Do you know the name “Gladys Glover”? Unfortunately, no one did – which is wildly different from the ambitions held by the young Gladys (Judy Holliday), who wanted nothing more than to be famous. Her move from Upstate New York to the Big Apple was supposed to bring her fame and fortune, and launch her into high society – and a prestigious modelling career seemed to put her right on the precipice of stardom. This is until the vicious industry standards caught up to her, and she was needlessly fired from her position. Wandering the streets and parks of the city, she comes into contact with Pete Sheppard (Jack Lemmon), a young documentary filmmaker who cheers her up and helps her realize that stardom is well within her reach with the right mindset. However, Gladys takes this a bit too literally, and finds herself across from a confused advertising executive, who is bewildered by her request – she wants to rent one of the large billboards overlooking the city, on which she will simply write her name, as she’s always dreamed of seeing her name on one of these signs. Her request is initially denied – but what is soon made very clear is that the combination of grit and determination (as well as a considerable amount of money in one’s pocket) can help any dream come true. It isn’t long before Gladys is New York City’s most famous resident – which is even more surprising, considering no one seems to even know what she looks like. However, she doesn’t mind the attention when they discover who she is – after all, she has always wanted to be a celebrity, so all it took was a small boost from her severance payment, and a lot of conviction, and she found herself achieving the recognition she always desired – yet, at what cost did this ascent to fame come?

Looking at the sheer amount of talent involved in It Should Happen to You, you’d expect it to have a much higher standing in the industry. It is directed by George Cukor, one of the most wildly acclaimed directors working during the Golden Age of Hollywood, and featured a small but impressive cast, composed of Judy Holliday – who was at her peak, after rising to acclaim with the combination of Adam’s Rib and Born Yesterday a few years earlier, which elevated her to the status of one of the most sought-after actresses at that time – in the leading role, as well as the screen debut of Jack Lemmon, whose ease in front of the camera clearly demonstrates that he was always meant to be a star. While it isn’t necessarily obscure in the sense that it hasn’t received wide distribution and garnered many supporters over the years, but considering its many unique traits, it’s disorienting to imagine how the film is still quite underseen, especially in later years when this kind of charming, satirical comedy became the foundation for innumerable critiques of the media, albeit in a form that was far more cynical than what Cukor was doing here. Rediscovering a minor masterpiece is never a wasted endeavour, and It Should Happen to You, for all of its overt simplicity, magnificently traverses some narrative territory that a lesser film might have struggled to accommodate, all while being an effervescent and delightful piece of satire that is just as charming as any of the earlier screwball comedies made by the director, whose attention to detail and ability to extract emotion from even the most trivial scene earned him a solid place in the canon of masterful filmmakers, so much that even a relatively small film like this can be considered a massive achievement through his skillfulness.

It Should Happen to You is a major film in how it presents us with some intimidating themes, and over the course of only 87 minutes manages to make a scathing commentary on the nature of celebrity, long before the concept of “fifteen minutes of fame” was famously coined by Andy Warhol, an adage that as remained more relevant today more than it did all those decades ago. There is a tendency to conflate the idea of a film being subversive with ahead of its time – the two aren’t necessarily mutually exclusive, but far too many examples of those labelled as such are really just the result of luck, or the fact that history tends to repeat itself. Instead of accidentally revealing itself to be relevant in later years, It Should Happen to You genuinely seems to anticipate the rise of the media – this film occurred concurrently to the rise of the cult of advertising, and isn’t opposed at all to challenging the conventions of an industry built on persuading people how to think. Cukor made a scathing satire that eviscerates the entire concept of celebrity, which he cleverly disguises as a sweet and endearing romantic comedy, which creates a peculiar sensation that many viewers may not be anticipating. The control of tone and atmosphere is incredible, with the director making sure that everything comes across as entirely authentic, even at its most surreal – it doesn’t matter that this is a truly far-fetched story (although anyone who watches It Should Happen to You and doesn’t consider, at least for a brief moment, purchasing advertising space on a billboard just to attempt to rise to worldwide fame is clearly not engaging with the film enough), because Cukor’s direction is so convincing, we can easily get lost in his world, one that is recognizable, but where everything is slightly off-kilter, allowing for such strange but captivating stories to be told.

Judy Holliday is often the victim of a needless amount of ire from devotees of classical Hollywood, mostly due to her comedic tour de force in Born Yesterday winning many more accolades than more celebrated performances like Bette Davis in All About Eve and Gloria Swanson in Sunset Boulevard, two films that have become much more a part of the culture than the quaint comedy. However, Cukor obviously saw something of value in Holliday, as did playwright and screenwriter Garson Kanin, who worked with her on three separate occasions (in addition to the aforementioned Born Yesterday, they all collaborated on Adam’s Rib and The Marrying Kind). They reunited in It Should Happen to You, which could legitimately be the peak of their collaborations, not only because it found the three artists challenging themselves – Kanin in writing an effective satire, Cukor in executing it, and Holliday in standing at the forefront and delivering what is essentially a glorified one-woman show – but because there’s something so unexpectedly raw about the film. It’s a hilarious comedy, but it feels like it has genuine depth, which is a quality that Cukor often used in his films, combining humour and melancholy to create achingly funny, and profoundly interesting character studies that evoked laughter and provoked thought. It may seem like a cutting-edge satire, but there’s a level of heartfulness that elevates It Should Happen to You and makes it so much more than a straightforward comedy, much of that coming through Holliday’s committed performance. Truly one of the most likeable actresses to ever work in the medium, she delivers a solid, engrossing performance that finds her actively engaging with the material and emerging as an exceptionally gifted actress that can easily volley all the strange and absurd themes that form the foundation of this film.

In an era where any logical person would look at the rise of certain celebrities and wonder how they managed to become famous, It Should Happen to You has never been more relevant. Satire, despite often being inextricably tied to some particular aspect of the culture at the time (whether a specific event, or just a general mentality plucked from that era), has a tendency to age extremely well, which Cukor was incredibly effective at demonstrating. It’s not about exploring the issues of the day so much as it is focusing on a particular aspect of society, and filtering it through the lens of humour, without derailing the message at the heart of the story. There are many themes embedded in this film, but it doesn’t become too overly concerned with overloading it with commentary, instead choosing to keep everything at the profoundly human level, and deriving a lot of its entertainment value from the intricate relationship between the actors and the script, which is more than enough to justify some of Cukor’s marvellous choices when making this film. It’s a major work that is only gradually starting to get recognition, and whether we want to view it as a cautionary tale that warns us against the dangers of becoming a celebrity, or the gradual deconstruction of the very idea of fame, It Should Happen to You is a terrific film, and a peak for all involved, especially considering how some of them have been needlessly vilified for reasons outside of their control. Funny, heartfelt and unforgettable, Cukor made a wonderful satire that traverses all sides of the social divide and emerges truly triumphant.