His Girl Friday (1940) ****

One of the best screwball comedies of all time straight out of Hollywood's Golden Age, His Girl Friday is both an adaptation of a play and remake of an earlier film based on the same material. Howard Hawkes made the brilliant decision to change the second male lead to that of a female, who is also the recent ex-wife of the newspaper editor as well as his best reporter which provides a fresh take of the material as well as adds another rich layer to the relationship between the characters. His Girl Friday is probably best know for its rapid pace dialogue and sharp and incisive wit. The actors deliver their lines with machine gun accuracy coming up for air only when is absolutely necessary. The fact that most of the scenes take place in unbroken shots serves as proof of how well the actors have the material down and impresses the audience with their high level of proficiency in such a difficult task. This film squeezes twice as much plot into its length then other films and it is all necessary to the story. There is no padding and nowhere does the film slow or drag, in fact the pace become more frenetic as it reaches its climax and it makes for one of the most enjoyable films I have ever seen.

Walter Burns (Cary Grant) is the editor of The Morning Post who is losing one of his best reporters, Hildegaard Johnson (Rosalind Russell) who plans to marry Bruce Baldwin (Ralph Bellamy), an insurance salesman, and give up the stressful life of being a newspaperman. Burns has other ideas and plans to win back his ace reporter as well as his wife and an impending execution and a possible reprieve are just the enticement he needs to lure Hildy back into his web. Grant is at his finest here, both charming, suave and a tad too slick for his own good. It's impossible to ever find fault with him however as he wins the audience over with his cavalier and determined attitude. The chemistry between Grant and Russell is absolutely palpable and there's never a doubt in the audience's mind that two will end up back together. They're practically twins, from their speech to their mannerisms and there's that silent passion each regards the other with that ensures they will find each other again in the end.

Bruce is the obvious outcast as he's played as a slightly aloof, slow speaking, all around nice guy who easily falls under the sway of Burns's charms. He is a complete contrast to Walter and aside from a tender exchange at the beginning of the film, there's little to no spark between him and Hildy. Perhaps she chose him because he represents the life she wants and cannot have with Walter. He was never able to provide a home and children, the honeymoon was even postponed to cover a breaking story. Hildy doesn't so much as love Bruce, but is attracted to the freedom that life would bring. She wouldn't live and die with The Morning Post even if that is where she feels the most alive. Her passion for journalism is quickly reignited following the jailbreak of the man who is scheduled to be hanged the next day. She can't even be bothered to help Bruce out of his many arrests once her fingers start dancing across the typewriter. Perhaps Walter only cares for his star to be on the case of the next biggest story, but when push comes to shove he tells her to go with Bruce, because that life is one he admits he can never provide. He's a newspaperman and he'll always be at its beck and call, but he cares too much for Hildy to trick her into staying when she wants something more.

It's certainly understandable why Hildy would want to get out of the business. The group of reporters we meet in the press room of the Criminal Courts Building care about no one that isn't giving them the scoop on their next story. They've become so detached from real life that tragedy is only seen as a profit center and their eyes positively light up at the very mention of a scandal. These are supposed to be reputable reporters as well casting aside the notion of the journalist composed of compassion and integrity. They're not above fudging the facts to make for a more sensational story and to outdo the competition in order to sell more papers. Their treatment of Mollie Malloy (Helen Mack) is appalling, making extravagant and exaggerated claims about the relationship between her and Earl Williams (John Qualen) all in the name of bigger business at the newsstand. Mollie's life has been turned upside down because of her association with the one man who ever showed her a little kindness which has been reported ad nauseum as a tawdry little affair and printed for all the country to read about. Hildy at least shows some sensitivity and leads Mollie out of the room while she rants at the unlistening men focusing on their card game. In the one quiet moment of the film after Hildy and Mollie exit the press room, the group has a fleeting moment of humanity where the realization of the damage they have wrought dawns on them and they show the only remorse they're likely ever to have regarding the subject.

His Girl Friday will always be for me one of my all time favorite films. It has laughs and moments of true sentiment that work due to the excellent written material and the fine execution by the leads. I can't imagine seeing the original film, The Front Page, with two men as the leads because the atypical love story between Walter and Hildy is so ingrained in the success of the picture. These are two people made for each other and the time spent apart allows them to see just how necessary they are to each other. Hildy plans to sacrifice her career for the life she wants until she realizes just how much she wants both and not one at the expense of the other. It's possible Walter may never change and she won't get the home and family she yearns for right away, but I firmly believe that almost losing Hildy will have opened Walter's eyes enough to see how he almost lost her. In that last scene between the two of them, it can be seen that Walter genuinely cares about Hildy's happiness and provides a new hope for their future together while still breaking those news stories before anyone else in the county.

Favorite moment: Two titans collide when Walter meets Bruce for the first time when Walter discovers that Bruce has accompanied Hildy to the office to give her notice. Walter assumes that an elderly gentleman waiting in the lobby is Bruce and proceeds to greet him and wish him well. A hilarious scene with helps to set the overall tone of the film. It's not to be taken too seriously and with a sly wink to the audience that Walter is knowingly putting one over on everyone. It was as this scene that I knew this film was going to be a hit.