Directed by Lewis Milestone • 1931 • United States
Starring Adolphe Menjou, Pat O’Brien, Mary Brian

Directed with pre-Code verve by Lewis Milestone, the first screen adaptation of the oft-filmed Broadway hit by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur (later the basis for Howard Hawks’s screwball classic HIS GIRL FRIDAY) stars Adolphe Menjou and Pat O’Brien as, respectively, a newspaper editor and his ace reporter, who must pull out all the stops in order to get the scoop of a lifetime: the story of an escaped death-row inmate whose whereabouts are known only to them. The crackling dialogue, cynical wit, and snappy pace set the standard for a generation of newsroom pictures to follow.

Restored by the Academy Film Archive and The Film Foundation. Restoration funding provided by the George Lucas Family Foundation. Elements for this restoration provided by the Howard Hughes Corporation and by the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, College of Fine Arts’ Department of Film and its Howard Hughes Collection at the Academy Film Archive.