Classic Movie Review - His Girl Friday (1940)

Starring Cary Grant, Rosalind Russell, and Ralph Bellamy

Written by Charles Lederer

Directed by Howard Hawks

First off, let me say that the poster design on the right doesn't match the movie at all. The poster doesn't scream "comedy" to me...although, if I'm being completely honest, the movie itself didn't really scream "comedy" to me either.

Once again, similar to my recent viewing of City Lights, I saw this one in a theater on actual film. There's something to be said for watching old movies on actual film...it feels right, or something like that. I can't really describe it, but the flickering of the light and the moderate scratches on the print are what seeing movies in a theater is all about. That being said, I just wish that I actually liked this one.

Rosalind Russell is Hildy Johnson, a newspaper reporter who is tired of living the fast-paced life that her job requires of her. She decides that she's getting married to Bruce Baldwin whose slower-paced insurance sales business will allow her to settle down and have a nice calm living. As she enters her workplace to announce her departure, she runs into her ex-husband, Walter Burns, who (I believe) is the editor of the newspaper for which she worked. They bicker, as all divorced couples (who still love each other) do, and from the get-go, you know they're going to end up together in the end. The unfortunate thing is that I didn't really find their rat-a-tat quick dialogue to be anything exciting or funny. So things didn't start out on a great note.

There's a big story going on in the city at the moment involving the hanging of a possibly mentally incompetent criminal. Walter convinces Hildy to write "one last story" with the hope of showing the public that this accused man (who shot and killed a police officer) should not be hung due to his mental incapacities. Oddly enough, this is where the film gets good, but then also falls completely off track to me. It tries to balance this incredibly serious story with witty repartee and it never quite reaches an equilibrium for me.

Admittedly, Rosalind Russell is quite good. She is the grounding force in the middle of the movie when Cary Grant's character seemingly disappears...it felt like Grant's Walter was gone for the middle 40 minutes of this movie, only being "talked to" on the phone by Russell. It was almost as if Grant had another movie to film and could only be used on certain days by the director. And while Russell certainly held her own without him, she had to do so in that awkward "is-this-funny-or-is-this-serious" part of the film.

Yes, the film picks up the pace a little at the end, and Grant, who I disliked in many parts of the movie (he just fell too suave for what I'd picture a newspaper editor to be), actually steals the show a bit in the final scenes. But, unfortunately, this just felt like a movie that couldn't find its footing to me. The humor didn't fit with the serious undertones and vice-versa.

Oh, well. They can't all be winners. (Sorry to my reader, Anonymous...I know this is a favorite of yours!)

The RyMickey Rating: D