His Girl Friday
Walter Burns is an irresistibly conniving newspaper publisher desperate to woo back his paper’s star reporter, who also happens to be his estranged wife. She’s threatening to quit and settle down with a new beau, but, as Walter knows, she has a weakness: she can’t resist a juicy scoop.
Cast
Our Take
His Girl Friday moves faster than almost any comedy made before or since. Director Howard Hawks had his actors overlap their dialogue on purpose, cutting people off mid sentence the way real conversations actually work, and the effect is still startling nearly ninety years later. The film reworks the play The Front Page by turning the lead reporter character into a woman, Hildy Johnson, which sharpens every scene into a tug of war between her ex husband editor and her new fiance.
It also happens to be public domain for a fairly mundane reason. Studios at the time had to actively file paperwork to renew a film's copyright after a set number of years, and this one simply was not renewed, sending a genuine A list studio comedy into the public domain decades before most people expect that to happen.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is His Girl Friday really public domain and free to watch?+
Yes. Its copyright was not renewed after the required term, which under the copyright law of the time meant it fell into the public domain and can be legally downloaded and shared today.
Why does everyone talk so fast in this movie?+
Director Howard Hawks deliberately had actors overlap and talk over each other to make the dialogue feel more natural and rapid, a technique that became one of the film's most famous trademarks.
Is His Girl Friday based on a real play?+
Yes, it's adapted from the 1928 stage play The Front Page, with the major change of turning the lead reporter role into a woman for this version.
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