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

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:

Jean Arthur, the first choice by studio head Harry Cohn, turned down the role of Hildy Johnson because she and Howard Hawks had been cool to each other during the filming of Only Angels Have Wings (1939) the year before.

Goofs:

Continuity: After Walter's checkup, he puts his tie back on. At first, the skinny (back) end of the tie is longer than the wide (front) end. In the next shot, the front is properly longer than the back. When he goes to put his coat on, the back is longer than the front again.

Quotes:

Hildy Johnson: I wouldn't cover the burning of Rome for you if they were just lighting it up!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Gilmore Girls: The Fundamental Things Apply (#4.5)" (2003)

What a gem!

I just finished watching the DVD of this first-class, semi-Screwball comedy in Columbia Classics beautiful transfer, and it absolutely made my day! What a movie! What a screenplay! The dialogue is better - more modern - in fact, than a in lot of contemporary movies. It's incredibly funny, too, and my teenage sons kept laughing right along with me at the smart come-backs. Cary Grant is, of course, as good (if not better) than ever, and I've never seen Rosalind Russel in a role that suited her more perfectly. And that's just for starters: The timing of the thing is still awe- inspiring after sixty-odd years; the supporting actors, down to the bit-players, are all memorable, convincing and hilarious; the camera work (this IS the forties, though) is inventive and the editing superb. I can safely confess now that I hadn't ever seen it before, but that's no reason for you to make the same mistake: Go buy/rent it NOW! Hats off to the great Howard Hawks, his cast and crew for pulling this comedy masterpiece off. And thank you, thank you, thank you Columbia Pictures, for

making it possible for me to watch it in such pristine condition! (I've got the 2002 edition, and from what I've heard you should beware of earlier DVD issues).