His Girl Friday

(Howard Hawks, US 1940, 92 min., 35mm)

This gender-swapped version of Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur’s comedic play The Front Page is another in a long line of quick-witted, fast-talking Howard Hawks marriage stories. Rosalind Russell plays a breathless whiz of a reporter determined to give up her typewriter for a wedding ring, but her editor and ex-husband Cary Grant makes it hard for her to leave. Hoping to rekindle their romance, Grant convinces her to cover one more story, the saga of a man the paper believes has been wrongfully accused of murder. Ralph Bellamy is the fiancé, waiting patiently in the wings as Grant and Russell chase down the story, getting involved with reporters from other papers, the escaped convict, and, eventually, each other.