Customer Reviews

His Girl Friday

5 star:		(36)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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.

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....

This is the 95th review to appear here at Amazon on this movie. As always, it has proved enlightening to read the preceding writers had to say. Most of them loved the film, as was wholly predictable. A goodly number issued dire warnings about the appalling quality of one issue or another, so there is very much a buyer beware factor involved here. A handful didn't care for the film at all, almost always because thedialogueissofasttheycan'tkeepupwithit. That ... is ... a ... real ... shame, especially in this era of the fidgety edit, the sound bite and the five-second commercial.

Many, altogether too many, praised director Howard Hawks to the skies for his brilliant story, his brilliant dialogue, his brilliant re-visioning, his brilliant this, his brilliant that. Now that requires a comment or two.

In the Roaring Twenties, Chicago was the most raffish newspaper town in the world. Reporters who had seen it all--many, many times--covered Prohibition-era beer wars, gangsters several times bigger than life, crooked politicians, lurid scandals of every conceivable stripe, Red scares, repeated labor strife, mesmerizing mouthpieces who reduced juries to tears in order to save thrill killers from their justly deserved dates with public executioners, and any other mad things that turned up by land, sea or air. The pop culture of the day was fascinated by it all and two contemporary plays survive into our time to remind us of those hard-charging times: "Chicago" and "The Front Page." "Chicago," of course, was a hit play, that became a hit movie (and advanced the career of Ginger Rogers), that became a hit Broadway musical, that became a hit retro-movie musical.

"The Front Page" was an even bigger hit on stage in its first go-around. It was written by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur who had served time in the news bullpen at the Chicago City Hall and had finally escaped to write for other venues that were no more respectable but paid a whole lot more money. Their subject was Hildy Johnson, a reporter on his last day in the bullpen before escaping into the real world and his boss Walter Burns, an amalgamation of every editor who'd ever run a beady eye over Hecht and MacArthur's deathless prose. I should point out that Hildy Johnson in the play is a man. The reason for that is ... well, because there actually was a Hildy (short for Hilding) Johnson who happened to be a bullpen reporter at the Chicago City Hall. Whatever inclination (if such a thing ever entered their minds at all) that Hecht and MacArthur had to make Hildy Johnson a woman would have promptly fallen by the wayside because the two authors were aware that the real Hildy Johnson would be in the theater on opening night to observe the antics of the fictional Hildy on stage. By all accounts, the real Hildy was a large and formidable Swede, not at all someone H&Mac wished to annoy.

In very short order, the play was faithfully transferred to the movie screen with Pat O'Brien as Hildy and dapper Adolph Menjou as Walter Burns. That film is largely forgotten today, but is well worth watching. It was the first major film of the talkie era in which the old fluid movement of the silent film camera was re-attained. Menjou and O'Brien are both terrific.

More than a decade later, a geologic era of Hollywood time, Howard Hawks set himself to the task of making a remake. He hired Charles Lederer, yet another raffish writer, to make a 1940-ish screenplay out of the 1928 play. He, or Lederer, or both simultaneously succumbed to the psycho-magnetic pull of that name, Hildy. They subjected Johnson to a gender transformation ... which changed the relationship between Burns and Johnson from Mephistopheles and Faust to lovers-separated ... which allowed for the importation of a new character as the temporary impediment to the course of true love ... which yielded a magnificent screenplay that maintained all the cynical energy of the original, but in the context of a romantic comedy.

In the apportioning of credit, so far, I would put writer Lederer far ahead of director Hawks. Hawks racks up points for casting Cary Grant in the unaccustomed role of an authority figure, for casting Roz Russell who was perfectly capable of going toe-to-toe with Grant and always giving as good as she got, and for tossing in the wonderful, but still under-appreciated Ralph Bellamy as hilarious ballast to keep everything on course.

Hawks did one more thing. He rehearsed each scene in long takes, again and again, until the rapid, overlapping rhythm of the words was ingrained in the performers. Then, and only then, did he shoot it.

This film is a masterpiece for its screenplay, for its performers down to the smallest parts (a perfect, Big Studio-era repertory company of players), for Hawks' masterful direction. Sheesh, what more could you want? Of course it's worth five stars!

"His Girl Friday" is Howard Hawk's inspired remake of the award-winning Broadway play and previous movie release of "The Front Page". In this revamp, it's all about a rapid fire newspaper editor, Walter (Cary Grant) and his star reporter and ex-wife, Hildie Johnston. Hildie has decided to retire to the country with her soon to be new husband (Ralph Belamy). But when a prison break captures the imagination of a troupe of cutthroat reporters, all rabid for the real scoop, Hildie sets aside marital bliss for one last hurrah as a cub reporter.

THE TRANSFER: BEWARE OF THIS DVD! There are no less than 12 bootlegged versions of "His Girl Friday" being sold through various vendors on DVD. In all but one case the image quality looks as though the entire print had been fed through a meat grinder. The version you want is the one from Columbia Tri-Star Home Video. Its packaging features a disclaimer that reads "mastered from the original camera negative."

This version of "His Girl Friday" exhibits - in short - exemplary video quality. The B&W picture has been completely restored. Age related artifacts are nonexistent. The gray scale, black and contrast levels are perfectly realized. Fine detail will astound. There are no digital anomalies. The audio is mono but very nicely cleaned up.

EXTRAS: This version also includes some very nice - if all too brief - featurettes on the careers of stars Rosiland Russell and Cary Grant and the making of the film. There's also the original theatrical trailer.

BOTTOM LINE: This girl is worth seeking out!

This is a priceless, brilliant comedy from 1940. Although several movies were made based on the hit play The Front Page, a sarcastic comedy about the newspaper business, none was as successful or is as hilarious as His Girl Friday.

Made by expert director Howard Hawks, His Girl Friday is one of the most entertaining and hilarious films ever! The film was the first to use overlapping dialogue, and it is probably the fastest talking film in history! It can be watched again and again, because every time you find new things to laugh about that you missed the last time!

The cast is fantastic as well. Cary Grant, especially, though usually very good, gives one of his best performances in His Girl Friday as the amoral and manipulative newpaper editor Walter Burns. He is spectacular! Every scene he is in is hilarious because of his funny expressions and clever way of saying his lines. He also contributes greatly to the film by several "in jokes", such as the Archie Leach line and the part in which he describes Ralph Bellamy's character as looking like "uhh..that fellow in the movies..you know, Ralph Bellamy."

Rosalind Russell is excellent as well as Hildy Johnson, the star reporter who wants to quit, and she and Cary make a wonderfully spunky pair! Ralph Bellamy does a good job with his role as Hildy's fiancee, the bumbling insurance guy. The rest of the cast is just as good.

Anyhow, this movie is a must have! Make sure to get a good copy of the DVD though - personally, I would recommend the His Girl Friday/Cary Grant on Film version because of its clarity.

Of all the great directors in cinema history, Howard Hawks was easily the most versatile. Think of a great director. Any director. Think of the kinds of films they directed? No matter who you consider, at best they worked in two or three genres. but Hawks turned to every conceivable genre with his cinematic mastery intact. Had he worked in the 1970s or 1980s, he would probably have produced a great martial arts film. Hawks made great war films, comedies, Westerns, gangster films, detective films, adventure films, musicals, and is even acknowledged to be the uncredited creative force behind THE THING FROM OUTER SPACE, the film that started the Sci-fi craze of the fifties.

But in my mind, Hawks was first and foremost a director of screwball comedies. He more or less invented the genre with his 1934 TWENTIETH CENTURY, and went on to direct BRINGING UP BABY, BALL OF FIRE, and lesser efforts like I WAS A MALE WAR BRIDE and MONKEY BUSINESS. But as much as I like TWENTIETH CENTURY and BRINGING UP BABY, my favorite Hawks comedy is easily HIS GIRL FRIDAY.

This movie gets so many things right that it is difficult to begin isolating just a few of its excellencies. You almost have to begin with the utterly breathtaking verbal interchanges between Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell. The script is heavily based on the great Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur play THE FRONT PAGE. In becoming a comedy, many of the impressive social themes of the play become muted. Fortunately, some of the racism of the play also is muted, though not eliminated (an unfortunate joke about a black woman giving birth is retained in the Hawks script and film). But whatever is lost in seriousness is gained by in sheer comedic force and exuberance. Which leads us back to Grant and Russell's verbal exchanges. They are intense, quick, fast-paced, and almost manic. This film may contain more words per minute than any other Hollywood has produced. The pace is so rapid that in many spots the characters are intentionally tripping over the others' lines. Frequently two and even three characters are talking at once. But over and over again, the viewer is just stunned by the virtuosity of Grant and Russell. It is difficult to imagine better comedic acting than this.

The cast is almost impossible to overpraise. All the way down to the top 15 or 20 characters, the casting is perfect. Although Grant and Russell stand out, this is really an ensemble cast. Ralph Bellamy is solid in his thankless but essential role as Rosalind Russell's fiancé.

The movie also features some great in jokes. I'll mention only three. When Grant sends someone to give some (counterfeit) money to Bellamy's character, Grant is asked what he looks like. He hesitates for only a fraction of a second before answering, "He looks just like that movie fellow, Ralph Bellamy." At another point, a frustrated Cary Grant threatens someone by saying, "I'll do to you what I did to Archie Leech." Archie Leech, was, of course, Cary Grant's real name. When Earl Williams, who is hiding in a roll top desk, attempts to get out, Grant says, "Get back in there, you old Mock Turtle." Near the beginning of his career, Grant had played the part of the Mock Turtle (in heavy make up but singing his own song--most people are not aware that Grant had a pleasant light tenor and was quite at ease in musical comedy).

Just a great comedy. I would, however, like to caution people with the other reviewers to get only the Columbia version of the film. This movie was in public domain for some time, and during that time a large number of execrable versions were produced. Purchase this one, but purchase it with caution.

It's always the same with movies that become public domain: you'll see tons of different releases by companies you've never heard of and most of the reviews complain about the awful picture quality and hissing sound. Amazon makes it especially hard to find the real McCoy because all reviews of those various editions are lumped together, so it's almost impossible to find out if there's a good edition of a movie among all the rubbish.

The only way to avoid a lemon is to seek out DVD re-release by the Hollywood studios that produced these movies and have the original celluloid instead of bad VHS copies or heavily damaged prints.

In the case of His Girl Friday, please buy the one from Sony Pictures/Columbia and avoid all other releases.

Many actors have tried comedy, but very few actors are natural comedians. Among the latter group is Cary Grant, whose perfect looks often disguised the fact that he is definitly on the short list of silver screen's greatest comedians. He was sarcastic, witty, with the unique ability to make his lines seem completely spontaneous. He can get a laugh with a roll of his eyes, a stifled giggle, a click of his tongue, a shake of his head, and a deadpan stare. It's important to remember that Grant got his start in vaudeville and he had a vaudeville's instinct to do anything for a laugh. He was perhaps never funnier than in His Girl Friday. He literally steals every scene he's in, and I love how during the film he periodically giggles at his own cleverness. When he's caught in a flat-out lie several times, he simply giggles, and we giggle too. His mock outrage at being caught in his own schemes is even funnier. Walter Burns is really a jerk -- a bad husband, and somewhat of a nightmare boss. But with Grant's frenetic, endearing performance, never has a jerk been more adorable. More than that, Grant makes it clear that he does everything for love. Grant's adoration of Hildy and his desperation to hold on to her is wonderful to watch.
"His Girl Friday" is Howard Hawks' remake of "The Front Page," a successful newspaper comedy. Hawks however changed the character of Hildy from a man to a woman (Rosalind Russell). Walter Burns in "His Girl Friday" is the newspaper editor as well as Hildy's ex husband. This was a genius move: the movie becomes a battle of the sexes. When Hildy announces that she's quitting the frenetic life of a reporter and getting married to a nice insurance man Bruce (Ralph Bellamy), Walter goes on a madcap mission to ensnare Hildy into writing one more story (and thus prevent her marriage to Bruce). He first meets Bruce and quickly shakes Bruce's umbrella instead of his hand. In one of my favorite scenes of the movie, Walter takes Hildy and Bruce out to lunch, and plops himself between Hildy and Bruce, and then proceeds to slyly insult Bruce the entire time.
One of the more amazing things about "His Girl Friday" is Russell and Grant's body language. They almost seem to mirror each other, from the way they answer a phone to their chain smoking. I know it must have taken a lot of work, but their often overlapping lines seem completely spontaneous and ad-libbed. I love Walter's smug giggle when Hildy phones him demanding $450. He promises to send the money over "on his mother's grave." Hildy says "Your mother's still alive." "Oh, ok, then my grandmother's grave. Don't get technical." At one point Walter describes Bruce as "looking like that guy in the movies, you know, uh, Ralph Bellamy."
If I put too much emphasis on Grant's performance, it's because he steals every scene he's in. In fact in the commentary track it's revealed that Grant's scene and line stealing got so extreme that Rosalind Russell hired a writer to come up with more funny lines for Hildy. The rest of the cast is also excellent. Rosalind Russell is wonderfully physical in her role -- she runs like a man, noisily clonking her thick heels. At one point she pushes a man over on the sidewalk, demanding that he "talk to her." One of my favorite scenes is her furiously typing on the typewriter while Bruce begs her to take the "9:00 train to Albany." In another scene she tries to put her coat on, but without any success. She's a tough talking tomboy in a pin-striped suit and fetching hat. Ralph Bellamy is also excellent as the milquetoast Bruce. This movie was made by Columbia, and despite Columbia mogul Harry Cohn's famous cheapness (at his funeral, it was commented that "Give the people what they want, and they'll turn up for it") he amassed a great group of character actors who in this movie are used as corrupt politicians and hardened reporters. If you loved "It Happened One Night" you'll notice Roscoe Karns, who was the memorable "Shapely" in that film.
In short, "His Girl Friday" is a film that has that rare convergence of talent on all levels, from the actors to the director to the screenplay to the editting.
This dvd transfer is excellent, and has some nice extras, including a nice 5 minute featurette on Cary Grant, and an excellent commentary track by Todd McCarthy. He really knows a lot about this movie, and it's fun to listen to him. This comedy is priceless.

There's a lot than can be said about the film itself: Howard Hawks' best comedy and possibly his best film, one of the earliest uses of overlapping dialogue (and probably the best), tightest screenwriting, etc., etc. If you want to know more about the film, there are lots of other reviews which sing its praises. My focus is on helping you to buy the best-quality version available.

Beware of all except the Columbia Classics edition (with the small orange oval near the bottom left of the front cover which confirms the transfer from film to DVD was "Restored from the Original Negative!"). Most of these were made on the cheap with poor transfers from inferior prints which look and sound awful. Get the Columbia Classics edition, released November 21, 2000, through Sony Pictures, ASIN: 6305416192. The Columbia Classics version features an excellent transfer: the picture quality is crisp and clear, with no contrast issues or visual artifacts, and the restored mono soundtrack is clean and full, with no muffled lower end or tinny-sounding high end. Enjoy!