Directed by Howard Hawks • 1940 • United States
Starring Cary Grant, Rosalind Russell, Ralph Bellamy
One of the fastest, funniest, and most quotable films ever made, HIS GIRL FRIDAY stars Rosalind Russell as reporter Hildy Johnson, a standout among cinema’s powerful women. Hildy is matched in force only by her conniving but charismatic editor and ex-husband, Walter Burns (played by the peerless Cary Grant), who dangles the chance for her to scoop her fellow news writers with the story of an impending execution in order to keep her from hopping the train that’s supposed to take her to Albany and a new life as a housewife. When adapting Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur’s smash hit play “The Front Page,” director Howard Hawks had the inspired idea of turning star reporter Hildy Johnson into a woman, and the result is an immortal mix of hard-boiled newsroom setting with ebullient remarriage comedy.
Up Next in Columbia Screwball
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Twentieth Century
Directed by Howard Hawks • 1934 • United States
Starring John Barrymore, Carole Lombard, Walter ConnollyCarole Lombard established her genius for screwball comedy with this madcap classic, which practically set the template for the genre. Scripted by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur (adapting th...
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The More the Merrier
Directed by George Stevens • 1943 • United States
Starring Jean Arthur, Joel McCrea, Charles CoburnJean Arthur, Joel McCrea, and Charles Coburn find that three’s a crowd in this delightful screwball romp. Set during the 1940s wartime housing shortage, THE MORE THE MERRIER stars Arthur as Washin...
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The Whole Town’s Talking
Directed by John Ford • 1935 • United States
Starring Edward G. Robinson, Jean ArthurEdward G. Robinson spoofs his own tough-guy image in this lively gangster farce, one of director John Ford’s rare forays into straight comedy. In a delightful double role, Robinson plays mild-mannered office cl...
