His Girl Friday (1940) | |
| Director(s) | Howard Hawks |
| Producer(s) | Howard Hawks (uncredited) |
| Top Genres | Comedy, Drama, Romance |
| Top Topics | Based on Play, Battle of the Sexes, Newspapers, Reporters, Romance (Comic), Screwball Comedy |
Featured Cast:
His Girl Friday Overview:
His Girl Friday (1940) was a Comedy - Drama Film directed by Howard Hawks and produced by Howard Hawks.
SYNOPSIS
Arguably one of the funniest screen comedies, but indisputably the fastest. How the leads managed to get their lines out at the pace Hawks set is a marvel. This witty adaptation of the Hecht and MacArthur stage hit The Front Page (also the basis of the 1931 film) gives the ace reporter role to Russell, who takes it and runs. The action begins when Russell informs Grant, her suave managing editor and new ex-husband, that she's leaving the paper and planning to remarry. Grant, a handsome, hard-boiled type, wouldn't dare show his true feelings for Hildy, but he gets his way through the only true love of his ex's life: a breaking, front-page headline story. Her intended, Bellamy, stands by with hat in hand, his accustomed Hollywood role. Remade again in 1974, and, as Switching Channels, in 1988 set in a TV news environment.
(Source: available at Amazon AMC Classic Movie Companion).
.His Girl Friday was inducted into the National Film Registry in 1993.
His Girl Friday BlogHub Articles:
Featured in Box Set Celebrating Columbia's Centennial and HIS GIRL FRIDAY
on Jan 4, 2024 From GlamAmorHappy New Year! 2024 is the 100th anniversary of Columbia Pictures and I'm excited to announce I have my own featurette included in a 4K boxed set that will be released February 13 to celebrate the studio's centennial. I spoke about His Girl Friday (1940) and its costume designer Robert Kalloch. It'... Read full article
Five Fun Facts about His Girl Friday (1940)
By Annmarie Gatti on Apr 18, 2022 From Classic Movie Hub BlogFive Fun Facts about His Girl Friday ….. 1) Hildy was originally a man His Girl Friday was adapted from the 1928 Broadway play, The Front Page, which, in turn, was adapted into the 1931 film The Front Page. All three versions revolve around the same storyline, more or less, with o... Read full article
Rosalind Russell and Cary Grant in “His Girl Friday”
By Stephen Reginald on Sep 8, 2021 From Classic Movie ManRosalind Russell and Cary Grant in “His Girl Friday” His Girl Friday (1940) is an American screwball comedy directed by Howard Hawks and starring Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell. Based on the play The Front Page (1928) by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur, Hawks decided to turn Hildy ... Read full article
What?s Streaming in June on the CMH Channel at BCE? His Girl Friday, The Outlaw, and Father’s Little Dividend
By Annmarie Gatti on Jun 16, 2021 From Classic Movie Hub BlogOur June Picks on the Classic Movie Hub ChannelJune Birthdays and Fond Memories! Here we go? This month?s free streaming picks for our Classic Movie Hub Channel at Best Classics Ever (BCE) ? the mega streaming channel for classic movies and TV shows! These titles will be available for FREE STR... Read full article
What?s Streaming in Jan on the CMH Channel at Best Classics Ever? His Girl Friday, Cyrano de Bergerac, Road to Bali.
By Annmarie Gatti on Jan 4, 2021 From Classic Movie Hub BlogOur January Picks on the Classic Movie Hub ChannelJanuary Birthdays and Chasing Away the Winter Blues! It?s that time again? We have our monthly free streaming picks for our Classic Movie Hub Channel at Best Classics Ever (BCE) ? the mega streaming channel for classic movies and TV shows! That... Read full article
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Quotes from His Girl Friday
Walter Burns: What do you think I am, a crook?
Hildy Johnson: Yes.
Hildy Johnson: [speaking to Walter on the phone] Did you hear that? That's the story I just wrote. Yes, yes, I know we had a bargain. I just said I'd write it, I didn't say I wouldn't tear it up! It's all in little pieces now, Walter, and I hope to do the same for you some day!
[hangs up emphatically]
Hildy Johnson: [to the other reporters] And that, my friends, is my farewell to the newspaper game.
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Facts about His Girl Friday
(At 35:00) In the news room the reporters are playing poker and one of them calls out to the reporter McCue, played by Roscoe Karns, who's sitting by a window that looks on a staircase. "Hey Mac (no response)... Hey Stairway Sam, would you mind turning on some lights." If you back up the DVD a minute or two you'll see why he's "Stairway Sam". In the background of these newsroom scenes McCue (or "Stairway Sam") is trying to look up the womens' dresses as they go up the stair case (at 27:30, 35:20 and 39:00). Even during one of the few serious moments in the film just after Molly Molloy confronts the newsmen with their lies Stairway Sam can't help himself. Not to mention he's flirting with and chatting up every woman who walks by. This was probably something that got by the Hayes office censors of the time.
Walter Burns (Cary Grant) refers to some horrible fate suffered by the last person who crossed him: Archie Leach. Grant's real name was Archibald Leach and he ad-libbed the line. See also Arsenic and Old Lace.
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