Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell are pure chemistry together in this classic Howard Hawks comedy about a newspaper editor (Grant) who'll stop at nothing to win over the woman he loves--again. Newspaper reporter Russell plays the object of Grant's efforts, the ex-Mrs. Grant who's imminent marriage to milquetoast insurance salesman Ralph Bellamy forces Grant to use every trick in his considerable arsenal. Grant and Russell's verbal sparring are what make the film, so the second act, with its clunky subplot concerning their efforts to save a condemned man, trims a half star off the effort, but even so, this very well mastered film gem--one of the finest comedies of the '40s (or any era, for that matter)--should not be missed. Highly recommended. (S. C. Sickles)[Blu-ray/DVD Review—Jan. 24, 2017—Criterion, 2 discs, 92 min., not rated, DVD: $39.95, Blu-ray: $49.95—Making its latest appearance on DVD and debut on Blu-ray, 1940's His Girl Friday features a great transfer and an uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray release. Extras include a brand-new restoration of 1931's The Front Page (101 min.), an hour-long 1940 Lux Radio Theatre adaptation of His Girl Friday, two Lux adaptations of The Front Page from 1937 (59 min.) and 1946 (32 min.), a featurette on playwright Ben Hecht (26 min.), behind-the-scenes segments on “Lighting Up with Hildy Johnson” (25 min.), “Restoring The Front Page” (24 min.), and “Hawks on Hawks” (11 min.), the archival featurettes “On Assignment: His Girl Friday” (9 min.), “Howard Hawks: Reporter's Notebook” (4 min.), “Funny Pages” (4 min.), and “Rosalind Russell: The Inside Scoop” (3 min.), trailers, and a booklet featuring essays by film critics Farran Smith Nehme and Michael Sragow. Bottom line: this excellent comedy two-fer sparkles on Blu-ray.]
His Girl Friday
Columbia TriStar, 92 min., not rated, $24.95 Vol. 16, Issue 1
His Girl Friday
Star Ratings
As of March 2022, Video Librarian has changed from a four-star rating system to a five-star one. This change allows our reviewers to have a wider range of critical viewpoints, as well as to synchronize with Google’s rating structure. This change affects all reviews from March 2022 onwards. All reviews from before this period will still retain their original rating. Future film submissions will be considered our new 1-5 star criteria.
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