Search - His Girl Friday

The second screen version of the Ben Hecht/Charles MacArthur play The Front Page, His Girl Friday changed hard-driving newspaper reporter Hildy Johnson from a man to a woman, transforming the story into a scintillating battle of the sexes. Rosalind Russell plays Hildy, about to foresake journalism for marriage to cloddish Bruce Baldwin (Ralph Bellamy). Cary Grant plays Walter Burns, Hildy's editor and ex-husband, who feigns happiness about her impending marriage as a ploy to win her back. The ace up Walter's sleeve is a late-breaking news story concerning the impending execution of anarchist Earl Williams (John Qualen), a blatant example of political chicanery that Hildy can't pass up. The story gets hotter when Williams escapes and is hidden from the cops by Hildy and Walter--right in the prison pressroom. His Girl Friday may well be the fastest comedy of the 1930s, with kaleidoscope action, instantaneous plot twists, and overlapping dialogue. And if you listen closely, you'll hear a couple of "in" jokes, one concerning Cary Grant's real name (Archie Leach), and another poking fun at Ralph Bellamy's patented "poor sap" screen image. Subsequent versions of The Front Page included Billy Wilder's 1974 adaptation, which restored Hildy Johnson's manhood in the form of Jack Lemmon, and 1988's Switching Channels, which cast Burt Reynolds in the Walter Burns role and Kathleen Turner as the Hildy Johnson counterpart. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Cary Grant - Walter Burns
Rosalind Russell - Hildy Johnson
Ralph Bellamy - Bruce Baldwin
Gene Lockhart - Sheriff Hartwell
Helen Mack - Mollie Malloy
Porter Hall - Murphy
Clarence Kolb - Mayor
Roscoe Karns - McCue

These movies have the touch and feel of His Girl Friday...
7	State of the Union (NR)
5	The Heiress (NR)
6	My Favorite Wife (NR)
25	The Grapes of Wrath
6	A Raisin in the Sun (NR)
9	The Taming of the Shrew (NR)
1	Lady for a Day (NR)
5	Goodbye Mr. Chips (NR)
2	The Entertainer (NR)
S	The Sundowners (NR)
1	The Good Earth (NR)
28	12 Angry Men (NR)
12	L' Impossible Monsieur Bebe
1	W.C. Fields Comedy Collection (NR)
15	The Thin Man (NR)
S	Darling (NR)
7	The Women (NR)
1	The Front Page
These movies have the subject or theme of His Girl Friday...
12	Network [Widescreen/Fullscreen] (R)
1	Fury (NR)
4	La Dolce Vita
5	Spellbound (NR)
3	The Night of the Generals
4	Reversal of Fortune (R)
5	Nancy Drew...Reporter
S	Madeleine
These movies share cast/crew with His Girl Friday...
3	Twentieth Century (NR)
4	Only Angels Have Wings (NR)
1	Man's Favorite Sport (NR)
12	L' Impossible Monsieur Bebe
2	Monkey Business [Diamond Collection] (NR)
5	Scarface (PG)
9	To Have and Have Not (NR)
8	The Thing From Another World (NR)
12	The Big Sleep (NR)
5	Gunga Din (NR)
13	Rio Bravo (NR)
18	Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (NR)
5	I Was a Male War Bride (NR)
6	Red River
3	The Awful Truth (NR)
14	Meet John Doe
1	Land of the Pharaohs (NR)
5	Going My Way (NR)
These movies cover the same subjects as His Girl Friday...
1	The Front Page
5	Gunga Din (NR)
2	Monkey Business [Diamond Collection] (NR)
5	I Was a Male War Bride (NR)
These movies are similar to His Girl Friday...
3	The Awful Truth (NR)
12	L' Impossible Monsieur Bebe
3	The Man Who Came to Dinner (NR)
5	Mr. & Mrs. Smith (NR)
5	Nothing Sacred
12	The Pajama Game (NR)
25	The Philadelphia Story [Colorized]
9	Woman of the Year
1	Ace in the Hole
60	Laws of Attraction (PG-13)