His Girl Friday Review- By Michael J. Carlisle

Title: His Girl Friday
Year: 1940
Director: Howard Hawks
Country: US
Language: English

In Howard Hawks film, Carey Grant stars as a fast-talking, hard-nosed reporters willing to do anything for a scoop. It's difficult to tell if the silver screen was influenced by the stereotype or if the stereotype portrayed in Cinema influenced reporters in real life. It Happened One Night, His Girl Friday and Philadelphia Story helped push these characteristics in the mainstream, yet Billy Wilder claims reality influenced his pulse pounding Ace in the Hole. Perhaps the truth lies somewhere in the middle. 

In His Girl Friday, a desperate newspaper editor (Carey Grant)  uses every trick in the book to keep his ace reporter ex-wife (Rosalind Russell)  from remarrying.

Howard Hawks’ archetypal 1940 comedy was based on the 1928 stage play The Front Page by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur. It is one of the most enduring screwball comedies of all time, becoming more popular than its source material due to a re-write and casting decision. Hawks revisions included a female lead and an n all-encompassing romantic importance to the story. Don't be fooled however, it isn't a lovey dovey affair. There is an exceptional battle of wits and sexual politics between Grant and Russell, two performers matched in their capacity to hurl  verbal jabs with machine gun speed

The speed and humor of the dialogue and the performance in His Girl Friday are what make the film worthwhile. Lederer’s final screenplay contained a hefty 191 pages, yet the film runs only 92 minutes. The sound department had quite a chore on their hands at the end of the day. Though the film is quite funny, it is often difficult to catch every line, especially considering the frantic pace is non-stop. The feeling like you're constantly on fast-forward may be off-putting for some.

Received with almost universal critical and commercial praise, His Girl Friday was influenced by pictures like Lubitsch's The Lady Eve and yet feels incredibly unique. The fact that the tension and humour relies solely on the timing of dialogue delivery says a great deal about the talent involved in this picture. It has a tremendous amount of charm to go along with its sneaking commentary.