His Girl Friday (Enhanced) 1940
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Cary Grant, Gene Lockhart, Rosalind RussellProducer: Howard Hawks
DVD: Region Code 0
Audio: English (Unknown)
Format: Full Screen, NTSC, Surround Sound
Running Time: 90 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2008-05-02
Studio: Triad Productions LLC
Movie Reviews of His Girl Friday (Enhanced) 1940
Movie Review: You're a reporter
Summary: 5 Stars
Howard Hawks was responsible for a lot of outstanding movies, like "The Big Sleep" and "Bringing Up Baby."
But one of his best was wild, witty screwball comedy "His Girl Friday," which has never quite gotten the same recognition as those better known films. It has razor-sharp, bullet-fast dialogue, a hilarious plot and Cary Grant as (once more) a divorced man who won't give up so easily. You'll never look at a rolltop desk the same way again.
Hildy Johnson (Rosalind Russell) comes into her ex-husband's newspaper office. Walter (Cary Grant) is ready to give her her old job -- until she announces that she's marrying a nice, dull insurance agent (Ralph Bellamy). Walter insists that Hildy can't just go to Albany and be a housewife, and she insists that that's exactly what she wants.
So the wily ex bribes Hildy to cover a sensational cop-killing case -- the convicted man is scheduled to be executed in the morning -- and takes the opportunity to make life difficult for her fiancee. Now Hildy tries to get the facts behind the cop-shooting, while battling with a corrupt mayor who wants the convicted man dead. Is the sordid world of journalism -- and Walter -- what Hildy really wants? Looks like it.
Sometimes even if people don't get along, they fit so perfectly that trying to get together with someone else is pointless -- just look at Shakespeare's Beatrice and Benedick. Personally I've never experienced that kind of love (yet), but I've seen couples who do work the way Hildy and Walter do. Howard Hawks captures the feel of such couples perfectly.
In addition to the screwball romance, Hawks mixes in a cop-killing, a prison break, an attempted suicide, a conspiracy for mayoral votes, and a lot of reporters slavering for a hit story. It's a tight, taut little story peppered with humor, like the convict in the roll-top desk, or Bellamy's imperious mother being dragged out of the building.
Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell have electric chemistry in this movie, from the first scene right to the finale. It's a shame that they apparently didn't collaborate on any other movies, because in terms of comedy skill, they fit as snugly as two pieces of a puzzle -- they jabber together, trade fast barbs, and lob insults that don't pierce each other's skin.
Their dialogue is as fast as their wits: "I wish you hadn't done that, Hildy." "Done what?" "Divorced me. It makes a man feel he's not wanted!" And on the sidelines, Bellamy has an amusing role as the rather slow-witted fiancee whom Grant charms and then gets arrested. Interestingly, Bellamy played the same role in "Awful Truth," another Grant movie about a divorced guy trying to win his ex-wife...
"His Girl Friday" is one of those classic movies that leaves you with a warm glow and a cynical chuckle. Hilarious from start to finish, especially with Grant and Russell.
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