Product Details

• Actors: Cary Grant, Rosalind Russell, Ralph Bellamy, Gene Lockhart, Porter Hall
• Format: Black & White, Closed-captioned, DVD, Subtitled, NTSC
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono)
• Region: Region 1 encoding (US and Canada only)
  PLEASE NOTE: Some Region 1 DVDs may contain Regional Coding Enhancement (RCE). Some, but not all, of our international customers have had problems playing these enhanced discs on what are called "region-free" DVD players. For more information on RCE, click here.
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: Unrated
• Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
• DVD Release Date: November 21, 2000
• Run Time: 92 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (42 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6305416192
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #15,233 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "His Girl Friday" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

The Front Page, Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur's classic 1928 newspaper play, has had three official film versions and contributed structural DNA to half the movies ever made about professional camaraderie and fierce love-hate friendships. Lewis Milestone's 1931 movie is well respected (Billy Wilder's 1974 version isn't), but this is one case where the remake towers brilliantined head and blocked shoulders above the original.

Howard Hawks had the inspired notion of making Hildy Johnson--the ace newsman whom demonic editor Walter Burns is trying to keep from quitting and getting married--a she instead of a he. What's more, she's not only Walter's star reporter but also his ex-wife. When Hildy (Rosalind Russell) comes to tell Walter (Cary Grant) she's leaving the newspaper business, he bamboozles her into carrying out one last assignment--a death-row interview with a little nebbish (John Qualen) convicted of killing a policeman. It sounds like a snap, but before you can say screwball comedy, the press room of the Criminal Courts Building has become ground zero for all the lunacy a jailbreak, a shooting, an impromptu suicide, a corrupt city administration, and the most Machiavellian "hero" in the American cinema can supply.

His Girl Friday is one of the, oh, five greatest dialogue comedies ever made; Hawks had his cast play it at breakneck speed, and audiences hyperventilate trying to finish with one laugh so they can do justice to the four that have accumulated in the meantime. Russell, not Hawks's first choice to play Hildy, is triumphant in the part, holding her own as "one of the guys" and creating an enduring feminist icon. Grant is a force of nature, giving a performance of such concentrated frenzy and diamond brilliance that you owe it to yourself to devote at least one viewing of the movie to watching him alone. But then you have to go back (lucky you) and watch it again for the sake of the press-room gang--Roscoe Karns, Porter Hall, Cliff Edwards, Regis Toomey, Frank Jenks, and others--the kind of ensemble work that gets character actors onto Parnassus. --Richard T. Jameson

Product Description

HIS GIRL FRIDAY - DVD Movie

See all Editorial Reviews

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

46 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Thanks to the other amazon reviewers ..., April 29, 2001

By 

"bdny" (usa) - See all my reviews

This review is from: His Girl Friday (DVD)

for warning me about which version to get. I bought the columbia classics version which was digitally remastered. The picture and sound quality are both excellent. There are a couple of versions out there. Luckily, I read the reviews here and didn't get duped into buying the cheap poor quality dvd. The movie itself is my favorite comedy of all time next to Some Like It Hot. This was one of my favorite roles by Cary Grant. The chemistry with Rosalind Russell was very smooth and Ralph Bellamy played his part well as the stuffy insurance salesman...Remember GET THE COLUMBIA CLASSICS VERSION. It's an extra ten bucks but excellent quality.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Columbia Classics version is the one to get, December 27, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: His Girl Friday (DVD)

The Amazon practice of putting all reviews for all versions of a title under each version makes things confusing in the case of His Girl Friday. It is in the public domain so there have been several cheap and lousy copies-of-copies releases. The Columbia Classics version (released November 21, 2000) is the one to get...at last great picture and sound quality, by the original studio from the original film. The commentary by Todd McCarthy is good and the extras are fun, but the movie is the thing and 60 years later it's as fun as ever. What dazzling acting and dialogue. A classic.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding DVD, if you get the right one!!!!, November 21, 2000

By 

"keyser5" (Pleasanton, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: His Girl Friday (DVD)

His Girl Friday is a hilarious movie, but because it has now been in the public domain for a few years, any ol' person or company could make a videotape or copy of it. This brand new DVD is immaculate in the transfer - Make sure though you're getting the DVD that has the "Columbia Classics" across the top - any other version is more than likely an old transfer with little care taken in the DVD mastering... This new DVD is the best the movie will probably ever look and is still a great film with some of the best bantering/overlapping dialogue and hilarious acting by Cary Grant you'll ever find....