His Girl Friday: No 13 best comedy film of all time
The movie that launched the careers of a thousand journalists, convinced that newspapers meant flirtation, dazzling, rapid-fire wit and lots of smoking, not to mention editors resembling Cary Grant. This was the second screen version of Hecht and MacArthur's popular stage play, The Front Page, brilliantly directed byHoward Hawks, who, in a moment of inspiration, decided the Hildy Johnson character would work better as a woman. So Hildy, played with superb comic timing by Rosalind Russell, is now the ex-wife of Grant's unscrupulous Morning Post editor Walter Burns, as well as his star reporter.
When Burns gets the news that she is forsaking journalism to marry a dull insurance man and move to Albany in upstate New York, he is determined to sabotage her plans. Then he lays a scoop on her plate, involving an impending execution and political corruption, that he knows she won't be able to resist. The ensuing chaos is genuinely hilarious, although you'll have to watch it numerous times to absorb every gag. With great verbal athleticism, the film earns its reputation as one of the fastest-talking comedies ever made.