Review of His Girl Friday (1940) by Lyle R — 17 Nov 2009

Wonderfully fast-paced, classic screwball comedy. The chemistry between Grant and Russell is outstanding and you're left marveling over how they handled such complicated dialogue with ease. Many of the scenes are done in long takes which leaves you breathless with the speed of the jokes and the patter of the actors.

So much is happening so fast that it takes several viewings to catch all the jokes but then it's worthwhile to see such great performances. It's rare to see such scenes today from today's actors, many of whom couldn't hold a candle to Grant, Russell and Bellamy.

This film, and the stage play upon which it was based, was ahead of its time in making the female lead equally as strong in personality as the male lead.