Rent His Girl Friday (1940)
3.9 of 5 from 202 ratings
1h 32min
- General info
- Available formats
- Synopsis:
- Chicago Morning Post editor Walter Burns (Cary Grant) is about to lose his ace reporter and former wife Hildy Johnson (Rosalind Russell) to Bruce Baldwin (Ralph Bellamy). Then a late breaking story involving the impending execution of an anarchist who escapes and is hidden from the police by the former husband and wife throws the pair together once again.
- Actors:
- Cary Grant, Rosalind Russell, Ralph Bellamy, Gene Lockhart, Porter Hall, Ernest Truex, Cliff Edwards, Clarence Kolb, Roscoe Karns, Frank Jenks, Regis Toomey, Abner Biberman, Frank Orth, John Qualen, Helen Mack, Alma Kruger, Billy Gilbert, Pat West, Edwin Maxwell, Irving Bacon
- Directors:
- Howard Hawks
- Producers:
- Howard Hawks
- Writers:
- Charles Lederer, Ben Hecht, Charles MacArthur, Morrie Ryskind
- Aka:
- Howard Hawks' His Girl Friday
- Studio:
- Elstree Hill Entertainment
- Genres:
- Classics, Comedy, Drama, Romance
- Collections:
- 10 Films to Watch if You Like Citizen Kane, A Brief History of Films About Television: Part 1, All You Need to Know About Dump Month Movies, Award Winners, Films to Watch If You Like..., Holidays Film Collection, Romantic Film Pairings for Valentine's Day, The Biggest Oscar Snubs: Part 1, The Cinema Paradiso Kissing Montage, A Brief History of Film..., The Instant Expert's Guide, The Instant Expert's Guide to Howard Hawks, The Instant Expert's Guide to Ron Howard, Top 10 Best Picture Follow-Ups, Top 10 Films Turned Into TV Series, Top 100 AFI Laughs, Top Films
- BBFC:
- Release Date:
- 16/01/2017
- Run Time:
- 193 minutes
- Languages:
- English LPCM Mono
- Subtitles:
- English Hard of Hearing
- Formats:
- Pal
- Aspect Ratio:
- Full Screen 1.33:1 / 4:3
- Colour:
- B & W
- BLU-RAY Regions:
- B
- Bonus:
- New interview with film scholar David Bordwell about 'His Girl Friday'
- Archival interviews with 'His Girl Friday' director Howard Hawks
- Featurettes from 1999 and 2006 about Hawks, actor Rosalind Russell, and the making of 'His Girl Friday'
- Radio adaptation of 'His Girl Friday' from 1940
- New piece about the restoration of 'The Front Page'
- New piece about playwright and screenwriter Ben Hecht
- Radio adaptations of the play 'The Front Page' from 1937 and 1946
- 'His Girl Friday' Trailers
- Disc 1:
- This disc includes the following:
- His Girls Friday
- Special Features - Disc 2:
- This disc includes the following:
- The Front Page
- Special Features
- BBFC:
- Release Date:
- 04/03/2024
- Run Time:
- 92 minutes
- Languages:
- Castilian Spanish DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono, English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono, German DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono, Italian DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono, Latin American Spanish DTS 2.0 Mono
- Subtitles:
- Arabic, Castillian, Chinese, Danish, Dutch, English, English Hard of Hearing, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Korean, Latin American Spanish, Norwegian, Portuguese, Swedish, Thai, Turkish
- DVD Regions:
- Region 0 (All)
- Formats:
- Pal
- Aspect Ratio:
- Full Screen 1.33:1 / 4:3
- Colour:
- B & W
- BLU-RAY Regions:
- (0) All
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Reviews (3) of His Girl Friday
Classic screwball. - His Girl Friday review by Steve
Howard Hawks' revision of Hecht and MacArthur's 1928 newspaper play The Front Page made star reporter Hildy Johnson a woman and the ex-wife of cynical editor Walter Burns, rather than just a colleague. What a fabulous inspiration, enhanced by a hilarious rewrite from Charles Lederer. The funniest lines are all his.
Cary Grant, as the scheming Burns, and Rosalind Russell as the ultimate fast talking dame, hot shot newshound Hildy, deliver all time great comedy performances. This is screwball heaven. She intends to leave the paper to marry slow-but-steady insurance man Ralph Bellamy. And yes, he's wonderful too.
The first half hour is the most sublime comedy I've ever seen, as Grant starts to spin his web of deception around Bellamy, and of entrapment around Russell. The story gets steadily darker in tone and eventually critiques the death penalty, the depression, communism and political corruption!
The sparring between the stars is inspired and legendary. The rapid fire dialogue is boundless, dizzying and hilarious. It is weakened by taking Cary off screen for 30 minutes, which just robs it of perfection. The Front Page is a fine comedy (with more emphasis on the business of news reporting) but now this feels definitive. It's the ultimate Hawks screwball.
3 out of 3 members found this review helpful.
A classic - His Girl Friday review by JD
A lot of top 10 lists seem to be appearing in magazines. This was in one. It is an old film with picture and sound quality of the era. The dialogue is fast and furious with numerous cunning plots devised in an instant by the character of Cary Grant. This film I would imagine would have a market in the 60 - 80 year old bracket, for whom it may be a masterpiece. Not quite for me however.
1 out of 4 members found this review helpful.
Man sees woman as his equal, in 1940 USA... OMG! - His Girl Friday review by DL
A surprising version of woman-versus-man romance trope.
The woman is not silly for a start - pretty amazing for a film made in 1940.
The film's premise is that a careers are important for women too; and that being a stay at home mum is not the only option; the male romantic lead proves his true love by showing how important her career is to her. I suspect maybe a bit of propaganda ahead of the USA joining the Allies in WWII; watch out for the brief mention of Hitler.
The sound quality is poor - but the dialogue is clear enough,
0 out of 2 members found this review helpful.