His Girl Friday (1940)

Pros Rosalind Russell turns in a great performance and portrays a strong newspaper reporter, better than the male reporters. She's also someone who has taken control of her life, seeing through the manipulations of her ex-husband and ex-boss, Cary Grant. Her lines like "you're wonderful, in a loathsome sort of way" are fantastic.There are some very cute moments between Grant and Russell as he needles her about her new fiancée (Ralph Bellamy), and of course immediately begins to try undermining them. The scenes early on grab you, with fast, sharp dialog, Russell throwing her purse at Grant in his office, and the two playing cat and mouse with their eyes and gestures at lunch with Bellamy. I loved these parts.Cons There is not enough of the relationship/banter/love triangle. The film is at its best early on, but when it begins focusing on the convicted killer, the plot line that gives Russell the lure to return to reporting, it bogs down and loses my interest.Fans of zany, frenetic, screwball movies will like this film, but at some point everyone just seems to be shouting at one another, and there just isn't enough balance in it for me.It's somewhat incidental, but I wasn't a fan of the premise that the white killer was convicted and unfairly sentenced because he had killed a black policeman, as if this and not the reverse was (and is) the problem in America, and the heaviness of the satire on the free press.

This movie has many different great aspects. Its a funny screwball comedy that many could relate too. As the movie starts the first thing you see that stands out is Hildy in her outfit, all stripes and over the top. The next is the obvious feeling that Walter Burns still holds for Hildy, as he welcomes her to sit on his lap as he says "there's a lamp been burning in the window for you hunny". This becomes the focus of the movie. The futile attempts of Walter makes this movie comical in the way that he tries and his creativity in which he does it, time after time. The movie turns into a whirl wind of mystery and big news stories that are combined artfully with laughs and comical jokes.

His Girl Friday is a witty, fast talking, story that takes an original route. Two characters with a shared past, experience the limits of their professions as well as their love. Sometimes it only takes a life experience to make you realize what was meant to be. Cary Grant, and Rosalind Russel do an great job personifying their characters, making the film feel authentic and their characters Walter and Hildy, convincing and endearing. Although the plot isn't the strongest, nor the most engaging to the audience, the protagonists as well as the supporting cast carry the movie to the level of notoriety it holds today.

Absolutely hilarious film. I strongly recommend to anyone who loves old screwball comedies. Walter and Hildy have the strangest relationship which you root for the entire movie (at least I did). When you're born to be something you can't fight your true feelings. Hildy as fighting her wants to be a reporter to live a normal life but something kept pulling her back in after she found out concrete evidence that an innocent man was being convicted. The way they filmed this movie with high key lighting really makes it jump out at you and makes you want to keep watching.