His Girl Friday (1940)

Director:

Howard Hawks

Writers:

Charles Lederer (screenplay)
Ben Hecht (play) ...

Release Date:

18 January 1940 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

Tagline:

She learned about men from him!

Plot:

A newspaper editor uses every trick in the book to keep his ace reporter ex-wife from remarrying.

Plot Keywords:

Police | Mother Son Relationship | Telephone | Counterfeit Money | Marriage

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Cary Grant	...	Walter Burns
Rosalind Russell	...	Hildegaard 'Hildy' Johnson
Ralph Bellamy	...	Bruce Baldwin
Gene Lockhart	...	Sheriff Peter B.'Pinky' Hartwell
Porter Hall	...	Murphy - Reporter
Ernest Truex	...	Roy V. Bensinger - Reporter
Cliff Edwards	...	Endicott - Reporter
Clarence Kolb	...	Mayor
Roscoe Karns	...	McCue - Reporter
Frank Jenks	...	Wilson - Reporter
Regis Toomey	...	Sanders - Reporter
Abner Biberman	...	Louis 'Diamond Louie 'Palutso
Frank Orth	...	Duffy - Copy Editor
John Qualen	...	Earl Williams
Helen Mack	...	Mollie Malloy

Also Known As:

Howard Hawks' His Girl Friday (USA) (complete title)

Runtime:

92 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | French

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Certification:

Argentina:Atp | USA:Approved (PCA #5823) | USA:TV-G (TV rating) | Finland:K-3 (video rating: 1993) | Australia:G (TV rating) | Portugal:M/6 | France:U | Australia:PG | Finland:K-16 | Germany:12 (DVD rating) | Spain:T | Sweden:15 | UK:A (original rating) | UK:U (video rating) (1994) | West Germany:o.Al. (original rating)

Filming Locations:

Warner Brothers Burbank Studios - 4000 Warner Boulevard, Burbank, California, USA

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

In the play the film was based on ("The Front Page"), the part of Hildy was played by a man. When director Howard Hawks was planning to make the film, he was going to cast a man. While auditioning actors, a secretary would read the lines belonging to Hildy. Hawks loved the words coming from a woman so much, they decided to rewrite the part for a woman.

Goofs:

Continuity: Hildy wears black heels throughout the movie but when Earl Williams is hidden in the desk, she is pacing behind the table and is wearing white flats. The next time her feet are shown, she is wearing the black heels again.

Quotes:

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.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Notre musique (2004)

A real screamer (knowing journalists from firsthand experience)!

This has to be one of the most wickedly funny films there is, and I think it's much better than the earlier version with Adolphe Menjou and Pat O'Brien (even though that was funny too). The fact that the boss and employee were ex-husband and wife battling it out made it funnier than simply an employer trying to keep a friend and employee.

Rosalind Russell and Cary Grant really clicked in this, and it's a shame they never worked together again. And as one who worked in journalism for 20 plus years, (the legitimate version I hope), there really are characters out there carrying tape recorders and microphones who'd do anything for a story. I laughed so hard because I could remember certain "gentlemen and gentlewomen" in the business slitting each other's throats (figuratively speaking) to get the story first, whether accurate or not.

The dialogue was crisp and the movie is very fast paced, and all the supporting actors shone and added to the overall success of the film. And as always, you've got to love the happy ending! Give it giga-stars!