Monday, December 11, 2006

His Girl Friday


I had a spare hour and a half (very unlike me, I must say) and decided to watch a movie, but what? I sit for a while and ponder my options, I still have Monsoon Wedding sitting on my shelf, what about my DVD of Kath and Kim? More Arrested Development (on which subject, more in the near future), but finally I decide on my copy of His Girl Friday, because Cary Grant, yes he IS a reason all of himself.


Billed as a screwball comedy, the film stars Cary Grant, as a machiavellian newspaper editor Walter Burns, in whose veins printers ink most probably runs and Rosalind Russell, as his star reporter Hilde Johnson, who is also his ex wife and is just about to marry Bruce, an insurance salesman from Albany.

Hilde comes to see Walter to let him know about her impending marriage to the stolid and reliable Bruce, but Walter seeing his star reporter about to become a wife and mother, starts to scheme and knowing Hilde's curiosity and sheer newspaper acumen, he sets her on the story of Earl Williams, a man on death row, convicted of killing a police officer; whose hanging is being used for political aims by the governor. I thought that the capital punishment storyline was a trifle heavy for a screwball comedy, but I feel that perhaps Howard Hawks had a satirical aim in mind and as it works out, Earl's plight counterpoints the lighter comedic touches and although Earl is a pitiful man, you never feel that he is the joke. The joke is the lengths that newspapers and newspaper men will go to get a story and then how the telling of that story changes upon how it is told.

Hilde is dispatched to the jail to get an interview with Earl Williams in an effort to sway the public opinion of him as a cop killer and get his reprieve. Hilde talks to Earl, realises that he probably is a few crumbs short of being the full cookie and starts to write her story in the press room, where all the other assorted newspaper men are assembled.

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The camaraderie of the reporters is evident as they joke and insult one another, smoke incessantly and wait for the next big development, when they will each grab a phone and attempt to scoop the others. They wouldn't only stab their granny in the back for the best story, they would bludgeon her into a pulp and then take pictures! The idea that they are hard hearted son's of bitches is easily developed, but these guys, despite their gruff, hard boiled and tough exteriors, do have a heart, as you see in a superb scene, where Earl Williams sweetheart Molly Molloy arrives to give the assembled press a piece of her mind for sensationalising her innocent relationship with Earl.

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When she leaves tearfully, after not a few insensitive jibes about Earl hanging in the morning ("They're fixin' up a pain in the neck for your boyfriend."), they sit and stand awkwardly, chagrined by Molly and her words. A shot with no mawkish music or cuts, just the long shot silence of six rather shamed men.

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Suddenly the silence of the press room (where incidentally most of the movie takes place), is shattered by sirens and gunfire. The reporters rush to the window, where they find out that Earl Williams has escaped.

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They rush from the room leaving Hilde alone, when Earl Williams far from having escaped from prison, climbs into the room and threatens her with gun, he discharges the bullets into the wall and the empty gun is taken from him. Hilde calls over Walter to take charge of Earl, in the meanwhile stashing him in a conveniently placed rolltop desk.


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Hilde has since gotten a phone call, telling her that Bruce, her fiance, has been arrested for the third time this evening, for the heinous crime of "mashing". As this involves a nubile blonde, set on the stolid Bruce by the scheming Walter, I dread to think, what that is slang for.

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Hilde is keen to get away, but has to keep anyone from discovering Earl in the desk, so she waits for Walter, who when he arrives, manipulates her into writing the story of Earl's "rescue" by his newspaper "The Morning Post".

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As she does this, Bruce arrives, having bailed himself out of jail, and exhorts Hilde to come away with him on the train, well they are getting married tomorrow. Hilde ignores him in her enthusiasm to get her article finished, and Bruce slinks away to catch the train and leaves Hilde to carry on being a "newspaper man".

Meanwhile Earl's reprieve arrives with a rotund messenger, who we did meet earlier in the film, we knew Earl was going to be reprieved which left us able to laugh at the jokes.

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Earl is discovered in the desk and taken back to prison, but not his death, the story is filed, by telephone and Hilde and Walter decide to marry again. But Walter still doesn't carry Hilde's case, the gentleman!

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The film is chock full of funny lines and situations, my above precis does not do the film justice. The film belongs to Rosalind Russell, who would be a modern woman in any age. Feisty, go-getting, ambitious and intelligent, she's is everything that a woman ought to be in movie, she strikes a far more feminist note than many modern day film heroines. O.K she does have a brief hankering for a quieter life full of domesticity and babies, but Walter wears her down.

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Cary Grant is his usual charming and gorgeous self and although Rosalind Russell gets the lions share of the movie, Grant pretty much steals the scenes that he's in. He gets many of the best lines, for example, when dispatching the girl to enable Bruce to be accused of mashing, he tells the blonde that he looks like the movie star, Ralph Bellamy. Bruce of course is played by the hunky Ralph Bellamy himself.

Ralph Bellamy does have a pretty thankless role, as all he has to do is be the cuckold to Grant's schemer, but he does his job well and you feel for the poor man, as Walter plans his downfall and Hilde's eventual return to him.

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Walter also avers that he was the last one who spoke to Archie Leach before he slit is own throat. Archie Leach is of course, Grant's real name. A real belly laugh is evoked when Bruce shows $450 to Hilde (that was given to him by Walter and is counterfeit) and Walter grabs it, takes a good look and gives it back, saying that he only wanted to have a look, thank you very much.

A great film to watch, I'd recommend that you look it out, if you get the chance!

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi "Penny"

I agree, this is a great film, saw it years ago now (not on its original release though, I'm not THAT old lol). Your post has maybe prompted me to watch it again. They talked about the chemistry between Cary Grant and Katherine Hepburn, but I think you have to go a long way to beat the chemistry between CG and Rosalind Russell in this film.

I see you have Kath and Kim in your pile of projects. I can totally recommend it, its great stuff and thanks to an Aussie mate I already have the first three series on DVD.

I also just took delivery of Bleak House (the DVD special edition) but havent had a chance to watch any of it yet. Watched the whole thing on TV when it first aired, of course, and thought at the time that it was the best classic adaptation that the BBC had ever graced us with and that it would really not be possible to better it (and I've been watching these things since the early 1970s).

And then Jane Eyre came along.

Its amazing how many people (even grown up old cynical ones like me) are still addicted to JE and keep watching snippets of it at home when everyone is out or they think no-one's looking, lol. Rather sadly, I now have the JE wallpaper up on my PC in work and at home. In work it's ousted the fabulous and totally droolful Daniel Craig emerging from the sea in those rather cute trunks, which is no mean feat I can tell you!

If I don't get over this obsession soon, I fear I may have to write into Virginia Ironside for help, or even go into rehab!

Cheers

Fifi

pennyforyourdreams said...

Hi Fifi,

It is a great film and I agree the chemistry between Rosalind Russell and Cary Grant is great, but unfortunately they don't have that much screen time together; which would be my one gripe.

My DVD of Kath and Kim was also sent to me by an Aussie pal (spooky). I'm looking forward to watching it, I need a good laugh.

And talking about Jane Eyre, I'm also still addicted! I ripped them onto my computer from my set top box and can whizz through them and watch my favourite bits, again and again and again. We DO need some kind of professional help! It's all Toby Stephens' fault, damn him for being so sexy, charismatic and talented. But as obsessions go, it's pretty enjoyable.

I must get a copy of Bleak House on DVD; I might sound cheap, but I'm waiting for the sales!

My work computers, at one point, both had JE wallpapers, but as I share a computer in the office, I was told that the forbidding look that Rochester was sporting scared my colleague somewhat, so now it's just a flower. The lab computer still has Rochester and Jane on it, but I'm thinking of a change...Daniel Craig? Did you say, trunks? Dripping wet? I wish, I'd probably get a disciplinary for (half) naked men on a works computer!

Thanks for your comment, take care!

Regards,

Penny

p.s Are you also counting down the days to the JE DVD release?

Anonymous said...

Hi Penny

Fear not! The JE DVD has been on pre-order for some time now and 5 Feb 07 would be ringed on my wall calendar, if I had one!

Of course, the release of this DVD is only worth looking forward to if its got some nice "extras" on it, as legions of us have evidently already recorded it on dvd and many more lovely and clever people (courtesy of Youtube) have regurgitated all the best bits with or without musical accompaniment!

If the DVD does not come with extras (and the BBC shop's description is silent on this point), I'll be pretty much gutted, I can tell you. I want to see plenty of interviews and behind the scenes stuff. I suspect its too much to hope for that we'll also get bloopers and outtakes, but one can live in hope!

Cheers

Fifi

La Nouvelle Heloise said...

Hi Penny,

Another top job reviewing this movie (I loved your Jane Eyre posts). I assume you have seen Bringing up Baby, with the same duo of leads? That's another classic!

Best,

NH

pennyforyourdreams said...

Hi Fifi,

I think the bronteblog.blogspot.com, had a few details about the DVD; quite a few deleted scenes if I remember correctly.

I would sooooo love loads of outtakes and bloopers, there must have been a few!

pennyforyourdreams said...

Hi NH,

Thanks for your comment! I love "Bringing Up Baby". But that was Katherine Hepburn and Cary Grant, not Rosalind Russell, I think!!

Great movie! What's not to love, Cary, Katherine and a tiger! My favourite part, straitlaced Cary dressed up in a frilly negligee/dressing gown and saying, when asked why he was dressed up like that: "I just went gay all of a sudden!" Fantastic! I must look that film up!