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).

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

BlogHub Articles:

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 FREE STR... 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! That... Read full article


What’s Streaming in Sept on the CMH Channel at Best Classics Ever? Angel and the Bad Man, The Hitch-Hiker, His Girl Friday and More

By Annmarie Gatti on Sep 3, 2020 From Classic Movie Hub Blog

Our Sept Picks on the Classic Movie Hub ChannelOver 40 Titles Streaming Free All Month Long! 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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Quotes from

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!


Hildy Johnson: A big fat lummox like you hiring an airplane to write: "Hildy, don't be hasty. Remember my dimple. Walter." Delayed our divorce 20 minutes while the judge went out and watched it.


Walter Burns: Diabetes! I ought to know better than to hire anybody with a disease.


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Facts about

The restaurant scene was written directly for the movie and took twice the time to shoot than expected: four days. The difficulty resided in the editing, since the characters had to eat, and the background actors kept walking around.
The incident with Walter and Hildy hiding escaped killer Earl Williams in a desk in the city room was based on a real incident. Emile Gauvreau, the editor of the old New York City paper "The New York Evening Graphic", hid an escaped killer in the city room of the newspaper, interviewed him, wrote the story and waited until the paper was on the street before turning him over to the police.
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.
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National Film Registry

His Girl Friday

Released 1940
Inducted 1993
(Sound)




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