Tuesday, June 3, 2008

His Girl Friday

His Girl Friday; comedy, USA, 1940; D: Howard Hawks, S: Cary Grant, Rosalind Russell, Ralph Bellamy, Gene Lockhart, Porter Hall, John Qualen

Walter Burns is the editor and owner of 'The Morning Post' newspaper. His ex wife Hildy, who worked for him as a reporter, comes to visit him in his office and announce that she will marry Bruce. But Walter doesn't give up that easy and tries all means possible to prevent the wedding and hire Hildy again. Little by little Hildy warms up for journalism and reveals that the mayor wants to execute a criminal, Earl, who was granted reprieve, in order to gain publicity and win the next election. In the end, Earl is given reprieve, whereas Hildy and Walter decide to marry again.

"His Girl Friday" is one of the five best films directed by Howard Hawks, a wonderfully simple comedy in which characters talk with a speed of 100 miles per hour and fall into wackiest situations without ever losing their intellectual touch. Actually, this comedy is not that funny as some say it is, and some even commented it's "faster than the speed of laughter", but it is brilliantly written, an example of thoroughbred old school filmmaking that has enormous faith in its "soft power" and the power of cinema. Hawks is a conventional fimmaker, yet his characters and witty situations compensate this with a lot of charm. From the situation in which Hildy (excellent Rosalind Russell) wants to present her ex husband Walter (also excellent Cary Grant) with her new fiance Bruce Baldwin, but Walter goes on to jokingly approach an old man and pretend he is her fiance, the story goes into absurd waters. 

Walter persuades Bruce to tell Hildy to stay and write an article that could save a criminal sentenced to death, or else Bruce will have "blood on his hands during the wedding". A reporter accuses the mayor of being a Communist because he sleeps with red underpants. Walter tries to prevent the wedding by constantly secretly letting Bruce get arrested for every kind of tittle, making the angry Hildy quit her job as the reporter, even announcing she doesn't want to "even see a newspaper again". Several quotes are of outstanding inspiration ("Walter, you're wonderful, in a loathsome sort of way!"; "Any idea on how he escaped?" - "Maybe the sheriff let him out so Williams could vote for him."). The story makes no illusions regarding convict Earl, since he is guilty, but its main two protagonists fight against the death sentence. There are a few flaws here and there (the bizarre sequence where Mollie jumps out of the window of the building, someone comments "she survived", but later on she in never mentioned again, making her supporting character rather unecessary), and the ending feels somewhat abrupt, yet Hawks subverts several film rules with gusto (for instance, by defying a character arc to Walter, who stays the same from start to finish; the implication that Walter and Hildy use journalism as their "aphrodisiac" that rejuvenates their relationship; the criminal Earl shot a Black police officer, which explains the mayor's insistance on the death penalty, fearing race riots; the title "Friday" may be an allusion to the servant from "Robinson Crusoe") which make for a great movie, even in a roundabout way.

Grade:+++

No comments: