Movie Review: His Girl Friday (1940)
Synopsis: After a successful career in journalism, Hildy Johnson walks into her newsroom with her new fiancé, Bruce, and tells her editor/ex-husband, Walter Burns, she is quitting the business for good. Walter, however, doesn't want to see her leave and, after convincing her to write one last editorial about soon-to-be executed convicted killer Earl Williams, does his best to sabotage her engagement. Things take an unexpected twist when Williams escapes and Hildy, believing he is mentally ill and shouldn't be executed, hides him in the press room at the courthouse.
Who's in it? The movie stars Rosalind Russell, Cary Grant, Ralph Bellamy, Gene Lockhart and Porter Hall.
Review: I added His Girl Friday to my movie library nearly a year ago but, other than the first couple minutes before getting interrupted, had not taken the time to watch it. I decided to finally correct that this morning and am a bit disappointed I waited so long.
I think the thing that really impressed me about this movie is the depth given to Walter (Grant) and Hildy's (Russell) relationship. On one hand, it is very easy to see why she divorced him. Walter is a fast talker who is always trying to manipulate her, especially when putting the newspaper priority over romance. Hildy meanwhile is an independent and intelligent woman who can see that manipulation and has figured out all Walter's tricks.
At the same time though, there is some clear chemistry there. It was easy to tell Walter loved his ex-wife and she still had feelings for him. Plus, while I'm sure there were plenty of selfish reasons too, he seemed to understand giving up her career to be a housewife and mother wouldn't make her as happy as she thought it was going to make her, something the rest of the movie confirmed once she began working as a reporter again.
Her fiancé, Bruce (Bellamy) added a little extra to the film by being the collateral damage in Walter's attempts to keep Hildy with him. While it is easy to blame Walter for the various bad things that happened to both Bruce and his mother (Alma Kruger), the fact the man was as gullible and trusting as he was really made it hard to see him as a victim.
While admittedly secondary to the relationship drama, the execution story Hildy was covering still managed to be interesting as well. There was no doubt Williams (John Qualen) killed a police officer, but it was clear the desire to execute him for the crime had more to do with politics than justice, made even more clear when the sheriff (Lockhart) and mayor (Clarence Kolb) decided to ignore the governor's stay of execution and ordered Williams be shot on sight to cover up the real reason he was able to escape.
This, in turn, added a bit more suspense to the ending as Hildy faced prison time for hiding a fugitive along with her various other issues. It made me wonder if it would make her decide to quit or if she would find she enjoyed the excitement and would stay - especially since there were times when the movie made sure to point out just how sleezy journalists could be when in pursuit of a story.
Final Opinion: It's a good movie with an interesting love triangle and some exciting twists. I enjoyed watching it and would recommend it.
My Grade: A
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Here are some reviews of other movies featuring newspaper reporters:
Movie Review: The Case of the Black Parrot (1941)
Movie: Stranger on the Third Floor (1940)
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