Out In The1940s Screw-ball Comedy Night- Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell's His Girl Friday
From The Pen Of Frank Jackman
DVD Review
His Girl Friday,starring Rosalind Russell,Cary Grant, MGM, 1940
I suppose the world could use a laugh, could use getting away from the bummer daily headlines anytime and anyplace and hide for a couple of hours in the cinematic world, a world where the funny can be therapy for the ailments of the day. Probably in the time of the film under review, His Girl Friday a female-centered newspaper story variation on the original story, The Front Page, a time when the world was stirring out of the Great Depression and the flames of war were enveloping Europe and the Far East the need for such relief was as important as any other time. And the flamboyant newspaper publisher played by Cary Grant and the feisty newspaper reporter played by Rosalind Russell delivered using all the comedic skills at their command.
Now the story line, the hot-cold love between Grant and Russell who have divorced, well, divorced over the differences in perspective about what married life was about for two working professionals, overlaid by the big news story of the day, the upcoming execution of a harmless Walter Mitty-type for murdering a police officer, is not what drives this one. Nor is it the witty take on governmental corruption and incompetent, the sensationalism of the media, or the current events of the day. It is the strangely inviting repartee between Grant and Russell as the debonair Grant tries to persuade the reluctant Russell to do one last story, the career-making big one on the execution, before setting off into the sunset to that white house with picket fence, a couple of kids and a dog in,ah, Albany. The patter between the pair as Grant works his charm and Russell comes to realize that she is a hell of newspaperman (today news reporter) is what provides the laughs as they, at times, seem to be working their lines overreach other. Grant, known later more for his suave romantic leads with the likes of Grace Kelly, is right at home in this screw-ball comedy milieu, as is Russell, and so will you.
From The Pen Of Frank Jackman
DVD Review
His Girl Friday,starring Rosalind Russell,Cary Grant, MGM, 1940
I suppose the world could use a laugh, could use getting away from the bummer daily headlines anytime and anyplace and hide for a couple of hours in the cinematic world, a world where the funny can be therapy for the ailments of the day. Probably in the time of the film under review, His Girl Friday a female-centered newspaper story variation on the original story, The Front Page, a time when the world was stirring out of the Great Depression and the flames of war were enveloping Europe and the Far East the need for such relief was as important as any other time. And the flamboyant newspaper publisher played by Cary Grant and the feisty newspaper reporter played by Rosalind Russell delivered using all the comedic skills at their command.
Now the story line, the hot-cold love between Grant and Russell who have divorced, well, divorced over the differences in perspective about what married life was about for two working professionals, overlaid by the big news story of the day, the upcoming execution of a harmless Walter Mitty-type for murdering a police officer, is not what drives this one. Nor is it the witty take on governmental corruption and incompetent, the sensationalism of the media, or the current events of the day. It is the strangely inviting repartee between Grant and Russell as the debonair Grant tries to persuade the reluctant Russell to do one last story, the career-making big one on the execution, before setting off into the sunset to that white house with picket fence, a couple of kids and a dog in,ah, Albany. The patter between the pair as Grant works his charm and Russell comes to realize that she is a hell of newspaperman (today news reporter) is what provides the laughs as they, at times, seem to be working their lines overreach other. Grant, known later more for his suave romantic leads with the likes of Grace Kelly, is right at home in this screw-ball comedy milieu, as is Russell, and so will you.
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