Tonight I finally saw "His Girl Friday"(1940), starring Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell. You've probably heard me referring to it once or twice, and I did see a few minutes of it years ago, before a defective disc forced me to turn it off, but this was my first time watching it all the way through, and wow......what can I say?
Without even getting into the plot I can tell you that you've never seen a movie like this. If you took the screwiest Screwball Comedy, say by Preston Sturges or Ernst Lubitsch, and sped up the soundtrack to the equivalent of 78rpm, you still wouldn't match the rapid-fire dialogue in "Friday". Simply stated, it is The Fastest Talking Movie Ever Made, and will never be equaled or exceeded in that regard. Just from a technical standpoint alone it's an amazing achievement, because not only do the actors have to memorise pages and pages of dialogue for any given scene, but there are moments when several people in a room are talking all at once, or bouncing conversation back and forth like a pinball, where even the bit players have to come in with exact timing, just to utter the single word required of them in the proper sequence, amidst the torrent of syllables coming from Grant and Russell. One flub, by any actor, would've required a retake, which would cost money, so I have no idea how they pulled it off. I guess they had a cast of extremely talented pros, but even then, I don't know how anyone could talk that fast for sixty seconds, let alone two people (or a roomful) carrying on such a repartee for 92 minutes. So just on that score, it's an Olympian Feat.
Cary Grant is the editor of a popular New York City paper. As the movie opens, in walks his ex-wife Rosalind Russell with a piece of news for him. She wants Grant to stop calling her about a reconciliation because she's about to be remarried, to Boring Insurance Man Ralph Bellamy, who hails from Albany, NY. Grant - and the whole newsroom - is excited to see Russell, because she was not only the boss' wife but also a star reporter for the paper. She's been away for several months and the quality of the writing has suffered. No one can tell a story like she can, and at the moment Grant and his reporters are awaiting the headline news of the year : a cop killer is about to be executed the following morning.
It's interesting that most fans consider this film a comedy first and foremost, because while it is that, it also has sociopolitical themes running straight through it like hotwire. The murdered police officer was black, for instance, and his killer was white, a setup that would be even more provocative now and would hardly be presented in a comedy, but "Friday" was made 80 years ago, when Screwball could be the context for all sorts of subjects. Here, the issue is whether or not the killer was insane when he pulled the trigger. If he was, then the Governor might grant him a reprieve, but that might cost him the "colored" vote in the next election. So there is another subtext that would be apropos today, the power of minority voters. There are other hot-button issues that get examined in this chaotic scheme, such as gun control and the death penalty. But it's all wrapped up in a romantic comedy that's moving at the speed of a bullet train, so you really have to pay attention, not only to keep up with what the actors are saying, but to even understand them.
Cary Grant has two objectives. One is to get the scoop on the execution, and the possible reprieve, before any other newspaper. The other is to get rid of Ralph Bellamy so that he can convince Russell to cancel their engagement and remarry him. First, he needs to get her back on the job, because she is the only reporter capable enough to guarantee him a scoop of this magnitude. At first, she wants nothing to do with either of his plans. "I'm in love with Ralph, we're moving to Albany and that's that! I don't want to be a reporter anymore, I want a home life even if it's dull, so quit asking". But Grant doesn't quit asking, and suddenly he gets the break he needs to convince Rosalind to stay : the cop killer has escaped from jail. Now, she feels the old excitement surging again. This was the best part of being a reporter, responding to the unexpected. Russell agrees to re-join the paper just long enough to cover the story, then she's definitely going back to Albany to marry Ralph Bellamy. Grant uses this "stay of romantic execution" to get Bellamy in trouble with the law. He has a hoodlum friend plant counterfeit in his wallet, then some stolen jewelry. Bellamy winds up in jail, which gives Grant a chance to get reacquainted with his ex-wife. With Bellamy temporarily out of the picture, it's like the good old days again. Grant and Russell are a hotshot reporting duo. But can he rekindle their romance as well?
The plot will take a surprising turn, which I can't reveal except to say that it lands Grant and Russell squarely in the middle of the case they are reporting. All kinds of other crazy characters will enter in, including a corrupt Mayor and his none-too-bright Sheriff. Ralph Bellamy's mother arrives, demanding to know what's become of her son. There are mooks and hacks galore, running in and out of rooms at breakneck speed, and the killer's girlfriend makes an appearance every so often to rail about the unfairness of the press.
If you feel overwhelmed when it's over, or even before that, haha, you're not alone. While I never felt the urge to stop watching, it was certainly an endurance test to see it through, because you are literally getting pounded by dialogue from start to finish. I read on IMDB that the script for "His Girl Friday" was 191 pages long. Going by the cinematic standard where one page equals one minute of screen time, that would normally translate to a 3 hour and 10 minute movie. But they crammed all 191 pages into just 92 minutes, and it's all dialogue, because most of the movie takes place in one room (the newsroom). Don't get me wrong, because it's an excellent and funny movie, and well deserving of it's status as a Hollywood classic. Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell are fascinating to watch, and you sometimes sit there with your jaw hanging, marveling at how they can speed rap for minutes at a time without slipping up. So yes, it's a bit of a workout to get through it all, but well worth it, and because of it's uniqueness, it's a movie that every fan of cinema should see at least once. The dvd I watched came from Northridge Libe, and the transfer was okay but was obviously from a public domain print, and the soundtrack was a little muffled, which made deciphering the words that much harder. I recommend - and I am gonna do this myself - to try and find the Criterion version of the film, which was released in 2017. No doubt the picture will be restored to perfection, but hopefully the sound as well. I'll probably watch it again sometime this year, on Criterion.
I'm gonna give "His Girl Friday" Two Big Thumbs Up. It was directed by Howard Hawks, the "other" man from Goshen, Indiana to make it big in Hollywood. Not many movies can be said to be one-of-a-kind, but this one is, and for that reason alone it is highly recommended. ////
That's all I know for the moment. Time for a walk, then back to Pearl's as always. See you tonight at the Usual Time.
Tons of love. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
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