Rosalind Russell and Cary Grant in “His Girl Friday”

His Girl Friday (1940) is an American screwball comedy directed by Howard Hawks and starring Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell. Based on the play The Front Page (1928) by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur, Hawks decided to turn Hildy Johnson, played by a man in the original, into a woman, changing the dynamics of the story and according to many critics, an improvement. The supporting cast includes Ralph Bellamy, Gene Lockhart, Porter Hall, Roscoe Karns, John Qualen, Helen Mack, and Alma Kruger.

Hildy Johnson (Russell) has left newspaper journalism behind to marry insurance salesman Bruce Baldwin (Bellamy), much to the dismay of her former editor and ex-husband Walter Burns (Grant). Walter does his level best to convince Hildy that she return to her career and to him! What ensues is one of the smartest, fast-talking screwball comedies ever made.

Cary Grant, Ralph Bellamy, and Rosalind Russell

Howard Hawks (1896 - 1977) was an American director, producer, and screenwriter. He is considered one of the great directors from the classic Hollywood era. Hawks excelled in directing films in all genres. His films were famous for featuring strong women characters. These tough-talking “Hawksian women” helped to define the director’s work. Some of Hawks’ popular films include Scarface (1932) Bringing Up Baby (1938), Only Angels Have Wings (1939), His Girl Friday (1940), To Have and Have Not (1944), The Big Sleep (1946), Red River (1948), and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953). Gary Cooper won a Best Actor Academy Award for his performance in Sergeant York (1941) under Hawks’ direction.

Cary Grant (1904 - 1986) was an English-born American actor who became one of the most popular leading men in film history. Grant started his career in vaudeville before heading to Hollywood. He became a superstar in the late 1930s in a series of screwball comedies including The Awful Truth (1937) with Irene Dunne. He was a memorable C. K. Dexter Haven in The Philadelphia Story (1940) opposite Katharine Hepburn and James Stewart. He received two Best Actor nominations for Penny Serenade (1941) and None but the Lonely Hearts (1944). Other classic Grant films include Gunga Din (1939), Only Angels Have Wings (1939), and Arsenic and Old Lace (1944). He made four popular films with Alfred Hitchcock: Suspicion (1941), Notorious (1946), To Catch a Thief (1955), and North by Northwest (1959). He was presented with an Honorary Oscar at the 42nd Academy Awards in 1970.

Rosalind Russell (1907 - 1976) was an American film and stage actress. She was nominated for four Best Actress Academy Awards throughout her career. She won five Golden Globe Awards and a Tony for Best Actress in a Musical for her performance as Ruth in Wonderful Town. Russell was a versatile actress who excelled at both comedy and drama. She was also one of the few actresses of her day to portray lawyers, judges, and psychiatrists. Some of her famous films include The Women (1939), My Sister Eileen (1942), Sister Kenny (1946), Picnic (1955), Auntie Mame (1958), Gypsy (1962), and The Trouble with Angels (1966).

To watch this film on YouTube, click on the link below.

Why watch this film?

• It is considered one of the best screwball comedies of all time.
• The overlapping dialogue throughout the film was unique when released and copied ever since.
• Rosalind Russell had one of the best roles of her career as Hildy Johnson.
• It showcases Cary Grant’s ease at playing comedy like no one else could.
• The cast features a supporting cast of some of the best and most popular character actors of the day.

To join the discussion on September 13, 2021, at 6:30 p.m., click here. Once you RSVP, you will receive an invitation and link to the discussion on Zoom.

His Girl Friday trivia

• Rosalind Russell was literally the last choice to play Hildy Johnson?! Carole Lombard was the director’s first choice but deemed too expensive. Katharine Hepburn, Claudette Colbert, Margaret Sullivan, Ginger Rogers, Jean Arthur, and Irene Dunne were all offered the role but turned it down. Supposedly, even Joan Crawford was considered.
• Russell hired a writer to help her ad-lib some of her dialog to better compete with Grant who was ad-libbing like crazy.
• The film contains several inside jokes that audiences in 1940 would have picked up on immediately.
• Russell was loaned to Columbia from M-G-M where she had just completed The Women (1939).
• The film was selected for preservation by the Library of Congress in 1993.
• It premiered at Radio City Music Hall before it went into wide release where it was universally praised by the critics and public.

Discussion questions:

1. What did you think of the relationship between Walter (Grant) and Hildy (Russell)?
2. Did the character of Hildy Johnson surprise you in any way?
3. Did you have a favorite line or interaction between Hildy and Walter?
4. What about the character actors? Any favorites?
5. The film moves at break-neck speed; were you able to keep up with it?
6. Did anything surprise you about the film?
7. Was the ending satisfying? Was it what you expected?

Classic screwball comedy “His Girl Friday” coming to “The Venue 1550” November 8

The comedy classic His Girl Friday (1940 ) will be screened at “The Venue 1550” at the Daystar Center, 1550 S. State St., November 8, 2012 at 7 p.m. Tickets are $7 per person and can be purchased at the door or online. This event will be hosted by Stephen Reginald, Classic Movie Man.

His Girl Friday, directed by Howard Hawks and starring Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell is an adaptation of the Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur classic Broadway smash, The Front Page. Grant plays Walter Burns, a Chicago newspaper managing editor and Russell is Hildy Johnson an ex-reporter for the same paper and Burns’s ex-wife. On the eve of her marriage to a new man, Burns tries to convince Hildy to come back to the paper and him. Considered one of the greatest classic screwball comedies of all time, His Girl Friday is filled with non-stop one liners and the fastest dialogue ever recorded on film.

Backstory

Carole Lombard was first choice
to play Hildy Johnson

Howard Hawks originally planned to do a straight remake of The Front Page. During a read-through of the script during auditions, Hawks had his secretary read Hildy Johnson’s lines. Hawks, always a champion of strong women, liked the sound of Johnson’s lines coming out of the mouth of a female. The script was changed to make Hildy the ex-wife of Walter Burns and many think His Girl Friday is better than the film on which it is based.

Casting Call
Hawks had Cary Grant in mind for Walter Burns from the start, but the casting of Hildy Johnson proved problematic. Hawks originally wanted Carole Lombard, who he directed in Twentieth Century (1934). Lombard, one of the biggest stars in Hollywood, was too expensive. Supposedly the role of Hildy was offered to Katherine Hepburn, Claudette Colbert, Margaret Sullivan, Ginger Rogers, and Irene Dunne. All turned the role down. Joan Crawford, coming off her success in The Women, (1939) was even considered. Hawks finally settled on Rosalind Russell. Hawks encouraged ad-libbing on the set, so Russell hired a writer to punch up her dialogue because she thought Grant had all the good lines.

Ralph Bellamy, Cary Grant, and Rosalind Russell

His Girl Friday was #19 on American Film Institute’s 100 Years…100 Laughs and has been selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry.

Join the Film Club
Come watch this classic in the comfort of “The Venue 1550.” Overflow Coffee Bar will be open so you can grab a drink or snack to be enjoyed during the movie.

Film Club coming to “Venue 1550” at the Daystar Center

A new film club is coming to “Venue 1550” at the Daystar Center, 1550 S. State St. Chicago. Hosted by Stephen Reginald, the film club will feature four classic films having connections with Chicago. Some like Henry Hathaway’s Call Northside 777 were shot entirely on location in the city, while others like Alfred Hitchcock’s North by Northwest, features several critical scenes in the windy city. Films will be screened at 7 p.m. on the second Thursdays of the month, starting September 13, 2012. Reginald will introduce each film giving background information before screenings, with Q & A afterwards. Reginald is a freelance writer/editor and popular instructor at Facets Film School in Chicago. He was also the original host of Meet Me at the Movies.

Chicago on film
Chicago and the movies go way back. Charlie Chaplin and Gloria Swanson, two movie icons from the silent era, started their film careers here. Both Chaplin and Swanson worked at Essanay Studios on West Argyle, now St. Augustine College. Essanay was a bustling place in the early days of the twentieth century. It was a glimpse of Hollywood before there was such a place. But the harsh Midwestern winters made year-round moviemaking in Chicago impractical. Film studios and their stars eventually moved west. The rest, as they say, is history. Even though Chicago’s movie-making glory days are long gone, the city has always been a favorite subject of filmmakers. Celebrate the movies and Chicago with special screenings of these classics:

September 13
Call Northside 777 (1948)—Directed by Henry Hathaway and starring James Stewart, this semi-documentary style film is based on a true story, filmed entirely on location in Chicago. Stewart plays P.J. McNeal, a reporter for the Chicago Times who attempts to find new evidence in an 11-year-old cop killer case. McNeal comes to believe that Frank Weicek, the convicted murderer, took the fall for someone else and was falsely imprisoned. The movie features beautiful black and white cinematography and great Chicago locations. See how the city has changed (and remained the same) since 1948.

October 11
North by Northwest (1959)—Directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint, and James Mason, in one of the classiest espionage films of all time. Grant plays advertising executive Roger O. Thornhill (ROT) who is mistaken for an American agent and framed for murder. Saint plays the mistress of real spy Mason and is used as bait to catch Grant. Featuring some great Chicago locations, including the Ambassador East Hotel, the old LaSalle Street train station, and a glimpse of late-1950s Michigan Avenue. The success of this film led to Grant being offered the role of James Bond, which he turned down, thinking he was too old to play Ian Fleming’s famous agent 007.

Cary Grant, Rosalind Russell, and Ralph Bellamy in
His Girl Friday

November 8
His Girl Friday (1940)—Directed by Howard Hawks and starring Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell His Girl Friday is an adaptation of the Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur classic Broadway smash, The Front Page. Grant plays Walter Burns, a Chicago newspaper managing editor and Russell is Hildy Johnson an ex-reporter for the same paper and Burns’s ex-wife. On the eve of her marriage to a new man, Burns tries to convince Hildy to come back to the paper…and him. Considered one of the greatest classic screwball comedies of all time, His Girl Friday is filled with non-stop one liners and the fastest dialogue ever recorded on film!

Tony Curtis, Jack Lemon, and Marilyn Monroe
in Some Like It Hot

December 13
Some Like It Hot (1959)—Directed by Billy Wilder and starring Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, and Jack Lemmon, this classic was voted funniest film of all time by the American Film Institute. Curtis and Lemmon play Chicago musicians who accidentally witness the Saint Valentine’s Day massacre of 1929. The men disguise themselves as women and travel south with Sweet Sue’s all-girl band in an attempt to avoid “Spats” Colombo and his gang who are determined to kill them. Monroe—the band’s vocalist—and the “girls” become bosom buddies along the way, which leads to some hilarious situations and some unusual conclusions.

Order Tickets in Advance
Movie admission is $7 per film or $20 for all four. To purchase tickets, click here.

“Venue 1550” is a unique space in the DayStar Center located at 1550 S. State St. “The Venue” hosts musical concerts, documentary films, lectures, and community meetings. For more information on utilizing this space for yourself or your organization, please call 312.674.0001.