His Girl Friday (1940)

   "...one of those fast-moving and idyllic comedies in which the lovers behave like villains to each other..."

With Ralph Bellamy and Rosalind Russell.

His Girl Friday- Review is taken from 'The Films of Cary Grant' by Donald Deschner (1973):

"His Girl Friday" from a play by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur" is a remake of The Front Page, the movie success of 1931 and stage hit of 1928.  The original has been changed this time into one of those fast-moving and idyllic comedies in which the lovers behave like villains to each other - sophisticated is the usual word for the genre.  Hildy Johnson has become a woman for this purpose.  She has been married to the fanatical editor and divorced from him because there was never time for love.  Coming to tell him she is going to marry a simple insurance man from Albany, she soon finds herself, against her will, back on her former job as reporter.  There follows the plot of The Front Page, with managing editor playing his tricks partly on the insurance man.  By the change the accent is shifted to the lovers' quarrel, and the original story loses much of its sense and punch.  Yet Rosalind Russell and Cary Grant give such entertaining performances that nobody in the roaring audience seems to notice the tastelessness, to say the least, of playing hide-and-seek with a man condemned to death.  The tragic elements of the original story are misused for boy-meets-girl nonsense.  Charles Lederer has written the new version with great skill and Howard Hawks has directed it with liveliness but with too great a concern for the deaf."  

- Franz Hoellering, The Nation

New Artwork by Rebekah Hawley at Studio36 -
Number 35- His Girl Friday (Lobby Card Style)

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Quote From Today... His Girl Friday (1940)

"If you had been a gentleman, you would have forgotten all about it. But not you!"

With Rosalind Russell.

His Girl Friday was Cary Grant's 35th full length feature film.

Hildy Johnson: I suppose I proposed to you?

Walter Burns: Well, you practically did, making goo-goo eyes at me for two years until I broke down.

[impersonates Hildy, flutters his eyelashes]

Walter Burns: "Oh, Walter." And I still claim I was tight the night I proposed to you. If you had been a gentleman, you would have forgotten all about it. But not you!

Hildy Johnson: [hurls her purse at him] Why, you! !...

Walter Burns: [ducks and her purse barely misses him] You're losing your eye. You used to be able to pitch better than that.

New Artwork by Rebekah Hawley at Studio36 -
Number 35 - His Girl Friday (Lobby Card Style)

Part Of

"Light, Camera...Action!" - The Directors - Part 1

When Cary Grant received his Academy Award for his unique mastery of the art of screen acting, in 1970, he thanked all those who had assisted in his career.

He thanked by name, six directors, Howard Hawks, Alfred Hitchcock, Leo McCarey, George Stevens, George Cukor and Stanley Donen.

So, that made me think about which directors he worked with and how often?

Howard Hawks:

30th May 1896 - 26th December 1977

Hawks and Grant worked on a total of six films together:

Bringing Up Baby (1938) with Katharine Hepburn

Only Angels Have Wings (1939) with Rita Haywood

His Girl Friday (1940) with Rosalind Russell

I Was a Male War Bride (1949) with Ann Sheridan

Monkey Business (1952)

Hawks on Grant - "He was so far the best that there isn't anybody to be compared to him."

Howard Hawks directed many films include those from the silent era, but as well as his first three films with Cary Grant he is probably most remembered for Scarface (1932), Twentieth Century (1934), Sergeant York (1941), To Have and Have Not (1944), The Big Sleep (1946), Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953) and Rio Bravo (1959).

Now wait a minute! You look familiar...

They say that "Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery".

Below are some of Cary Grant's films that were either remakes or remade.

My Favorite Wife:

My Favourite Wife (1940) later in 1963 became Move Over Darling, with Doris Day and James Garner.

Notorious:

Notorious (1946) was the basis for the story in Mission Impossible 2 (2000)

Even the horse race was kept in!

 

Charade:

Charade (1963) was remade as The Truth About Charlie in (2002)

The remake stars Mark Wahlberg and Tim Robbins.

An Affair to Remember:

Love Affair (1939) was remade as An Affair to Remember (1957) and again as Love Affair (1994)
Leo McCarey directed the first two films. Warren Beatty and Annette Bening star in the 1994 version.


The Bishop's Wife:

The Bishop's Wife (1947) took on a slight name change as The Preacher's Wife (1996)
In the 1996 version, the cast is headed by Whitney Houston and Denzel Washington.

North By Northwest:

North By Northwest (1959) was remade as Double Identity in (2009)
Val Kilmer and Izabella Miko star in 2009.

Walk, Don't Run!:

The More the Merrier (1943) was remade as Walk, Dont Run (1966)

His Girl Friday:

The Front Page (1931), became His Girl Friday in (1940), being remade as The Front Page (1974)
His Girl Friday is the only version where Hildy is portrayed is a woman.

Information sourced from "That Was A Remake!" -IMDB