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His Girl Friday (1940)
Director: Howard Hawks
Writers: Charles Lederer (screenplay), Ben Hecht (from the play "The Front Page")
Cast: Cary Grant, Rosalind Russell, Ralph Bellamy
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance
What color do you think the hat and blazer that Rosalind Russell is wearing is? On the DVD cover it was purple with stripes. I suspect it wasn't as gaudy looking as it's been colored to be and was probably gray with black stripes. It's a very odd looking outfit but it wasn't chosen randomly, they never do that in movies. It was selected for a reason and I'd venture a guess that it was the 1940's version of a 'power suit'. Rosalind certainly looks commanding in it and it gives her a sense of showmanship....and that's what this film is about, showmanship.
The title His Girl Friday sounds somewhat demeaning to Hilda (Rosalind Russell), it sounds like Hilda is just a skirt in an office full of old crusty newspaper men and her only job is to powder her nose and make coffee for the boys. Uh uh...not true, Hilda is a self made woman. Make no mistake about it she's in control of the situation and not Walther (Cary Grant). She knows her mind and knows how to write a news story that cooks! All the boys in the newsroom are in awe of her gutsy anything-for-a-story journalist skills. Hilda's a power house and if anything this is a movie that empowers women. So the title is kind of funny, cause Hilda's nobody's lackey.
I read that this has some of the fastest dialogue spoken in a film at 240 words a minute! Add to that this early example of actors deliberately speaking over each others lines all while ad-libbing over an already fast paced script and you get one helluva a unique film that takes one's full attention to fully follow it.
There's two things that makes this movie special: the witty banter and the intense chemistry from Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell. Oh and Ralph Bellamy plays the straight man to a tee.
His Girl Friday is so complex in it's dialogue that I feel I missed some of the more subtle witticisms. The first witty word play comes during the title credits...did you spot it?
His Girl Friday (1940)
Director: Howard Hawks
Writers: Charles Lederer (screenplay), Ben Hecht (from the play "The Front Page")
Cast: Cary Grant, Rosalind Russell, Ralph Bellamy
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance
"A newspaper editor uses every trick in the book to keep his ace reporter ex-wife from remarrying."
What color do you think the hat and blazer that Rosalind Russell is wearing is? On the DVD cover it was purple with stripes. I suspect it wasn't as gaudy looking as it's been colored to be and was probably gray with black stripes. It's a very odd looking outfit but it wasn't chosen randomly, they never do that in movies. It was selected for a reason and I'd venture a guess that it was the 1940's version of a 'power suit'. Rosalind certainly looks commanding in it and it gives her a sense of showmanship....and that's what this film is about, showmanship.
The title His Girl Friday sounds somewhat demeaning to Hilda (Rosalind Russell), it sounds like Hilda is just a skirt in an office full of old crusty newspaper men and her only job is to powder her nose and make coffee for the boys. Uh uh...not true, Hilda is a self made woman. Make no mistake about it she's in control of the situation and not Walther (Cary Grant). She knows her mind and knows how to write a news story that cooks! All the boys in the newsroom are in awe of her gutsy anything-for-a-story journalist skills. Hilda's a power house and if anything this is a movie that empowers women. So the title is kind of funny, cause Hilda's nobody's lackey.
I read that this has some of the fastest dialogue spoken in a film at 240 words a minute! Add to that this early example of actors deliberately speaking over each others lines all while ad-libbing over an already fast paced script and you get one helluva a unique film that takes one's full attention to fully follow it.
There's two things that makes this movie special: the witty banter and the intense chemistry from Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell. Oh and Ralph Bellamy plays the straight man to a tee.
His Girl Friday is so complex in it's dialogue that I feel I missed some of the more subtle witticisms. The first witty word play comes during the title credits...did you spot it?