Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5283 in DVD
• Released on: 2002-12-09
• Rating: Universal, suitable for all
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Black & White, Dubbed, Full Screen, PAL
• Original language: English, French
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 88 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
His Girl Friday is one of the five greatest dialogue comedies ever made. Howard Hawks had his cast play it at breakneck speed, and audiences hyperventilate trying to finish with one laugh so they can do justice to the four that have accumulated in the meantime. Rosalind Russell, not Hawks' first choice to play Hildy Johnson--the ace newsperson whom demonic editor Walter Burns is trying to keep from quitting and getting married--is triumphant in the part, holding her own as "one of the guys" and creating an enduring feminist icon. Cary Grant's Walter Burns is a force of nature, giving a performance of such concentrated frenzy and diamond brilliance that you owe it to yourself to devote at least one viewing of the movie to watching him alone. But then you have to go back (lucky you) and watch it again for the sake of the press-room gang--Roscoe Karns, Porter Hall, Cliff Edwards, Regis Toomey, Frank Jenks, and others--the kind of ensemble work that gets character actors onto Parnassus. --Richard T Jameson, Amazon.com

Special Features
Commentary from Film Critic and Author Todd McCarty Cary Grant: Making Headlines Featurette Howard Hawks: Reporters Note book featurette Rosalind Russell: The inside scoop The Funny pages Featurette Vintage Advertising Photo Gallery Theatrical Trailer Filmographies

Synopsis
In Howard Hawks's screwball masterpiece adapted from the stage play THE FRONT PAGE by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur, star reporter Hildy Johnson (Rosalind Russell), once married to suave editor Walter Burns (Cary Grant), plans to leave the stressful newspaper world behind and marry a boring insurance agent. Walter won't reveal his feelings for Hildy but tries to keep her from leaving by convincing her to cover one last story, a politically motivated execution. When the convict manages to escape, chaos breaks loose, and Hildy finds herself working alongside Walter to break the story wide open.
HIS GIRL FRIDAY is a loose, freewheeling gem featuring some of the fastest dialogue ever filmed (peppered with inspired ad-libbing by Grant and Russell, each appearing at comedic high points in their careers). Hawks, who changed the original story of two newspapermen into a battle of the sexes, keeps the frenetic action careening forward and allows a few slim but luminous notes of genuine affection to slip into Hildy and Walter's storm of hilarious verbal barbs, creating a potent and heartfelt classic that stands as one of the most influential comedies ever made.

Customer Reviews

Don't buy this version!
I bought this version via a special offer run by the Daily Telegraph newspaper in the UK and am now returning it for a refund.

The film (or as much of it as we saw!) seems to deserve all the praise it has received. However, there are many different DVD versions on the market, as you can see here on Amazon, and this particular one should be avoided like the plague!

The transfer is poor, with a rather out of focus quality. There are no options whatsoever. No subtitles. No scene selection. No extra features. The DVD menu only allows you to play the movie and nothing else.

To make it even worse, my copy played about half way through then the picture started to break up and after a minute or so of this behaviour it just jumped back to the beginning. Obviously, I can't say if this particular defect applies to all copies.

Feedback on this site suggests that the Columbia Classics DVD might be a much better buy - and I will probably now get this version.

Great Comedy finally gets Great DVD
This has to be one of the finest comedies ever made. Fast, sharp and witty, Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell have one of the best fights ever on the war of the sexes.

There were at least another previous release of this film in DVD, but the film quality was quite bad, and there were no extras, subtitles or even scene selection! Finally with this edition it gets the DVD treatment it deserves: the picture has been clean up and probably restored and the sound is great. Columbia is taking great care with their classics, an example that other studios should follow.

Probably the worst DVD ever !
What a travesty the DVD of 'His Girl Friday' release is - so much so that it must rank among the worst DVDs ever released onto the unsuspecting Region 2 market. Don't get me wrong, I am in no way criticising the film itself - simply the ineffective and downright lazy DVD transfer.

One only has to look at the likes of the recent releases of 'The Big Sleep' and 'Casablanca' to see what can be done with all-time classic movies. Ok, neither of these titles is packed with extras, which many would see as a crime in itself, but the picture and sound quality are superb considering the vintage of their original release and is a testament to those involved in the transfer to DVD. This is especially gratifying when one realises that although these titles are often cited as 'top 10 greats', they will have a limited audience among the 'Matrix' and 'Men In Black' fans and therefore will ultimately be monetarily less successful.

However, even an admittedly limited audience appeal cannot excuse the complete lack of effort put into this release. Not only does it have no extras ( which on a film of this age is perhaps excusable ) but the picture and sound are so terrible that an old VHS copy I have actually rivals it for quality - this is especially telling due to the fact that my VHS copy was recorded off-air on long-play on a very cheap tape ( in fact I think that this DVD must have been taken from a similar source ).

As a fan of classic films I purchased this DVD with great pleasure that a distribution company would have taken the trouble to release one of the greats - what I didn't bank on was the fact that I could only stand to watch this title for around 5 mins before I had to switch it off and resort to my VHS copy - where at least the hiss didn't drown out every bit of dialogue.

In short, my advice to anyone who is a fan of this film ( or DVD in general ) is to vote with your feet and avoid this DVD like the plague !