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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: Diabetes! I ought to know better than to hire anybody with a disease.
Bruce Baldwin: [Speaking of Walter] You know, Hildy, he's not such a bad fellow.
Hildy Johnson: No, he should make some girl real happy.
Bruce Baldwin: Uh-huh.
Hildy Johnson: [Under her breath] Slap-happy.
Bruce Baldwin: He's not the man for you. I can see that. But I sort of like him. He's got a lot of charm.
Hildy Johnson: Well, he comes by it naturally - his grandfather was a snake.
Hildy Johnson: [speaking of her fiance] He treats me like a woman.
Walter Burns: Oh he does, does he? Mm-hm... how did I treat you? Like a water buffalo?
Walter Burns: Look, Hildy, I only acted like any husband that didn't want to see his home broken up.
Hildy Johnson: What home?
Walter Burns: "What home"? Don't you remember the home I promised you?
Walter Burns: Take Hitler and stick him on the funny page.
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His Girl Friday Facts
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.
(At 35:00) In the news room the reporters are playing poker and one of them calls out to the reporter McCue, played by Roscoe Karns, who's sitting by a window that looks on a staircase. "Hey Mac (no response)... Hey Stairway Sam, would you mind turning on some lights." If you back up the DVD a minute or two you'll see why he's "Stairway Sam". In the background of these newsroom scenes McCue (or "Stairway Sam") is trying to look up the womens' dresses as they go up the stair case (at 27:30, 35:20 and 39:00). Even during one of the few serious moments in the film just after Molly Molloy confronts the newsmen with their lies Stairway Sam can't help himself. Not to mention he's flirting with and chatting up every woman who walks by. This was probably something that got by the Hayes office censors of the time.
When Earl Williams tries to get out of the roll-top desk, Burns (Cary Grant) says: "Get back in there, you Mock Turtle". Grant played the Mock Turtle in Alice in Wonderland.
One of the first, if not the first, films to have characters talk over the lines of other characters, for a more realistic sound. Prior to this, movie characters completed their lines before the next lines were started.
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.
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