Smooth-talking press personalities from a bygone age, chasing each other's tails and trying to get in the last word amidst a riled-up crew of snappy, witty, improv-happy verbal maestros. The breakneck pace this film is able to maintain via dialog alone is just staggering, head-spinning to the point that I nearly lost track of what was going on with the plot while my brain tried to catch up with the last three or four punchlines.

I wasn't prepared for that kind of an onslaught, and I wasn't alone: caught in the middle of all the chatter is Bruce, a mild-mannered everyman who just wants to be a nice guy, give his new fiancee time to say goodbye to her ex-husband and former coworkers, board a train and ride off into a bright, happy future of marital bliss. He's eaten alive, almost literally. The ex (Cary Grant at the height of his stardom) isn't quite ready to move on from that lost love, and though the fiancee (Rosalind Russell, in a show-stealing turn) is wise to his tricks, she (and Bruce) find themselves mired by them nonetheless. In the midst of a scheduled execution, a midnight prison break, late edition deadlines and bombshell headlines, the brusque, self-assured lady at the heart of this two-room maelstrom must choose between her lust for a juicy lead and the promise of a fresh start.

A hilarious rush of con artistry and self-preservation that seems to have outlasted the very industry it lampoons. I don’t think they make people like this any more, much less movies.

There's fewer better scripts than this. The delivery by Cary Grant - for my money the most charismatic actor of all time - and Rosalind Russell is just fantastic.

It'll take your brain a little moment to tune in as the delivery is so rapid. (Did they speed up the projection as it doesn't feel humanly possible to deliver at that rate for a sustained period...?)

I've never seen 'The Front Page' from which this is derived. I've not seen the clones that followed this either. But I'm willing to say that the only thing wrong with 'His Girl Friday' is the title.

The character of Hildy is (for 98% of the film) the smartest person in the room, and Walter is (for 98% of the time) the second smartest person in the room. Everyone else is a distant third.

The bouncing back and forth between the two of them is an hilarious and captivating escapade. That Cary Grant can disappear for a third of the movie and not be missed just shows the investment and aptitude of Rosalind as an actress.

The film 'The Holiday' beautifully mentions the portrayal of "gumption" in a female lead. The character of Hildy is the personification of it. Outside of Katharine Hepburn, I can think of few competitors. Just wonderful.

The 2% deductions... Well, there's a little back-peddling at the close of the film where Cary Grant has to "win". The complete control that Hildy has is revoked for a closing sequence and it's sad to see that - for all the brilliantly portrayed alpha female strengths - a man just had to come out smelling the roses...

They don't make them like this anymore and they bloody well should. What a fantastic film - I had a smile on my face for 90 minutes. I'd watch this 3 times rather than another Avengers smashathon.


9/10 (Have the balls to follow through and let the woman suceed!)

This is a belter of a film! Essentially just a two hander with Cary Grant ("Walter Burns") as the editor of a newspaper facing the loss of his ex-wife, and best reporter Rosalind Russell ("Hildy Johnson") who has decided to marry Ralph Bellamy ("Bruce Baldwin") and start a new life. Anyone who enjoys the modern day writing of folks like Aaron Sorkin will immediately appreciate the depth and class of the clever, witty writing and the superbly fast paced delivery from both as Grant tries all sorts of manoeuvres to change her mind; frame her new fiancée and stop a man from going to the electric chair with the aide of little else but a few telephones and the odd interjection from some great supporters - Gene Lockhart, Porter Hall, John Qualen and Abner Biberman as his go-to fixer "Louie". Russell is no shrinking violet, either - she has plenty of great one-liners and retorts of her own, and the equality with which they scrap makes this all the more fun. The ending is a touch too inevitable, and maybe just a little too muddled and that robs it of a killer punch; but this is still a cracking romantic comedy.