His Girl Friday (1940)

User Rating:

8.1/10   

Director:

Howard Hawks

Writers:

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

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

Cary Grant	...	Walter Burns
Rosalind Russell	...	Hildegaard 'Hildy' Johnson
Ralph Bellamy	...	Bruce Baldwin
Gene Lockhart	...	Sheriff Peter B.'Pinky' Hartwell
Porter Hall	...	Murphy - Reporter
Ernest Truex	...	Roy V. Bensinger - Reporter
Cliff Edwards	...	Endicott - Reporter
Clarence Kolb	...	Mayor
Roscoe Karns	...	McCue - Reporter
Frank Jenks	...	Wilson - Reporter
Regis Toomey	...	Sanders - Reporter
Abner Biberman	...	Louis 'Diamond Louie 'Palutso
Frank Orth	...	Duffy - Copy Editor
John Qualen	...	Earl Williams
Helen Mack	...	Mollie Malloy
Alma Kruger	...	Mrs. Baldwin
Billy Gilbert	...	Joe Pettibone
Pat West	...	Warden Cooley
Edwin Maxwell	...	Dr. Max J. Eggelhoffer
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Irving Bacon	...	Gus - Waiter (uncredited)
Wade Boteler	...	Mike - Jail Guard (uncredited)
Harry C. Bradley	...	Insurance Doctor (uncredited)
Wheaton Chambers	...	Man in Elevator (uncredited)
Edmund Cobb	...	Policeman (uncredited)
Ann Doran	...	Newspaper Office Worker (uncredited)
Ralph Dunn	...	Plainclothesman (uncredited)
Earl Dwire	...	Pete Davis (uncredited)
Pat Flaherty	...	Policeman Frank (uncredited)
Eddie Hart	...	Plainclothesman (uncredited)
Marion Martin	...	Evangeline - Louie's Blonde Associate (uncredited)

Directed by
Howard Hawks

Writing credits
Charles Lederer		(screenplay)
Ben Hecht		(play "The Front Page") and
Charles MacArthur		(play "The Front Page")

Produced by
Howard Hawks	....	producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Sidney Cutner		(uncredited)
Felix Mills		(uncredited)

Cinematography by
Joseph Walker		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Gene Havlick

Art Direction by
Lionel Banks

Costume Design by
Robert Kalloch		(gowns) (as Kalloch)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Cliff P. Broughton	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Sound Department
Lodge Cunningham	....	sound (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Cliff Shirpser	....	assistant camera (uncredited)

Music Department
Morris Stoloff	....	musical director (as M.W. Stoloff)
Ben Oakland	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)

Other crew
Jed Harris	....	producer: stage play
Chet La Roche	....	script doctor (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Columbia Pictures Corporation (presents)

Distributors

• Columbia Pictures (1940) (USA) (theatrical)
• Columbia Pictures (1949) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Arbeitsgemeinschaft der öffentlich-rechtlichen Rundfunkanstalten der Bundesrepublik Deutschland (ARD) (1972) (Germany) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Celebrity Home Entertainment (1987) (USA) (VHS)
• Columbia TriStar Home Video (1995) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Madacy Entertainment (1995) (USA) (VHS)
• VCI Home Video (1995) (USA) (VHS)
• Timeless Video (1996) (USA) (VHS)
• Simitar Video (1997) (USA) (VHS)
• Delta Music Industries (1998) (USA) (VHS)
• Jef Films International (1998) (USA) (VHS)
• Columbia TriStar Home Video (1999) (USA) (VHS)
• Delta Expedition (1999) (USA) (DVD)
• Laserlight Entertainment (1999) (USA) (DVD)
• Columbia TriStar Films de Argentina (2000) (Argentina) (all media)
• Columbia TriStar Home Video (2000) (USA) (DVD)
• D3K Entertainment (2000) (USA) (DVD)
• LK-TEL (2000) (Argentina) (DVD)
• LK-TEL (2000) (Argentina) (VHS) (re-release)
• AAE Films (2001) (USA) (VHS)
• Front Row Entertainment (2001) (USA) (VHS)
• Galam Americas (2001) (USA) (VHS)
• Madacy Entertainment (2001) (USA) (DVD)
• Marengo Films (2001) (USA) (DVD)
• New Media Resources (2001) (USA) (VHS)
• United American Video (2001) (USA) (DVD)
• Westlake Entertainment Group (2001) (USA) (DVD)
• Alpha Video Distributors (2002) (USA) (DVD)
• Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment (2002) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Delta Expedition (2002) (USA) (DVD)
• GoodTimes Home Video (2002) (USA) (DVD)
• United American Video (2002) (USA) (VHS)
• Bach Films (2003) (France) (DVD)
• GoodTimes Home Video (2003) (USA) (VHS)
• Inspired Productions (2003) (USA) (DVD)
• Laserlight Entertainment (2003) (USA) (DVD)
• Diamond Entertainment Group (DEG) (2004) (USA) (VHS)
• Vidtape (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Vintage Home Entertainment (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Classic Entertainment (2005) (UK) (DVD)
• Reel Media International (2005) (worldwide) (TV)
• Reel Media International (2005) (worldwide) (VHS)
• Critics' Choice Video (2006) (USA) (DVD)
• Sony Video (2006) (USA) (DVD)
• Reel Media International (2007) (worldwide) (all media)
• Adlon Filmi (????) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Casterbury Films (????) (USA) (theatrical) (8 mm)
• Castle Communications (????) (Finland) (VHS)
• Columbia TriStar (????) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Egmont Entertainment (????) (Finland) (DVD)
• Kartes Video (????) (USA) (VHS)
• LK-TEL (????) (Argentina) (VHS)
• Mill Creek Entertainment (????) (USA) (DVD)
• Mistar (????) (Finland) (VHS)
• RVC Video (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Sony Pictures Television (????) (USA) (TV)
• Startime Video (????) (USA) (VHS)

Other Companies

• C. D. C.  Italian dubbing: 1946 (uncredited)

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 | 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:

Premiere voted this movie as one of "The 50 Greatest Comedies Of All Time" in 2006.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Walter goes to take Hildy and Bruce to lunch, his hat jumps from his right hand to his left hand between shots.

Quotes:

Louis: What's the matter, Hildy?
Hildy Johnson: Don't give me that innocent stuff! What did you pull on Mr. Baldwin THIS time?
Louis: Who, me?
Hildy Johnson: Yes, you and that albino of yours!
Louis: You talkin' about Evangeline?
Hildy Johnson: None other!
Louis: She ain't no albino.
Hildy Johnson: She'll do 'till one comes along!
Louis: She was born right here in this country!

Movie Connections:

Featured in Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005)

That Unseen Power That Protects The Morning Post

Whoever had the bright idea to turn the Ben Hecht-Charles MacArthur play, The Front Page into a boy and girl comedy ought to get a Nobel Prize for comedy if such an award had been available at the time.

Of course it helps when one of your two main characters has an ambiguous first name like Hildy. Short for Hildreth when Pat O'Brien plays it, Rosalind Russell is all female in this one. Russell bites off a huge chunk of Katherine Hepburn career woman territory here and she digests it well.

She's the best reporter on the staff of the Morning Post and her editor Cary Grant doesn't want to lose her no way. At one time he even married her, but that didn't take. They're divorced now and Russell is fed up and decides she wants a home and children and security and Ralph Bellamy is going to give her all of that. Plus a home with his mother Alma Kruger for a year in Albany.

As her friendly rival reporter Regis Toomey says, there ain't no way that Russell could ever leave the newspaper game. She proves it when she goes to work on that one last assignment to cover an execution at the state penitentiary.

Even though Howard Hawks did add a romance into The Front Page he did not sacrifice one iota of the biting satire from Hecht and MacArthur. If you watch the either The Front Page or His Girl Friday or even the remake from the eighties Broadcast News you will swear the world is made up of boobs and nitwits and the only smart people around are journalists. Too often however that's proved to be the case.

Poor meek John Qualen who was listening to some radicals speaking and got caught up in the moment and accidentally shot a black police officer. Back then ethnic politics were played to the hilt and a law and order mayor, Clarence Kolb, wants to see Qualen executed. His brother-in-law, sheriff Gene Lockhart means to see the sentence is done.

Cary Grant's paper is against capital punishment at least for this poor schnook. Of course when Qualen escapes all kinds of complication arise and Russell's on the job to report them.

As he was in The Awful Truth, Ralph Bellamy is there to be the slightly befuddled doofus who loses the girl to fast talking Cary. Bellamy's performance is a brilliant piece of work itself. He's so funny because he plays the part absolutely straight and the humor falls around him.

Howard Hawks assembles a really grand cast of memorable character actors. My favorite however, brief though his scenes are is Billy Gilbert who is a messenger from the governor who is delivering a sentence commutation. The poor man gets waylaid and involved in all kinds of intrigue that is all going on over his head. You have to see him to believe how funny he is and he does it without a sneeze.

His Girl Friday successfully combines screwball romantic comedy with biting satire and no seams show it all in the stitching. It's a blueprint on how to do successful cinema comedy.