His Girl Friday
by Howard Hawks
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Cary Grant, Gene Lockhart, Porter Hall, Ralph Bellamy, Rosalind RussellDirector: Howard Hawks
Brand: GT
Cinematographer: Joseph Walker
Producer: Howard Hawks
Editor: Gene Havlick
Writer: Ben Hecht
Writer: Charles Lederer
Writer: Charles MacArthur
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); French (Original Language)
Format: Black & White, DVD, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 92 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2002-10-01
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Good Times Video
Movie Reviews of His Girl Friday
Movie Review: Simply wonderful
Summary: 5 Stars
When one hears the phrase "They just don't make 'em like this anymore," this is the movie that most often pops into my mind. With a great cast, a suspense-busting story, and possibly the cleverest and certainly the fastest and most perfectly timed dialog of any movie ever made, this is a timeless and great classic from Hollywood's Golden Age.
The movie reprises the famous Ben Hecht play from 1928, The Front Page, which some considered to have had the best dialog ever written for the American stage, but with one important change. Director Howard Hawks had the idea of changing the male reporter's role to that of a woman, which brilliantly set the stage for the romantic comedy of this movie.
The rapid fire dialog of the movie deserves at least a brief comment. As one other reviewer wrote here, Hawks shot the scenes in long takes many times until the dialog was perfect, and only then committed it to film. Grant and Russell were also given considerable latitude in ad-libbing the occasional line. In fact, I've heard that Russell felt she needed a little extra sparkle in her dialog and secretely engaged (unfortunately I don't recall who) another writer to provide some additional lines, which were left in the final cuts. Eventually Grant began to suspect Russell was up to something, and she was. :-)
There's so much that goes by so fast in this movie that it's easy to miss something. My favorite is when Grant and Russell (who's still playing hard to get) are reminiscing about one of their previous capers--when they stole the stomach of a murder victim right off the autopsy table to get evidence for their story. :-)
You'll also recognize dozens of character actors from the era in various roles. Most, except for Gene Lockhart, father of June Lockhart who many will remember from the 60s TV series, I didn't know the names of, but I've seen them pop up in many other movies from the period over the years. No doubt most of these people were under contract to various studios, and got used again and again in different movies. And of course Ralph Bellamy does a great job with his role and provides a stolid foil to the zany, devil may care personalities of Hildy and Walter, in the character of a conservative, risk-averse life insurance salesman.
It's a great movie from another era that rewards viewing more than once.
Summary of His Girl Friday
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