Product Details

• Actors: Adolphe Menjou, Pat O'Brien, Mary Brian, Edward Everett Horton, Walter Catlett
• Directors: Lewis Milestone
• Writers: Bartlett Cormack, Ben Hecht, Charles Lederer, Charles MacArthur
• Producers: Lewis Milestone, Howard Hughes
• Format: Black & White, EP, NTSC
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Madacy Records
• VHS Release Date: September 19, 1997
• Run Time: 101 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6303934749
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #309,397 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Howard Hughes produced this first film version of the Ben Hecht-Charles MacArthur play, fresh from its wildly successful Broadway engagement; it's at once a close transcription of the stage piece and, under Lewis Milestone's aggressively inventive direction (which includes using a bouncing camera to underline the rapid-fire dialogue), a typically eccentric, anything-goes bit of early sound filmmaking. Pat O'Brien, in one of his first films, flies through the role of Hildy Johnson, the ace tabloid reporter with dreams of getting married and going straight; sleek Adolphe Menjou is his boss, the wily editor Walter Burns, who's desperate to keep Hildy on staff to cover an upcoming execution. Director Howard Hawks added whole levels of thematic depth and dramatic tension when he made Hildy a woman (Rosalind Russell) in his 1940 remake, His Girl Friday, but the Milestone version has its own gritty integrity and even manages to challenge Hawks in the strength of its supporting cast: Mae Clarke, Walter Catlett, Frank McHugh, Edward Everett Horton, Slim Summerville, and George E. Stone. --Dave Kehr

Product Description

Item Name: The Front Page (1931); Studio: Synergy Ent

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Below '0'...., October 13, 2003

By 

philrob "philrob" (New Zealand) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Front Page (DVD)

...is the rating for Madacy releases. Whatever low is the price, it's still too high, regarding the ultimate lack of quality in their products, and I will wait for a real production of this movie on DVD by people knowing their trade and having some respect for their customers.
Pleaaaaaase, change the rating, and allow for "0 -or under- to 5' option, because if I don't want to put '1' (which is far too much in this case) my review won't be accounted for, and the likes of Madacy (I never met worse) should be prevented from releasing such crap.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Classic, remastered. Finally!, August 2, 2009

By 

LisaMC "Lover of Books" (East Central IL USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Front Page, 1931 (Remastered Edition) (DVD)

I had a DVD of this film, which must have been one step up from a home taping job, because the sound quality was dreadful (to use a favorite Edward Everett Horton word). It was better than nothing, but still left a lot to be desired.

Then I discovered this remastered edition. I got it and watched it and was very pleased. Now, don't get me wrong; this film does not look or sound like something done yesterday, even with the remaster. The picture is still blurry to look at and there are some jumps, but you have to remember that this movie is nearly 80 years old, so it's bound to show its age somewhat.

What is new and better is the sound quality. The dialogue is completely audible, unlike on the previous DVD, where about half the dialogue was muffled to the point of inaudability, and it comes out of both channels on the speakers instead of just one, and you don't have to have the volume at the maximum to hear it. There is still the roar in the background that comes with many very old films, but you can still hear what the actors are saying above it. And the talking is what this movie is all about.

The reporters are acerbic and cranky and mean, but have some humanity, as they sit and wait for a man to be executed. There is a wonderful subplot about the fact that the man is a political pawn and not guilty of the crime, which sheds some light on 1930s politics. Edward Everett Horton has a choice role as one of the men in the press room; it's a serious take on his usual character, an effete hypochondriac, but he doesn't play it for laughs this time. Adolphe Menjou and Pat O'Brien star as the editor and star reporter pair; if you have seen either remakes of the film, the Cary Grant-Rosalind Russell His Girl Friday, or the 70s version with Lemmon and Matthau, you know the basic story. Hildy is trying to quit reporting to get married, but Burns connives to keep him at the job.

There is a lot of pre-code stuff in the movie, which makes it somewhat shocking even today; at one point, one of the reporters actually flips off the Sheriff. The streetwalker is called just that, no euphemisms. There are other things, but I don't want to spoil it for you.

The movie is well worth watching, and learning from. I recommend it for anyone who has seen either remake, just to see where it all started.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Unintelligible sound, April 10, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: The Front Page (DVD)

The sound was so distorted neither of us could understand the dialog. We gave up watching it after 15 minutes.