It’s a twist on the Pygmalion story. If Henry Higgins were too busy to actually educate Eliza and instead hired Freddie to do it, you might get something like this movie.

But it’s not as simple as that. Judy Holliday’s character changes, but it’s not that William Holden swooped in and saved her. Rather, her change comes from the books she’s read. It’s hard to think of a movie that can convincingly portray a character’s life being affected by a quote from Thomas Jefferson, but this one does it. And does it while being funny too. Holliday won a Best Actress award for this, and she most definitely deserved it.

It’s also got it’s gender politics pretty well-squared away. Sometimes you watch an old movie and you cringe at how the writers and directors treat something. This movie handles it all pretty well. Holliday gets slapped pretty badly, and it’s not glossed over as often happens in old movies. Rather, it’s a big deal, and treated as such.