Year:
1940
Studio:
Columbia Pictures
Feature:
4/5
DVD:
3/5
Hildy Johnson (Rosalind Russell) is a newspaper reporter and a darn
good one too, bold as brass and able to keep up with any man. But she's
finally settling down and getting married to insurance salesman and
all-around boring guy Bruce Baldwin (Ralph Bellamy). This comes as a
shock to chief editor of the Morning Post and her ex-husband Walter
Burns (Cary Grant), quite the smooth-talking double-dealing
back-stabbing newspaper guy.
Hildy's leaving with Bruce in the four o'clock train to Albany and it's
up to Walter to keep her here. He's willing to do anything to keep her
around just a few minutes longer and hope for the chance to win her
back. And he has the perfect final assignment for her: interview
convicted murderer Earl Williams (John Qualen) who is scheduled for
execution for the next day.
Simple assignment and Hildy and Bruce will get $1000 to boot so Hildy
takes it. As Hildy wrangles her way around the courthouse poor Bruce is
waylaid by Walter's machinations to get him trouble and in the city.
Meanwhile Earl escapes and all hell breaks loose with reporters and
policemen rushing around trying to find him. All except Hildy who has
Earl right where she wants him: in the front page of an exclusive story!
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His Girl Friday is a wonderful play
made into a movie with a strong female lead who may get even more
screen time than the male lead. Because it's basically modeled after
the play there are a lot of set scenes with people doing a lot of
talking and not that much action. But what it lacks in camera style it
makes up in scintillating dialog and witty repartee. Russell is a match
for Grant and separately or together they overshadow the rest of the
cast.
The movie is a comedy through and through with people coming and going
and at times multiple things happening at the same time. Though it
starts out slowly, it quickly builds up speed and by the climax of the
movie things are happening at a rapid-fire pace that's almost
breathless. It has a nice ending and few credits (in contrast to the
multi-minute roll of credits of today's movies).
One fact that the commentary pointed out was that in the original play
Johnson is a man. Changing it to a woman was director Howard Hawks
idea. I can't imagine this movie being anywhere as good. The strong
female role echoes more recent changes in American culture, which means
that sometimes during the 1950's to 1980's women really got short
shrifted in society.
DVD Extras
1. Commentary by film critic Todd McCarthy - sparse but insightful. I
especially like the historical notes.
2. Cary Grant biographical featurette (5 minutes)
3. Rosalind Russell biographical featurette (3 minutes)
3. Howard Hawks (director) biographical featurette (3-1/2 minutes)
4. The Funny Pages (3-1/2 minutes) - play and film history
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