The Front Page
by Billy Wilder
List Price:
Our Price: $11.49
You Save: $1.49 (11%)
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Buy Used: from $5.64 (click here)
Category: DVD
See more DVD releases
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
DVD Cover Information
Actor: David Wayne, Jack Lemmon, Susan Sarandon, Vincent Gardenia, Walter MatthauDirector: Billy Wilder
Brand: Universal
Cinematographer: Jordan Cronenweth
Writer: Billy Wilder
Producer: Jennings Lang
Producer: Paul Monash
Writer: Ben Hecht
Writer: Charles MacArthur
Writer: I.A.L. Diamond
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language)
Format: Color, DVD-Video, NTSC
Picture Format: 2.35:1
Running Time: 105 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2005-05-31
Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: Universal Studios
Movie Reviews of The Front Page
Movie Review: It works well even if it doesn't exceed any expectations...
Summary: 4 Stars
Critics had mixed feelings about this 1974 newspaper comedy starring Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau. I too have them. The fact is that `The Front Page' works, at times very well, but in the end the truth remains that it never exceeds its limitations. It never becomes something great, rather sufficing to stay merely good.
Hey, that's better than being content with mediocre.
So, in the film Hildy Johnson is Walter Burns best reporter, but when Hildy wants to quit so he can move and get married, Walter loses it. He needs Hildy to stay, at least for a little while, since the biggest story they'd ever get is just about to break; but Hildy is determined. So Walter maneuvers things so that Hildy is basically forced to stay and cover the story; and when actions within their own building force the action inside, well then there is no way that Hildy is going to let just any other reporter steal his thunder.
Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau are an undeniably impenetrable team. They work very, very well off one another and it shows in every scene they share. Sadly, Matthau isn't in a lot of the movie. He's absent through a lot of the middle, surfacing on a few telephone conversations really, and then he makes a larger appearance at the end of the film. This is one of the rare times where I feel Matthau upstages Lemmon, so I was saddened to see so little of him. Lemmon is great here, but Matthau is slightly better. The cast is rather diverse, so much so that I was really expecting great things. What I got was a lot of good things, but nothing really jumped out at me as spectacular. Susan Sarandon is sorely underused, but she had yet to really prove herself as an actress (and what an actress!); and Carol Burnett is far below her own standards (even she has reportedly panned her own performance). I was really looking forward to Vincent Gardenia and Charles Durning, but neither of them wowed me like I was hoping. Gardenia has his moments, and is probably the most entertaining of the supporting players, but he never really capitalizes on his character. Durning is nothing but background noise, which is sad because he's probably my favorite supporting actor of the 70's. He could have really done so much more, but they gave his so little.
I know that last paragraph sounds like one long complaint, but seriously it is a minor one when you look at the overall picture. It is a good film. It is funny and entertaining; the point I was trying to make is that it never becomes more than that. It's just simple fun entertainment.
There's nothing wrong with that; right?
Summary of The Front Page
Hildy johnson is the top reporter on a chicago newspaper. Tired of the whole game he is determined to quit his job to get married. His scheming editor has other plans though. It is the day before guilty murderer earl williams is due to go to the gallows and burns tempts johnson to stay and write the story. Studio: Uni Dist Corp. (mca) Release Date: 05/31/2005 Starring: Jack Lemmon Carol Burnett Run time: 105 minutes Rating: Pg Director: Billy WilderCharles MacArthur and Ben Hecht's classic newspaper comedy--about a conniving editor who talks his star reporter out of getting married long enough to cover a big story--has survived lesser adaptations than this one. (Ever see Switching Channels?) But few have been more disappointing. Billy Wilder teamed Walter Matthau (as the unscrupulous editor) and Jack Lemmon (as the fast-talking reporter), who try to get the scoop on everyone else in the story of a convicted killer who escapes on his way to the electric chair. But Matthau and Lemmon, as good as they are, succumb to the temptation to do shtick--and Carol Burnett shows up in a florid, unfunny performance as a hooker. An attempt to bottle the same lightning that struck with The Sting--but Wilder, Lemmon, and Matthau just can't do it. --Marshall Fine
Comedy DVD Video
DVD Video
- Action & Adventure
- African American Cinema
- Animation
- Anime & Manga
- Art House & International
- Classics
- Comedy
- Cult Movies
- Documentary
- Drama
- Educational
- Fitness & Yoga
- Gay & Lesbian
- Horror
- Kids & Family
- Military & War
- Music Video & Concerts
- Musicals & Performing Arts
- Mystery & Suspense
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Special Interests
- Sports
- Television
- Westerns
Movies most talked about in Jack Lemmon films (Part 1)
![The Murder of Mary Phagan [VHS] Image](/images/The-Murder-of-Mary-Phagan-VHS-6302308070-X.jpg){kind=small}
The Murder of Mary Phagan [VHS]Orion Home Video; Release date: 1992-03-26; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $98.76
That's Life!Release date: 2000-03-14; DVD
Best price: $219.99
![Macaroni [VHS] Image](/images/noimg.gif)
Macaroni [VHS]VHS Tape; VHS Video
![Mass Appeal [VHS] Image](/images/Mass-Appeal-VHS-6300184048-X.jpg){kind=small}
Mass Appeal [VHS]Universal Studios; Release date: 1992-03-01; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $44.28
MissingUniversal; Release date: 2004-11-23; DVD
Best price: $3.45
Price in other shops:
![Buddy Buddy [VHS] Image](/images/Buddy-Buddy-VHS-6303092020-X.jpg){kind=small}
Buddy Buddy [VHS]MGM/UA Home Video; Release date: 1994-06-22; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $69.95
![Tribute [VHS] Image](/images/Tribute-VHS-6302148359-X.jpg){kind=small}
Tribute [VHS]Hbo Home Video; Release date: 1998-09-01; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $64.95
The China Syndrome (Special Edition)Sony; Release date: 2004-10-26; DVD
Best price: $8.01
Price in other shops:
Airport '77Release date: 2001-05-01; DVD
Best price: $132.00
The Prisoner of Second AvenueWarner Brothers; Release date: 2004-03-30; DVD
Best price: $3.56
Price in other shops:
Similar DVD Movies
The Apartment (Collector's Edition)TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX HOME ENT; Release date: 2008-02-05; DVD
Best price: $8.11
Price in other shops:
The Prisoner of Second AvenueWarner Brothers; Release date: 2004-03-30; DVD
Best price: $3.47
Price in other shops:
Grumpy Old Men/ Grumpier Old MenWarner Brothers; Release date: 2006-08-22; DVD
Best price: $4.80
Price in other shops:
How to Murder Your WifeTWENTIETH CENTURY FOX HOME ENT; Release date: 2002-10-15; DVD
Best price: $6.03
Price in other shops:
The Out-of-TownersLEMMON,JACK; Release date: 2003-11-25; DVD
Best price: $4.49
Price in other shops:
House CallsUniversal; Release date: 2005-05-31; DVD
Best price: $5.79
Price in other shops:
Out to SeaMATTHAU,WALTER; Release date: 2004-06-01; DVD
Best price: $3.47
Price in other shops:
A Guide for the Married ManTwentieth Century Fox; Release date: 2005-09-06; DVD
Best price: $9.94
Price in other shops:
The Fortune CookieTWENTIETH CENTURY FOX HOME ENT; Release date: 2001-03-06; DVD
Best price: $4.65
Price in other shops:
The Odd CoupleParamount; Release date: 2000-12-12; DVD
Best price: $6.26
Price in other shops: