His Girl Friday (1940)

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Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell headline this quintessential screwball comedy from director Howard Hawks (Bringing Up Baby, Ball of Fire). His Girl Friday is based on a stage play and a previous film adaptation (The Front Page) about a newspaper editor (Grant) who’ll stop at nothing to keep his ex-wife and ace reporter (Russell) from quitting the newspaper business… and their marriage. The pressure is on when Russell informs Grant that she is to be married (to Ralph Bellamy) the following day. But a major news story is brewing that could blow the lid off the city — can Russell really leave the newspaper business behind for a simpler, quieter life? Or are she and Grant meant to be together?

The character of Hildy Johnson was a man in previous iterations of the story, but it was Hawks’ stroke of genius to make the character a woman, adding romantic sparks to the chemistry. Grant and Russell are incredible together, trading barbs and eye rolls, dodging hits, and at times, delivering dialogue at twice the speed as normal. The first fifteen minutes of His Girl Friday feature the finest written dialogue and performance rhythms between an estranged couple in all of filmdom.

The stars make the movie, and Hawks lets them do so. Supporting cast members pull their own weight, though, with Bellamy as the fuddy-duddy in stark contrast to Grant’s live-wire, and Billy Gilbert (The Great Dictator) as a dim-witted delivery man who plays a serendipitous role in the film’s climax. The dialogue sizzles throughout, and the antics get wilder and wilder — with Grant going so far as to have Bellamy imprisoned not once (for theft), not twice (for solicitation), but three times (for counterfeiting) just to keep him out of Russel’s hair long enough to get the scoop.

So much works so well with His Girl Friday, but I do have a few minor gripes. The first fifteen minutes are so electric, they almost make the movie feel lopsided. I also take issue with a supporting character’s sudden suicide being glossed over in the third act. But when a movie’s (at this writing) 82 years old, still relevant in its depiction of the news business, still very funny, and better than the vast majority of romantic comedies that have come since — you can let a little slide. If His Girl Friday doesn’t make you a fan of Cary Grant, Rosalind Russell, Howard Hawks, and the great screwball comedies of Hollywood’s golden age, nothing will.

With John Qualen, Helen Mack, Gene Lockhart, Regis Toomey, and Abner Biberman.