The Movie: The Jerk (1979)
What Is It?: Steve
Martin’s Navin R. Johnson tells the story of how he built a fortune on his armless
eyeglasses empire and then lost it all. Actually, Johnson is more of a naïve
doofus than a jerk, which implies that he’s got a mean bone in his body, which
he doesn’t, and his romance with Bernadette Peters is very sweet.
Why Today?: On this day in 1945, Steve Martin is born.
