2015 Blind Spot Series: His Girl Friday



What I knew going in: That this was one of the more famous "screwball comedies."

Hildy (Rosalind Johnson) was once a star reporter. She walks into her office after a long absence to tell her boss, Walter (Cary Grant) that she quits and is moving to Albany to marry the mild mannered Bruce. (Ralph Bellamy) But Walter is actually Hildy's ex husband, and he spends the rest of the movie trying to convince Hildy to stay and do her job rather than marry.

This movie was just plain adorable. It didn't really make me laugh, but it certainly made me smile several times. I like how face paced the dialogue was. I feel like that will be the most memorable part of the film for me. The entire cast was great, especially Grant, even though I wanted to dropkick his character several times throughout.

Recommended: Yes

Grade: B

Memorable Quote: "From now on I thank you to keep your nose out of my affairs." - Walter (Cary Grant)



Comments

  1. I love this movie so much. It makes me laugh, but I recognize it's more about the manic tone than any particular jokes. I also think Rosalind Russell is so great. Grant is very good at playing a self-absorbed jerk. Glad you caught up with this one!

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    1. Yeah, me too. It's one I've put off for far too long.

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  2. I usually want to dropkick Cary Grant's characters -- they seem so smug. :-) Good stuff, though. I haven't seen this one yet. Based on your description of the strong dialogue, I think I'd like it.

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    1. He's pretty smug here too, but at least he's amusing smug!

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  3. Glad you enjoyed this one. This was wonderful; the banter between the two characters looked natural. Though I do wished things ended up different. Nonetheless, enjoyable film.

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    1. The ending I kind of saw coming a mile away, but that's okay. It was just fun.

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  4. Tarantino showed this film to Amanda Plummer and Tim Roth before they shot the opening diner scene. Not to talk as fast as they could in that movie, but to show that you CAN talk as fast as that in a movie.

    Really enjoy this one.

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    1. That's interesting, I never knew that. Thanks for sharing that!

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  5. Oh, I really love this film. A classic comedy for the ages. The banter between all the characters, especially Grant and Roz is absolutely spectacular. Great review!

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  6. Happy you liked it, Brittani - gotta love Cary!

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    1. Thanks! I'm happy I started off 2015 well with Blind Spots.

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  7. Believe it or not but I'm not into Cary Grant that much. That said, this one sounds pretty good, might put this on my next year's Blind Spot!

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    1. I think if it had been slower paced, I wouldn't have liked it as much. That helps tremendously here.

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  8. Adorable is right! I really loved this, and the sparing between the leads is just exceptional. Great review!

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  9. Sounds like I'm the only one left that hasn't seen this.

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  10. Sounds like I'm the other one who hasn't seen this... yeah, along with Wendell :(

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    1. lol. No worries, It took me forever to see it too.

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  11. I've watched it for some of my classes, and it is a lot of fun.I always liked the amusing self-reflexive bit where Cary Grant sends someone after Rosalind Johnson's fiancee and when asked what he looks like says "Oh, he looks like that guy from the movies... Ralph Bellamy".

    I remember the first time I saw His Girl Friday, I was a little concerned about the film's representation of gender, but after seeing it again I was amazed with how remarkably progressive it was in how it treated the protagonist. The obvious concern was the whole thing about how Hildy Johnson was supposedly trying to become a "proper" woman, essentially giving up the rights she probably had to work hard to obtain.

    On the other hand, the fact that she is not only the newspaper's best journalist but is also treated as an equal by the (almost entirely male) staff who barely seem to notice that she is a woman (to the point where they even make bets on how long it will take before she wants to get back into journalism) was pretty radical for 1940 (Howard Hawks actually had a trademark of putting strong female characters into his films, many of which were remarkably progressive a guy who made the bulk of his films during the Studio Era). Even better is the fact that she actually stays in the journalism business instead of "settling down", though on the condition of remarrying her former husband.

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    1. I can definitely see where that fear might be there at first. I'm glad they never went there and instead showed how successful Hildy was.

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  12. Haha, this movie is so much fun, and Grant and Russell have great chemistry. So glad you enjoyed it!

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    1. Thanks, so am I. I'm off to a good start with my 2015 Blind Spots. I've watched three and enjoyed them all.

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