Extra Extra! "His Girl Friday" is a hit. Read all about it!

Current DVD cover art for the film.

His Girl Friday stars Cary Grant who plays a journalist named Hildy Johnson accompanied by Rosalind Russell who plays her boss Walter Burns. Hildy and Walter were previously married. However, their first marriage was anything but conventional. Instead of going on a honeymoon, Hildy and Walter traveled to a caved-in mine to get the full story. Hildy is convinced that the newspaper business is what’s keeping her from having her happily ever after. Flashforward to the start of the movie, Hildy decides to settle down and is engaged to a steady man named Bruce Baldwin. Walter can’t stand to see Hildy give up the job she loves, and if she follows through with the marriage, he will likely never see her again. To prevent this from happening, Walter comes up with the craziest schemes in order to keep Hildy in his life. On the other hand, Hildy is sharp and knows his tricks. The two of them battle it out in a war of wits and dry sarcasm to determine who Hildy will really end up marrying in the end.

Hildy is an eccentric and hilarious journalist that will do anything to get her story. She is willing to do the craziest things in order for her to get the jump on the story and out-write her male competitors. The movie is persistent in reminding the viewers that her true element is in the newspaper business. To my surprise, the men in the press room mock her for even entertaining the idea of being a simple house wife. One of them says, “I’ll give it six weeks until she gets the itch again”. Turns out it only takes Hildy six minutes until she darts out the door ready to chase after an escaped fugitive. It was awesome how the movie revolved around romance without decrowning Hildy of her power. She is known to everyone as an unstoppable force, and she’s never asked to change who she is in order to experience true love. Although she works under Walter, she’s her own boss in her own rite, and following the story of a woman with this much agency was a tall glass of water for me. The resulting at the end was extremely fitting for Hildy’s strong personality, and I was satisfied with it. Walter and Hildy become high off of chasing a good story and decide to get married for a second time the next day. The situation seems to solve itself so matter-of-factly, which is how both Hildy and Walter deal with anything during the movie. It’s a fantastic ending!

Hilda is on the phone with Walter who has caused a lot
of trouble for her fiancé. She is a force to be reckoned with 
and even intimidates her male colleagues. 

In most of the romantic comedies that I’ve watched, the leading lady always starts out with a seemingly normal (sometimes dorky) and averagely datable man. However, in the end, she is whisked away by the man she least expected, even though the audience knew he was the better choice the entire time. His Girl Friday executes this perfectly and in the most hilariously belly-busting way. Although Hildy deflects some of his schemes, Walter is a mischievous man who knows what she really wants. More than anything Hildy wants to be a successful journalist, and he uses the allure of a great story to win her back. He distracts her fiancé long enough to give Hildy a taste of her old life in the fast lane.  In the press room Bruce tries to snap Hildy out of her excitement by telling her that he’s leaving the city without her. As Walter is shouting into one of the phones to be connected to various offices, Hildy is furiously typing a draft of a groundbreaking front page story. In the heat of the moment she tells Bruce to hold on until she done. After he accepts his defeat, Bruce walks out of the room without her even noticing.

Hildy and Walter are in the middle of writing a front
page story, but Bruce is more concerned with Hildy
catching the 9 o'clock train to Albany NY where they'll be
getting married tomorrow.

His Girl Friday also nails the chaos before the kiss. Just before the happily ever after, there’s a chaotic sequence of events that sends Hildy into wherlwild, only for her to land into Walter’s arms. A criminal that Hildy had interviewed earlier that day makes his escape. She tackles the warden and hides the fugitive in a writing desk in order to get the juiciest details for her story. Her and Walter are almost arrested for the trouble they cause. This isn’t her first rodeo however. Trouble finds Hildy as often as Hildy finds trouble, and with every crazy thing that happens, Hildy is calm and strategic. She’s aquanted with a life in the fast lane, and she knows what she’s doing. So, when the biggest story in years comes to light, Hildy is ready to take the heat. I love the combinations of ridiculous scenarios that arise and Hildy’s casual reactions to all of them. I also love how her dull housewife fantasy juxtaposes her exciting life of journalism. Every seedling of her housewife fantasy that gets caught in the tornado of her career is spit out with fury and is never seen again. For example, Hildy’s future mother in law tries to confront her for turning her son away, but she is soon carried out of the room by Walter’s right hand man. A “normal” life is not what fate has in store for Hildy. After many (and I mean many) loud phone calls and lots of speedy type writing, the chaos ends with Hildy and Walter agreeing to get remarried and to finally have a real honeymoon.

Hildy and Walter franticly make phone calls to get their
story on the front page of tomorrow's paper.

This movie is the perfect romantic comedy package. It has all of the qualities that rom con fans crave and more. His Girl Friday doesn’t rely on lovey-dovey fluff. Instead, it keeps you on your toes with fast-paced humor and a pair of great minds trying to outsmart each other. It’s certainly worth a rewatch.