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His Girl Friday Overview:

His Girl Friday (1940) was a Comedy - Drama Film directed by Howard Hawks and produced by Howard Hawks.

SYNOPSIS

Arguably one of the funniest screen comedies, but indisputably the fastest. How the leads managed to get their lines out at the pace Hawks set is a marvel. This witty adaptation of the Hecht and MacArthur stage hit The Front Page (also the basis of the 1931 film) gives the ace reporter role to Russell, who takes it and runs. The action begins when Russell informs Grant, her suave managing editor and new ex-husband, that she's leaving the paper and planning to remarry. Grant, a handsome, hard-boiled type, wouldn't dare show his true feelings for Hildy, but he gets his way through the only true love of his ex's life: a breaking, front-page headline story. Her intended, Bellamy, stands by with hat in hand, his accustomed Hollywood role. Remade again in 1974, and, as Switching Channels, in 1988 set in a TV news environment.

(Source: available at Amazon AMC Classic Movie Companion).

His Girl Friday was inducted into the National Film Registry in 1993.

His Girl Friday BlogHub Articles:

Featured in Box Set Celebrating Columbia's Centennial and HIS GIRL FRIDAY

on Jan 4, 2024 From GlamAmor

Happy New Year! 2024 is the 100th anniversary of Columbia Pictures and I'm excited to announce I have my own featurette included in a 4K boxed set that will be released February 13 to celebrate the studio's centennial. I spoke about His Girl Friday (1940) and its costume designer Robert Kalloch. It'... Read full article

Five Fun Facts about His Girl Friday (1940)

By Annmarie Gatti on Apr 18, 2022 From Classic Movie Hub Blog

Five Fun Facts about His Girl Friday ….. 1) Hildy was originally a man His Girl Friday was adapted from the 1928 Broadway play, The Front Page, which, in turn, was adapted into the 1931 film The Front Page. All three versions revolve around the same storyline, more or less, with o... Read full article

Rosalind Russell and Cary Grant in “His Girl Friday”

By Stephen Reginald on Sep 8, 2021 From Classic Movie Man

Rosalind Russell and Cary Grant in “His Girl Friday” His Girl Friday (1940) is an American screwball comedy directed by Howard Hawks and starring Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell. Based on the play The Front Page (1928) by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur, Hawks decided to turn Hildy ... Read full article

What’s Streaming in June on the CMH Channel at BCE? His Girl Friday, The Outlaw, and Father’s Little Dividend

By Annmarie Gatti on Jun 16, 2021 From Classic Movie Hub Blog

Our June Picks on the Classic Movie Hub ChannelJune Birthdays and Fond Memories! Here we go… This month’s free streaming picks for our Classic Movie Hub Channel at Best Classics Ever (BCE) – the mega streaming channel for classic movies and TV shows! These titles will be available for FR... Read full article

What’s Streaming in Jan on the CMH Channel at Best Classics Ever? His Girl Friday, Cyrano de Bergerac, Road to Bali.

By Annmarie Gatti on Jan 4, 2021 From Classic Movie Hub Blog

Our January Picks on the Classic Movie Hub ChannelJanuary Birthdays and Chasing Away the Winter Blues! It’s that time again… We have our monthly free streaming picks for our Classic Movie Hub Channel at Best Classics Ever (BCE) – the mega streaming channel for classic movies and TV shows! ... Read full article

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His Girl Friday Quotes:

Walter Burns: Let's see this paragon! Is he as good as you say?
Hildy Johnson: Why, he's better!
Walter Burns: Well then, what does he want with you?
Hildy Johnson: Ah-ha-ha, now you got me!
Walter Burns: [on the phone] Well Butch, where are you?... Well, what are you doing there? Haven't you even started?... Listen, it's a matter of life and death!... Well, you can't stop for a dame now! I don't care if you've been after her for six years. Butch - our whole lives are at stake! Are you going to let a woman come between us after all we've been through?... Butch, I'd put my arm in fire for you, up to here. Now you can't double-cross me... Put her on, I'll talk to her.
[talking to the woman]
Walter Burns: Oh, good evening madam. Now listen, you ten-cent glamour girl. You can't keep Butch away from his duty!... What's that?... You say that again, I'll come over there and kick you in the teeth!... Say, what kind of language is that? Now look here you. -
[makes a noise like a horse, hangs up]
Walter Burns: She hung up! What did I say?
Hildy Johnson: I suppose I proposed to you?
Walter Burns: Well, you practically did, making goo-goo eyes at me for two years until I broke down.
[impersonates Hildy, flutters his eyelashes]
Walter Burns: "Oh, Walter." And I still claim I was tight the night I proposed to you. If you had been a gentleman, you would have forgotten all about it. But not you!
Hildy Johnson: [hurls her purse at him] Why, you - !
Walter Burns: [ducks and her purse barely misses him] You're losing your eye. You used to be able to pitch better than that.
Hildy Johnson: [speaking to Walter on the phone] Now, get this, you double-crossing chimpanzee: There ain't going to be any interview and there ain't going to be any story. And that certified check of yours is leaving with me in twenty minutes. I wouldn't cover the burning of Rome for you if they were just lighting it up. If I ever lay my two eyes on you again, I'm gonna walk right up to you and hammer on that monkeyed skull of yours 'til it rings like a Chinese gong!
Walter Burns: Sorta wish you hadn't done that, Hildy.
Hildy Johnson: Done what?
Walter Burns: Divorced me. Makes a fella lose all faith in himself. Gives him a... almost gives him a feeling he wasn't wanted.
Hildy Johnson: Oh, now look, junior... that's what divorces are FOR!
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His Girl Friday Facts
Jean Arthur was the first choice to play Hildy. Among the other actresses who also turned down the role were Carole Lombard, Ginger Rogers, Claudette Colbert and Irene Dunne.
Walter Burns (Cary Grant) refers to some horrible fate suffered by the last person who crossed him: Archie Leach. Grant's real name was Archibald Leach and he ad-libbed the line. See also Arsenic and Old Lace.
The Broadway production of "The Front Page" (source material for the film) opened at the Times Square Theater on August 14, 1929 and ran for 276 performances.
Many critics in 1940 felt that Cary Grant was badly miscast as Walter Burns, and that Clark Gable would have been much better in the part.
Burns tries to describe Bruce Baldwin, played by Ralph Bellamy. He ends up saying that he "looks like that film actor, Ralph Bellamy". See also Arsenic and Old Lace.
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