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The Front Page (1974)
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Overview
User Rating:
Director:
Writers:
Release Date:
17 December 1974 (USA)
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Tagline:
It's the hottest story since the Chicago Fire... And they're sitting on it.
Plot:
Hildy Johnson is the top reporter on a Chicago newspaper during the 1920s. Tired of the whole game he's determined to quit his job to get married...
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Plot Keywords:
Awards:
Nominated for 3 Golden Globes.
Another 2 wins
&
1 nomination
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NewsDesk:
(2 articles)
A bar on North Avenue
(From Roger Ebert's Blog. 5 October 2009, 6:41 AM, PDT)
It's Wilder's 95th
(From Studio Briefing - Film News. 22 June 2001)
(From Roger Ebert's Blog. 5 October 2009, 6:41 AM, PDT)
It's Wilder's 95th
(From Studio Briefing - Film News. 22 June 2001)
User Comments:
Funny, Clever, Colorful, Obvious and Corny
more (35 total)
US TV Schedule:
Cast
(Cast overview, first billed only) | Jack Lemmon | ... | Hildy Johnson |
 | Walter Matthau | ... | Walter Burns |
 | Susan Sarandon | ... | Peggy Grant |
 | Vincent Gardenia | ... | Sheriff |
| David Wayne | ... | Bensinger |
| Allen Garfield | ... | Kruger |
 | Austin Pendleton | ... | Earl Williams |
| Charles Durning | ... | Murphy |
| Herb Edelman | ... | Schwartz (as Herbert Edelman) |
 | Martin Gabel | ... | Dr. Eggelhofer |
 | Harold Gould | ... | The Mayor |
 | Cliff Osmond | ... | Jacobi |
 | Dick O'Neill | ... | McHugh |
| Jon Korkes | ... | Rudy Keppler |
| Lou Frizzell | ... | Endicott |
Additional Details
Parents Guide:
Runtime:
105 min
Country:
Language:
Color:
Color (Technicolor)
Aspect Ratio:
2.35 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono (Westrex Recording System)
Certification:
Singapore:PG |
Australia:M |
Canada:PG (Ontario) |
Australia:PG (DVD rating) |
Finland:K-16 |
Sweden:11 |
USA:PG
Company:
Fun Stuff
Trivia:
The third pairing out of ten movies of comic actors and great friends Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau.
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Goofs:
Anachronisms: When Hildy enters the press room to say goodbye to his fellow reporters, he greets them with a Cagney imitation, saying "This is a raid, see." James Cagney would not become famous enough to imitate until The Public Enemy (1931) came out two years later.
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Quotes:
Dr. Max J. Eggelhofer:
Tell me, Mr. Williams, were you unhappy as a child?
Earl Williams: Not really. I had a perfectly normal childhood.
Dr. Max J. Eggelhofer: I see. You wanted to kill your father and sleep with you mother.
Earl Williams: [to Sheriff Hartman] If he's gonna talk dirty ...
Dr. Max J. Eggelhofer: When you were in grammar school, did you practice self-abuse?
Earl Williams: No, sir. I don't believe in it. I would never abuse myself or anybody else. I love people. I love all people.
'Honest Pete' Hartman Sheriff of Clark County: I suppose that cop committed suicide!
Dr. Max J. Eggelhofer: Let us get back to masturbation. Did your father ever catch you in the act?
Earl Williams: Oh, my father was - was never home. He was a conductor on the Chicago-Northwestern.
Dr. Max J. Eggelhofer: Very significant. Your father wore a uniform, just like that policeman. And when he pulled out that gun, an obvious phallic symbol, you thought he was your father, and he was going to use it to hurt your mother.
[...]
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Earl Williams: Not really. I had a perfectly normal childhood.
Dr. Max J. Eggelhofer: I see. You wanted to kill your father and sleep with you mother.
Earl Williams: [to Sheriff Hartman] If he's gonna talk dirty ...
Dr. Max J. Eggelhofer: When you were in grammar school, did you practice self-abuse?
Earl Williams: No, sir. I don't believe in it. I would never abuse myself or anybody else. I love people. I love all people.
'Honest Pete' Hartman Sheriff of Clark County: I suppose that cop committed suicide!
Dr. Max J. Eggelhofer: Let us get back to masturbation. Did your father ever catch you in the act?
Earl Williams: Oh, my father was - was never home. He was a conductor on the Chicago-Northwestern.
Dr. Max J. Eggelhofer: Very significant. Your father wore a uniform, just like that policeman. And when he pulled out that gun, an obvious phallic symbol, you thought he was your father, and he was going to use it to hurt your mother.
[...]
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Movie Connections:
References Some Like It Hot (1959)
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Soundtrack:
Wedding Bells Are Breaking Up That Old Gang Of Mine
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FAQ
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I am not going to compare this to earlier versions of the story because I think that is unfair. If you are not going to watch the earlier versions, who cares how good they are in comparison? So, let me just say that this is a fine, almost slapstick comedy that will satisfy anyone looking for a series of one-liners and totally hammy performances by a cast of old pros.
This is a gorgeous film to watch and hear. The theme is instantly recognizable, and the cinematography is crystal clear and full of vivid colors. Never underestimate these points in judging a film, they can raise a mediocre film to well above average - not that this was a mediocre film to begin with, because that is not the case.
Jack Lemmon takes top billing, but the supporting characters really make this film go. David Wayne as a prissy reporter, Vincent Gardenia as a blustering sheriff, Harold Gould as the sleazy mayor, Martin Gabel who has some of the funniest lines as a prison psychiatrist, and the boys in the press room come out with the best lines in the whole show. Austin Pendleton as the killer is a bit of let-down, playing it as a poor-man's Woody Allen, but everybody around him is so busy hamming it up unmercifully that his understatement works well.
I'm not so enamored of Carol Burnett, who goes way over the top playing a stereotypical floozy and manages to bring the comic proceedings to a screeching halt, and of Susan Sarandon, who fades into the background, but they have so little screen time it is easy to overlook them.
There are all sorts of in-jokes and topical humor. I noticed some anachronisms - for instance, at one point Jack Lemmon does a James Cagney impression, but Cagney didn't make his first movie until a year after the movie was set - but this is not the kind of movie where that makes a lot of difference.
I am a big Walter Matthau fan, and he does the usual superlative job as the frantic editor. Lemmon is the real problem I have with this film, at times he seems to be sleep-walking through his role, and he has surprisingly few funny lines. He basically plays Jack Lemmon in awkward situations, and the situations aren't awkward enough most of the time for that to really work.
I like the film, but there is a lot of totally unnecessary swearing and at times it slows to a crawl. It is a very good film that I put just below classic status. See it for Matthau and the brilliant supporting cast and some very witty dialogue, but don't expect to be blown away the way you would expect because it just won't happen.