Discover
-
Ben Hecht
Theatre Play -
Howard Hawks
Director -
Charles Lederer
Screenplay -
Morrie Ryskind
Additional Dialogue -
Charles MacArthur
Theatre Play -
Sidney Cutner
Music -
Robert Kalloch
Costume Design -
Jed Harris
Producer
-
CinemaSerf 6/23/2022 6:46:14 PM
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.
Regis Toomey
SandersCary Grant
Walter BurnsJohn Qualen
Earl WilliamsRalph Bellamy
Bruce BaldwinGene Lockhart
Sheriff HartwellAnn Doran
Newspaper Office Worker (uncredited)Frank Jenks
WilsonRosalind Russell
Hildy Johnson