His Girl Friday

Synopsis

They're newspaper men, Mollie. They can't help themselves. The Lord made them that way He'll stop at nothing to block his ex-wife's wedding. She'll sell her soul for a scoop. He'd kill his mother to get elected. He shot a man because he could.

Our Review:

6 June 2003

His Girl Friday ruined The Front Page for me. The latter is, of course, the original article. The classic stage comedy about unscrupulous newspapermen, written by ex-journalists Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur, premiered on Broadway in 1928 and has since spawned countless revivals and no fewer than four Hollywood remakes.

His Girl Friday was Howard Hawks' 1940 screen spin-off, which, after watching it as a child, prevented me from ever seeing another production of The Front Page with entirely fresh, uncritical eyes. Though the story - wily editor tricks star reporter out of marriage and premature retirement as both become embroiled in jailbreak scoop - is nearly identical, the Hawks version makes one crucial alteration. Instead of two hard-bitten male hacks, the reporter becomes Hildegard (instead of Hildebrand) Johnson, ex-wife as well as ex-employee of editor Walter Burns, giving the story a sublime sexual jolt. ...

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Latest User Review

USER: Whatsonstage.com (62.30.182.183) - 25 October 2003:

Interesting to see really contrasting views on this production.I have never seen the film so had no pre-conceptions, but I found it dull, too long and not laugh out loud funny at all. I'm not sure why it lacked fizz because potentially it has a great screwball comedy plot and good performances. I think, as other people have said, the chemistry between the two leads did not seem "real", I never believed in them as a real couple, I was just impressed with Zoe W's acting and accent!It defintley needs trimming by a good half hour, I was really ready for it to finish a long time before it did-not a good sign.I also think that the film set device was cumbersome and uneccessary . Whilst the Black and White design was clever and stylish, it also made me long for a bit of colour.In fact the whole production felt "clever" but larked sparkle....

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