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His Girl
Friday (1940)
by Karl Bowman
and Jonathan Walker
Walter:
What were you when you came here five years ago? A little college
girl from a school of journalism. I took a doll-faced hick.
Hildy: Well, you wouldn't take me if I hadn't been
doll-faced...
Walter: Listen. I made a great reporter out of
you, HildyÖWe're a team. That's what we are. You need me and I need
you, and the paper needs both of us.
Hildy: Listen Walter, the paper's gonna have to
get along without me. So are you. It just didn't work out, Walter.
Walter: Well, it would have worked out if you'd
been satisfied with just being editor and reporter - but not you!
You had to marry me and spoil everything.
Reporter Hildy
Johnson (Rosalind Russell) walks into the Chicago Morning Post's
office after a sabbatical to tell her boss and recently divorced
husband that she will not be returning to work, ever. She has found
a man who "treats her like a woman" and is planning to settle down
and live "like a real human being." Walter Burns (Cary Grant), the
paper's editor, is on top of a hot story about a criminal's execution
and won't let his top "newspaperman" go easily. He's used to getting
his own way and embarks on an elaborate scheme to keep Hildy at
the paper, and in his life.
Howard Hawks, the director, is increasingly being recognized as
a master film maker. As a utilitarian director, he subordinates
his personal style to the needs of the material. Thus, he was able
to excel in almost every popular genre of his day including comedy
(Bringing up Baby), military (Air Force), westerns
(Red River), and gangster films (Scarface). Furthermore,
this master storyteller usually played an important role in writing
the scripts for his movies.
His Girl
Friday is based on the hit Broadway play, The Front Page,
by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur. This material has been made
into several films including a 1974 version starring Jack Lemmon
and Walter Matthau, but His Girl Friday is the most successful.
Instead of a strict adaptation of the already popular play, Hawks
took "artistic license." After supposedly hearing a woman read the
part of Hildy, he changed the character of Hildebrand Johnson, a
male newspaperman, into a woman (also changing the character name
to Hildegaard so she could still go by "Hildy"). Increasing the
stakes, he gave Hildy and Walter Burns, the manic newspaper editor,
a romantic history in the form of a failed marriage. These changes
led screenwriter Charles Lederer to the invention of new emotionally
charged scenes infused with the frenetic spirit of the Hecht/MacArthur
play.
The film features
fast, overlapping, and witty dialogue spewing out of emotionally
tough characters. There is hardly a moment to breathe under the
barrage of words and action. Hawks necessarily uses long takes that
allow the actors to work their magic on screen. The pacing is frenetic,
but there is an almost musical rhythm to the dialogue and comic
timing that shows the touch of a great director.
Cary Grant,
as Walter Burns, the editor of the Post, shows off his
genius for timing and characterization. Like Hawks, Grant is often
considered a lesser actor because "he always plays the same character."
Nevertheless, Grant is a great actor. There are no false moments,
even in this larger-than-life characterization. Look for the moment
where he refers to Archie Leach--a reference to his real name, Archibald
Leach.
The history
of the female lead is interesting. The "new and improved" role of
Hildy was turned down by several well-known actresses of the day.
When it finally came to Rosalind Russell, she was skeptical, but
agreed. To her credit, as well as Hawks', she is perfect. She matches
Grant's rapid-fire delivery, toughness, and masculine aggressiveness
without losing her femininity.
Hildy's determination
to leave Walter and the newspaper business is a quest to live "like
a real human being." What does she really mean? To the reporters,
people are simply means to a good scoop. As the film expresses,
people are "production for use"; or people's existence is just fodder
for a good story. And the story doesn't even need to be accurate,
so long as it sells newspapers. Hecht and MacArthur, newspapermen
themselves, knew this world well and most of the dialogue in the
press room, comes straight from their play.
Walter Burns is the worst offender of the "production for use" idea.
He justifies framing innocent people with forgery, solicitation
of prostitutes, and pick pocketing and is even willing to kidnap
someone and harbor a fugitive to meet his own ends. He is not alone
in his corruption, though. The mayor and sheriff both use the criminal's
execution for political gain even to the extent that they pretend
a reprieve from the Governor was never delivered. Even the more
innocent looking members of the story seem to be guilty of "production
for use" in the people department. Hildy, we find by the film's
end, doesn't truly love Bruce Baldwin (Ralph Bellamy). She simply
sees him as a means to a normal lifestyle.
Is there no silver lining to this chain of inhumanity? A slight
one. After all of Walter's manipulation, Hildy realizes that he
truly loves her. They are meant to be together because they are
perfect for each other. Walter expresses his affection for people
by keeping them with him, even if it may be against their will.
While this misguided approach to personal relations is egocentric,
Hildy realizes that it is his way of not letting her go without
a fight. Perhaps the more reasonable approach would be to buy her
flowers, but if things were reasonable, His Girl Friday
wouldn't be nearly as enjoyable.
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