Review of His Girl Friday (1940) by David C — 23 Aug 2013

Nearly no mainstream films, pitched as they are to the infamous "key demo" of young dudes and bros, have female leading roles one-tenth so funny and fully-realized as reporter Hildy Johnson (Rosalind Russell).

She is "His Girl Friday," the focus of nearly every scene. Alone among the screwballs that populate this rather cynical comedy, she is someone real enough to like and to root for. Her ambitions and values reach beyond the immediate demands of the story, and her skills as a writer and investigator are compelling.

Her ex-husband, who is also the editor of her paper, is funny because he's so perfectly passive-aggressive and because he is played by Cary Grant, master deliverer of cutting remarks. By himself, though, the character would make a poor protagonist.

Hildy's current fiance, hopelessly dense and dull, would be even worse. Only she can pull off the combination of physical comedy (running through traffic to tackle a source for a big scoop), rapid-fire barbs ("Now get this, you double-crossing chimpanzee.

There ain't gonna be any interview and there ain't gonna be any story... I wouldn't cover the burning of Rome for you if they were just lighting it up"), and self-serving schemes (obstructing justice and manipulating suspects for the sake of a front-page byline) without losing the relatability that makes the movie more than mechanical farce.