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His Girl Friday

 
His Girl Friday

 
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His Girl Friday
 
 
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His Girl Friday is a screwball comedy
Screwball Comedy

Screwball Comedy is an album by the Japanese band Soul Flower Union. The album found the band going into a simpler, harder-rocking direction, after several heavily world-music influenced albums....
, a remake
Remake

A "remake" is a term used to describe something that has been done again, sometimes with better quality and more features....
 of the 1931
1931 in film

Events...
 film The Front Page
The Front Page (1931 film)

The Front Page is an Academy Award-nominated 1931 in film Cinema of the United States comedy film, directed by Lewis Milestone and starring Adolphe Menjou and Pat O'Brien ....
, which is an adaptation by Charles Lederer
Charles Lederer

Charles Davies Lederer was an American film writer and director. He was born in New York City, and was the son of two prominent figures in the American theater--Broadway producer George Lederer and singer Reine Davies ....
, Ben Hecht
Ben Hecht

Ben Hecht , , was an United States screenwriter, director, producer, playwright, and novelist. Called "the Shakespeare of Hollywood", he received screen credits, alone or in collaboration, for the stories or screenplays of some 70 films and as a prolific storyteller, authored 35 books and created some of the most entertaining screenplays or p...
 and Charles MacArthur
Charles MacArthur

Charles Gordon MacArthur was an American playwright and screenwriter. The son of a Baptist minister, he is best known for his plays with Ben Hecht, Ladies and Gentlemen , Twentieth Century and the frequently filmed The Front Page, which was based in part on MacArthur's experiences at the City News Bureau of Chicago....
 of their play of the same name
The Front Page

The Front Page was a hit Broadway theatre comedy, written by one-time Chicago reporters Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur and first produced in 1928....
. The "twist" to His Girl Friday is that the one of the lead roles was converted from a man to a woman.

The film stars Cary Grant
Cary Grant

Archibald Alec Leach , better known by his stage name, Cary Grant, was a British-born American actor. With his distinctive yet not quite placeable accent, he was noted as perhaps the foremost exemplar of the debonair leading man, handsome, virile, charismatic and charming....
 and Rosalind Russell
Rosalind Russell

Rosalind Russell was an American actress of theatre and film, perhaps best known for her role as a fast-talking newspaper reporter in the Howard Hawks screwball comedy His Girl Friday, as well as originating the role of Auntie Mame on Broadway theatre and in film....
 and features Ralph Bellamy
Ralph Bellamy

Ralph Rexford Bellamy was an United States actor with a career spanning sixty-two years....
. It was directed by Howard Hawks
Howard Hawks

Howard Winchester Hawks was an American film director, Film producer and writer of the Classical Hollywood cinema. He died in Palm Springs, California, California, after a fall....
 and is noted for the rapid-fire pace of its dialogue.

The film was #19 on American Film Institute's
American Film Institute

The American Film Institute is an independent non-profit organization created by the National Endowment for the Arts, which was established in 1967 when President Lyndon B....
 "100 Years, 100 Laughs" and has been selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry
National Film Registry

The National Film Registry is the registry of films selected by the United States National Film Preservation Board for preservation in the Library of Congress....
.






Discussion
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Quotations


I wish you hadn't done that, Hildy...Divorce me. Makes a fellow lose all faith in himself...Almost gives him a feeling he wasn't wanted.

Mayor: A guy who's done nothing for the last forty years but play pinochle gets elected Governor and right away, he thinks he's a Tarzan.

Tell him if he'll reprieve Earl Williams, we'll support him for senator. Tell him the Morning Post will be behind him hook, line, and sinker.

The Year's Wildest, Wittiest Whirlwind of a Love Battle... Outrageously Racy... Sparkling... Gay!

I'm going into business for myself...I'm getting married tomorrow...It's gonna be all right. I'm gonna settle down. I'm through with the newspaper business.

to Bruce You're getting a great little girl for yourself...You're getting something else too, Bruce, you're getting a great newspaperman ... One of the best I ever knew. Sorry to see her go. Darn sorry, Hildy.






Encyclopedia


His Girl Friday is a screwball comedy
Screwball Comedy

Screwball Comedy is an album by the Japanese band Soul Flower Union. The album found the band going into a simpler, harder-rocking direction, after several heavily world-music influenced albums....
, a remake
Remake

A "remake" is a term used to describe something that has been done again, sometimes with better quality and more features....
 of the 1931
1931 in film

Events...
 film The Front Page
The Front Page (1931 film)

The Front Page is an Academy Award-nominated 1931 in film Cinema of the United States comedy film, directed by Lewis Milestone and starring Adolphe Menjou and Pat O'Brien ....
, which is an adaptation by Charles Lederer
Charles Lederer

Charles Davies Lederer was an American film writer and director. He was born in New York City, and was the son of two prominent figures in the American theater--Broadway producer George Lederer and singer Reine Davies ....
, Ben Hecht
Ben Hecht

Ben Hecht , , was an United States screenwriter, director, producer, playwright, and novelist. Called "the Shakespeare of Hollywood", he received screen credits, alone or in collaboration, for the stories or screenplays of some 70 films and as a prolific storyteller, authored 35 books and created some of the most entertaining screenplays or p...
 and Charles MacArthur
Charles MacArthur

Charles Gordon MacArthur was an American playwright and screenwriter. The son of a Baptist minister, he is best known for his plays with Ben Hecht, Ladies and Gentlemen , Twentieth Century and the frequently filmed The Front Page, which was based in part on MacArthur's experiences at the City News Bureau of Chicago....
 of their play of the same name
The Front Page

The Front Page was a hit Broadway theatre comedy, written by one-time Chicago reporters Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur and first produced in 1928....
. The "twist" to His Girl Friday is that the one of the lead roles was converted from a man to a woman.

The film stars Cary Grant
Cary Grant

Archibald Alec Leach , better known by his stage name, Cary Grant, was a British-born American actor. With his distinctive yet not quite placeable accent, he was noted as perhaps the foremost exemplar of the debonair leading man, handsome, virile, charismatic and charming....
 and Rosalind Russell
Rosalind Russell

Rosalind Russell was an American actress of theatre and film, perhaps best known for her role as a fast-talking newspaper reporter in the Howard Hawks screwball comedy His Girl Friday, as well as originating the role of Auntie Mame on Broadway theatre and in film....
 and features Ralph Bellamy
Ralph Bellamy

Ralph Rexford Bellamy was an United States actor with a career spanning sixty-two years....
. It was directed by Howard Hawks
Howard Hawks

Howard Winchester Hawks was an American film director, Film producer and writer of the Classical Hollywood cinema. He died in Palm Springs, California, California, after a fall....
 and is noted for the rapid-fire pace of its dialogue.

The film was #19 on American Film Institute's
American Film Institute

The American Film Institute is an independent non-profit organization created by the National Endowment for the Arts, which was established in 1967 when President Lyndon B....
 "100 Years, 100 Laughs" and has been selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry
National Film Registry

The National Film Registry is the registry of films selected by the United States National Film Preservation Board for preservation in the Library of Congress....
. Today the film is in the public domain
Public domain

File:PD-icon.svgThe public domain is a range of abstract materials?commonly referred to as intellectual property?which are not owned or controlled by anyone....
, which hasn't prevented Columbia Pictures from issuing official video releases of the film.

Plot

Hisgirlfriday
Walter Burns (Cary Grant
Cary Grant

Archibald Alec Leach , better known by his stage name, Cary Grant, was a British-born American actor. With his distinctive yet not quite placeable accent, he was noted as perhaps the foremost exemplar of the debonair leading man, handsome, virile, charismatic and charming....
) is a hard-boiled editor for The Morning Post whose ex-wife and former star reporter, Hildegard "Hildy" Johnson (Rosalind Russell
Rosalind Russell

Rosalind Russell was an American actress of theatre and film, perhaps best known for her role as a fast-talking newspaper reporter in the Howard Hawks screwball comedy His Girl Friday, as well as originating the role of Auntie Mame on Broadway theatre and in film....
) is about to marry bland insurance man Bruce Baldwin (Ralph Bellamy
Ralph Bellamy

Ralph Rexford Bellamy was an United States actor with a career spanning sixty-two years....
) and settle down to a quiet life as a wife and mother in Albany, New York
Albany, New York

Albany is the Capital of the state of New York and the county seat of Albany County, New York. Albany is roughly 136 miles north of the city of New York City, and slightly south of the confluence of the Mohawk River and Hudson Rivers....
 – but Burns has other ideas. He entices the reluctant Johnson into covering one last story: the upcoming execution of convicted murderer Earl Williams (John Qualen
John Qualen

John Qualen was a Canadian film character actor.Qualen was born Johan Mandt Kvalen in Vancouver, British Columbia, the son of immigrants from Norway; his father was a Lutheran minister and changed the family's original surname, "Kvalen", to "Qualen"....
).

Walter does everything he can to keep Hildy from leaving, including setting Bruce up so he gets arrested over and over again on trumped-up charges. He even kidnaps Hildy's stern mother-in-law-to-be (Alma Kruger
Alma Kruger

Alma Kruger was an American actress.She had a long career on the stage before appearing in her first film while in her sixties, These Three ....
). When Williams escapes from the bumbling sheriff (Gene Lockhart
Gene Lockhart

Eugene "Gene" Lockhart was a Canada Academy Award-nominated character actor, singer, playwright and popular composer.Born in London, Ontario, Lockhart made his professional debut at the age of six when he appeared with The Kilties Band of Canada....
) and practically falls into Hildy's lap, the lure of a big scoop
Scoop (term)

Scoop is an informal term used in journalism. The word connotes originality, importance, surprise or excitement, secrecy and exclusivity.Stories likely considered to be scoops are important news, likely to interest or concern many people....
 proves to be too much for her. She is so consumed with writing the story that she hardly notices as Bruce realizes his cause is hopeless and leaves to return to Albany.

The crooked mayor (Clarence Kolb
Clarence Kolb

Clarence Kolb was an United States vaudeville performer and actor.Born in Cleveland, Ohio, he started out as one half of a vaudeville comedy act with Max Dill, and they styled themselves on the famous Weber and Fields....
) and sheriff need the publicity from the execution to keep their jobs in an upcoming election, so when a messenger (Billy Gilbert
Billy Gilbert

Billy Gilbert was an United States comedian and actor most known for his comic sneeze routines....
) brings them a reprieve from the governor, they try to bribe the man to go away and return later, when it will be too late. Walter and Hildy find out just in time to save Walter from being arrested for kidnapping.

Afterwards, Walter offers to remarry Hildy, promising to take her on the honeymoon they never had in Niagara Falls
Niagara Falls

The Niagara Falls are massive waterfalls on the Niagara River, straddling the Canada?United States border between the Provinces and territories of Canada of Ontario and the U.S....
, but then Walter learns that there is a newsworthy strike in Albany, which is on the way to Niagara Falls by train.

Cast

  • Cary Grant
    Cary Grant

    Archibald Alec Leach , better known by his stage name, Cary Grant, was a British-born American actor. With his distinctive yet not quite placeable accent, he was noted as perhaps the foremost exemplar of the debonair leading man, handsome, virile, charismatic and charming....
     as Walter Burns
  • Rosalind Russell
    Rosalind Russell

    Rosalind Russell was an American actress of theatre and film, perhaps best known for her role as a fast-talking newspaper reporter in the Howard Hawks screwball comedy His Girl Friday, as well as originating the role of Auntie Mame on Broadway theatre and in film....
     as Hildegard "Hildy" Johnson
  • Ralph Bellamy
    Ralph Bellamy

    Ralph Rexford Bellamy was an United States actor with a career spanning sixty-two years....
     as Bruce Baldwin
  • Alma Kruger
    Alma Kruger

    Alma Kruger was an American actress.She had a long career on the stage before appearing in her first film while in her sixties, These Three ....
     as Mrs. Baldwin, Bruce's mother
  • Gene Lockhart
    Gene Lockhart

    Eugene "Gene" Lockhart was a Canada Academy Award-nominated character actor, singer, playwright and popular composer.Born in London, Ontario, Lockhart made his professional debut at the age of six when he appeared with The Kilties Band of Canada....
     as Sheriff Peter B. Hartwell
  • Clarence Kolb
    Clarence Kolb

    Clarence Kolb was an United States vaudeville performer and actor.Born in Cleveland, Ohio, he started out as one half of a vaudeville comedy act with Max Dill, and they styled themselves on the famous Weber and Fields....
     as Mayor Fred
  • Abner Biberman
    Abner Biberman

    Abner Biberman , was an American actor, director, and screenwriter....
     as Louis "Diamond Louie" Palutso
  • John Qualen
    John Qualen

    John Qualen was a Canadian film character actor.Qualen was born Johan Mandt Kvalen in Vancouver, British Columbia, the son of immigrants from Norway; his father was a Lutheran minister and changed the family's original surname, "Kvalen", to "Qualen"....
     as Earl Williams
  • Helen Mack
    Helen Mack

    Helen Mack is one of the earliest examples of pioneering women who were successful in the entertainment industry, first as a performer and then orchestrating behind the scenes....
     as Molly Malloy, Earl's girlfriend
  • Porter Hall
    Porter Hall

    Porter Hall was an American character actor known for appearing in a number of films in the 1930s and 1940s. Possessing a weak chin and shifty eyes, Hall played movie villains or comedic incompetent characters....
     as Reporter Murphy
  • Ernest Truex
    Ernest Truex

    Ernest Truex was an American actor of stage and film. He started acting at age five and was toured through Missouri at age nine as "The Child Wonder in Scenes from Shakespeare"....
     as Reporter Roy V. Bensinger
  • Cliff Edwards
    Cliff Edwards

    Cliff Edwards , also known as "Ukelele Ike", was an American singer and musician who enjoyed considerable popularity in the 1920s and early 1930s, specializing in jazzy renditions of pop standards and novelty tunes....
     as Reporter Endicott
  • Roscoe Karns
    Roscoe Karns

    Roscoe Karns was an American actor. He appeared in nearly 150 films between 1915 in film and 1964 in film.He played the title role in the popular DuMont Television Network series Rocky King, Inside Detective from 1950 to 1954....
     as Reporter McCue
  • Frank Jenks
    Frank Jenks

    Frank Jenks was a vaudville performer and film actor. For almost ten years beginning in the early 1920s, Jenks was a song and dance man in vaudville....
     as Reporter Wilson
  • Regis Toomey
    Regis Toomey

    John Regis Toomey was an United States film and television actor.Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania, United States, he was one of four children of Francis X....
     as Reporter Sanders
  • Frank Orth
    Frank Orth

    Frank Orth was an American actor born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.By 1897, he was performing in vaudeville with his wife, Ann Codee, in an act called ?Codee and Orth?....
     as Duffy, Walter's copy editor
  • Billy Gilbert
    Billy Gilbert

    Billy Gilbert was an United States comedian and actor most known for his comic sneeze routines....
     as Joe Pettibone
  • Pat West as Warden Cooley
  • Edwin Maxwell
    Edwin Maxwell

    Edwin Maxwell was an Ireland character actor in Hollywood movies of the 1930s and 1940s, frequently cast as shady businessmen and shysters, though often ones with a dignified bearing....
     as Dr. Max J. Eggelhoffer


Awards and honors

American Film Institute
American Film Institute

The American Film Institute is an independent non-profit organization created by the National Endowment for the Arts, which was established in 1967 when President Lyndon B....
 recognition
  • 2000: AFI's 100 Years... 100 Laughs
    AFI's 100 Years... 100 Laughs

    Part of the AFI 100 Years... series, AFI's 100 Years... 100 Laughs is a list of the top 100 comedy movies in American cinema. The list was unveiled by the American Film Institute on June 14, 2000....
     - #19


Adaptation

His Girl Friday and the original Hecht and MacArthur play were later adapted into another stage play, His Girl Friday, by playwright John Guare
John Guare

John Guare is an American playwright. He is best known as the author of The House of Blue Leaves, Six Degrees of Separation , and Landscape of the Body....
. This was presented at the National Theatre
Royal National Theatre

The Royal National Theatre, London, England, is generally known as the National Theatre and commonly as The National. It is located on the The South Bank in the London Borough of Lambeth, England, immediately east of the southern end of Waterloo Bridge....
, London, from May to November 2003, with Alex Jennings
Alex Jennings

Alex Jennings is an English actor perhaps best known for his supporting role as HRH The Prince of Wales in The Queen alongside Helen Mirren....
 as Burns and Zoe Wanamaker
Zoe Wanamaker

Zo? Wanamaker Order of the British Empire is an award-winning England-United States actor best known for her role as Susan Harper in the United Kingdom television series My Family....
 as Hildy.

External links

  • Watch at the Internet Archive
    Internet Archive

    The Internet Archive is a nonprofit organization dedicated to building and maintaining a free and openly accessible online digital library, including an archive site of the World Wide Web....