His Girl Friday (1940)

Director:

Howard Hawks

Writers:

Charles Lederer (screenplay)
Ben Hecht (play) ...

Release Date:

18 January 1940 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

Tagline:

She learned about men from him!

Plot:

A newspaper editor uses every trick in the book to keep his ace reporter ex-wife from remarrying.

Plot Keywords:

Editor | Newspaper | Reporter | Newspaper Editor | Mayor

Awards:

1 win

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Cary Grant	...	Walter Burns
Rosalind Russell	...	Hildy Johnson
Ralph Bellamy	...	Bruce Baldwin
Gene Lockhart	...	Sheriff Hartwell
Porter Hall	...	Murphy
Ernest Truex	...	Bensinger
Cliff Edwards	...	Endicott
Clarence Kolb	...	Mayor
Roscoe Karns	...	McCue
Frank Jenks	...	Wilson
Regis Toomey	...	Sanders
Abner Biberman	...	Louie
Frank Orth	...	Duffy
John Qualen	...	Earl Williams
Helen Mack	...	Mollie Malloy

Also Known As:

Howard Hawks' His Girl Friday (USA) (complete title)

Runtime:

92 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | French

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Certification:

Australia:G (TV rating) | Argentina:Atp | USA:Approved (PCA #5823) | USA:TV-G (TV rating) | Finland:K-3 (video rating: 1993) | France:U | Portugal:M/6 | South Korea:15 | UK:U (1996) | Australia:PG | Finland:K-16 | Germany:12 (DVD rating) | Spain:T | Sweden:15 | UK:A (original rating) | UK:U (video rating) (1994) | West Germany:o.Al. (original rating)

Filming Locations:

Warner Brothers Burbank Studios - 4000 Warner Boulevard, Burbank, California, USA

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

Rosalind Russell was borrowed from MGM for this film.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Bruce Baldwin comes to the press room late in the movie, an electric fan and small shelf on the wall to the left of the door both completely disappear. Both have been there in all previous scenes and both reappear after this scene.

Quotes:

Hildy Johnson: Walter!
Walter Burns: What?
Hildy Johnson: The mayor's first wife, what was her name?
Walter Burns: You mean the one with the wart on her?
Hildy Johnson: Right.
Walter Burns: Fanny!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Notre musique (2004)

A real screamer (knowing journalists from firsthand experience)!

This has to be one of the most wickedly funny films there is, and I think it's much better than the earlier version with Adolphe Menjou and Pat O'Brien (even though that was funny too). The fact that the boss and employee were ex-husband and wife battling it out made it funnier than simply an employer trying to keep a friend and employee.

Rosalind Russell and Cary Grant really clicked in this, and it's a shame they never worked together again. And as one who worked in journalism for 20 plus years, (the legitimate version I hope), there really are characters out there carrying tape recorders and microphones who'd do anything for a story. I laughed so hard because I could remember certain "gentlemen and gentlewomen" in the business slitting each other's throats (figuratively speaking) to get the story first, whether accurate or not.

The dialogue was crisp and the movie is very fast paced, and all the supporting actors shone and added to the overall success of the film. And as always, you've got to love the happy ending! Give it giga-stars!