Review of His Girl Friday (1940) by Courtney S — 24 Jan 2009

With dialogue as fast as typebars racing towards a deadline, Hawks's 1940 improvement on "The Front Page" is unsentimental screwball perfection. The film basically takes place on three sets, there's almost no score to speak of, medium shots allow you to watch multiple characters in a frenzy of (speaking) activity.

Hawks, who had his start in silent pictures, makes the preeminent talkie of the time. A few funny in-jokes, Cary Grant at his peak, ravishing Rosalind Russell: talking about the film forces you to write ad copy.