Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #26634 in DVD
• Released on: 2003-12-08
• Rating: Universal, suitable for all
• Formats: Black & White, PAL
• Original language: English, French
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 92 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

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

Pitter patter
In terms of picture quality there are some unsatisfactory DVD versions of `His Girl Friday' but there is nothing wrong with this particular item (Columbia Classics CDR 19838). The film remains fresher than many old comedies and stands up to repeated viewings. It is sharply written, briskly directed, superbly cast and well played from top to bottom. Watching this is a great way to stay cheerful on a rainy evening indoors.

His Girl Friday
In the best traditions of American black and white film comedy but too outdated to watch in this day and age even for an oldie like me. Excellent picture quality.

One of the most extraordinary comedies of all time
With Howard Hawks in the director's chair and Cary Grant in the lead role, you're pretty much guaranteed to have a good time. His Girl Friday isn't the first or last film adaptation of the 1928 play The Front Page, but it is easily the best. This thing comes at you a mile a minute, with dialogue that starts out at break-neck speed and never slows down and more humorous moments than you can find time to laugh at. It's an unusual romantic comedy, given the fact that Cary Grant's character is a little less than noble (he is a rather ruthless newspaper man, after all) and the nice guy in the picture is lucky to finish at all, but there's still something endearing about the whole relationship between Walter Burns (Grant) and his former ace reporter Hildy Johnson (Rosalind Russell), who also happens to be his ex-wife (in earlier adaptations of the story, Hildy was just a darn good male reporter). Hildy is due to get married in less than 24 hours, and Burns is desperate to win her back - for the newspaper as well as himself. The big city proves most cooperative in his endeavors, with a corrupt sheriff and mayor getting set to hang a "dangerous" little man for murder in order to bolster their bids for reelection in three days. And that's only the beginning of this screwball comedy story. This battle of the sexes turns into one of the most impressive battles of wits the big screen has ever seen, and the whole wild and crazy story makes for an extraordinary experience.

Grant and Russell demonstrate remarkable chemistry together, which is a necessity given the fact that their characters are divorced and know each other's ways so well. Poor Bruce Baldwin (Ralph Bellamy), Hildy's mild-manner fiancé, is overwhelmed by the charm and manipulations of the remarkable Walter Burns. Even Hildy falls prey to his spontaneously elaborate schemes, finding herself agreeing to do one last story before leaving the newspaper business for good. That story, about a timid little man guilty of shooting a policeman whose forthcoming execution is being exploited as a triumph of law and order over anarchists and Reds, explodes in the hours leading up to the scheduled hanging, as the murderer escapes and ultimately provides the paper with a scoop that even the imaginative Burns could hardly have engineered on his own.

I could try to describe the story in more detail, but there's little purpose in doing so. His Girl Friday is all about the dialogue. There are more words spoken during this ninety-minute film than you will find in any handful of other motion pictures. Grant and Russell really are remarkable, as most scenes go on for many minutes without either actor breaking stride. All of the minor characters jump in and out at the same unstoppable pace, and many are the times multiple characters are speaking to different people simultaneously. This is nothing less than an elaborate circus of vocalization, and it is all you as the viewer can do to keep up with everything that is going on. Burns and Hildy may have little time to think, but that doesn't stop them from unleashing words of great wit, innuendo, sarcasm, comic genius, and even a couple of in-jokes one on top of the other. Meanwhile, the script becomes much more complicated than I expected, as the murderer awaiting the gallows escapes, the corruption of the police and local government is made manifest, a woman tries to kill herself, and Hildy's husband-to-be and his mother find themselves victimized by Burns' ruthless schemes to keep Hildy right where she belongs.

His Girl Friday is an inspired example of moviemaking at its best, a classic that demands multiple viewings and loses none of its edge over the ensuing decades since its 1940 release. Not only is the film a real hoot to watch, it's a strange sort of pleasure to sit back and enjoy a host of extraordinary actors performing at the very tops of their games. It takes accomplished actors to handle the intensity and sheer volume of dialogue that defines this film. His Girl Friday truly is one of the most impressive and extraordinary comedies ever made.