His Girl Friday (1940)
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A hard-boiled newspaper editor desperately tries to sabotage his ex-wife's upcoming marriage by convincing her to cover one last sensational story.
The story
Hard-boiled newspaper editor Walter Burns learns that his ex-wife and former star reporter, Hildy Johnson, is about to marry insurance man Bruce Baldwin and settle down as a housewife in Albany. Determined to sabotage these plans, Walter convinces a reluctant Hildy to cover one last story: interviewing Earl Williams the day before his execution for murdering a policeman. Walter maintains that Williams is innocent and that the city fathers are only going through with the execution to curry favor with voters. Hildy accepts the assignment on the condition that Walter buy a large life insurance policy, earning Bruce a hefty commission.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
Walter Burns attempts to sabotage his ex-wife Hildy Johnson's marriage to Bruce Baldwin by convincing her to interview murderer Earl Williams before his execution. Hildy agrees only if Walter buys a large life insurance policy for Bruce. To keep Bruce from leaving for Albany, Walter orchestrates various schemes, including framing Bruce for theft and 'mashing' a colleague. When Williams escapes during a sanity reenactment, Hildy's journalistic instincts kick in, and she works to secure a scoop. The situation escalates as the mayor bribes a messenger to delay Williams's reprieve, and Williams eventually takes Hildy hostage in the press room. After a series of kidnappings and a chaotic confrontation involving the mayor and the Sheriff, Williams is apprehended. Walter and Hildy are arrested for abetting the escape but use a discovered reprieve to blackmail the mayor into their release. Walter offers to let Hildy go to Albany, but she realizes she still loves him and his career. Recognizing Walter's ploy to keep her, she agrees to remarry him, accepting that he will never change.
- First release year
- 1940
- Runtime (minutes)
- 92
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Howard Hawks
- Writers
- Charles Lederer · screenplay; Ben Hecht · original play; Charles MacArthur · original play
- Cast and characters
- Cary Grant · Walter Burns; Rosalind Russell · Hildy Johnson; Ralph Bellamy · Bruce Baldwin; Gene Lockhart · Irving Bacon
- Genres
- screwball comedy; comedy-drama
- Themes
- criticism of domesticity; amorality of the main character; professional vs. feminine identity
- Tone and mood
- frantic; hilarious; cynical
- Premise and plot tags
- screwball comedy; journalism; remarriage; crime
- Source material / true-story basis
- The Front Page (1928 play)
- Content notes
- illegal behavior
- Reception
- The film received very positive contemporary reviews and is considered one of the best comedy films of all time, holding a 99% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes and universal acclaim on Metacritic.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 99% · review count: 106; Metacritic · score: 94 · scale: 100 · review count: 20
- Production trivia
- The film contains no music except for the music that leads to the final fade out of the film.; The film was selected in 1993 for preservation in the United States National Film Registry.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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