it.

He thinks I'm too stupid, huh?

He's right.

I'm stupid, and I like it.

- You do?

- Sure.

I'm happy.

I got everything I want.

Two mink coats.

Everything.

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Albert Mannheimer

Albert Mannheimer (9 March 1913, New York City, New York - 19 March 1972, Los Angeles County, California) was an American writer, principally of screenplays, including the Academy Award nominated screenplay for Born Yesterday, which screenplay also received the Writers Guild of America award for Best Written American Comedy Award. He was a protégé of philosopher-novelist Ayn Rand in the late 1940s and early 1950s. His relationship with Rand is covered in two recent (as of 2010) books - Ayn Rand and the World She Made by Anne C. Heller and Goddess of the Market by Jennifer Burns. more…

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Submitted on August 05, 2018

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    "Born Yesterday" Scripts.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 7 Nov. 2024. <https://www.scripts.com/script/born_yesterday_4528>.

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