His Girl Friday (The Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray]

This movie is always a joy to watch Rosalind Russell steals the movie and Carry Grant is the perfect foil for her. As far back as I can remember I have been a fan of old B&W movies! I have always had a crush on Rosalind Russell when I saw her in No Time for Comedy (1940) with Jimmy Stewart. I always thought that Carry Grant and Rosalind Russell had such chemistry and had such a witty racy repartee that made me want them to be in more movies! For America in the 1940’s Rosalind Russell character Hildy Johnson was way ahead of her time, she was a 1980’s woman in a time warp. Smart, Sexy and able to keep men in check, if you know what I mean. The character is a woman that both men and women are enamored with. To women, she is that strong woman who is smarter, wittier, and more talented than the men around her. To men she is an incredibly beautiful woman who can keep up with anything a man does, she is the Smart, Sexy and oh so desirable with her witty banter! Even though in 1940, this might have been deemed as a threat to most men. Personally, as a Gen-Xer I think it is ridiculous to believe that all men would be threatened by such a hot sexy woman like Hildy Johnson in the 1940’s! Russell, who was very much like her character in the movie in many ways, paved the way for other “career women” roles in the 1940s, which was a character that she in particular perfected to the point of being typecast in future movies.As for my Overall review, it’s an enjoyable movie and was of fair quality to watch as an old B&W movie that was streaming on a tablet. I own this movie on VHS and I have downloaded it on the way home from work so I have yet to put it up on a larger viewing screen. Picture quality is an issue when watch old B&W on our modern high def. equipment but I really don’t mind it’s the story and content that I love so much about this movie.

This 1940 movie is the filming of a screenplay by Charles Lederer, adapted from the 1928 play by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur. In that original, the character named Hildy Johnson is a man, whereas here Hildy is none other than Rosalind Russell, who has considerably more screen time than Cary Grant and holds down the show marvelously. This is every inch a strange dark comedy, much of it filmed on a single set—with the attendant exits, entries, hidden characters, and telling silences—a press room literally overlooking a gallows, where a man who might be innocent, or who might not, is going to be hanged come dawn. The complete absence of anything resembling absolute truth in this narrative is compelling, and in fact it compels Hildy so much that she continually struggles to escape its pull, into the world she so much wants, one of home and children with the boring insurance salesman Ralph Bellamy, a great and subdued straight man here. Grant is outstanding of course, though strange to report acts in a broadly comic fashion, so much that we expect him to do the back-flips we know he’s capable of. Much of Grant’s performance, perhaps incidentally to most viewers, is well understood to be "winking" at his own homosexuality, very much in the proto-Warholian style of Hawks. There has always been a vein of the “hyper-modern” in Hawks. In a bit of post-modernist self-referentiality, Grant even says about Hildy's fiancé "He looks like that fellow in the movies - Ralph Bellamy." But all this aside, His Girl Friday is one of Hawks' most entertaining films, though many will find the conclusion, and Hildy's ultimate behavior, not exactly a great fit with today's norms of what constitutes the excellence of the feminine. In His Girl Friday, everything is relative, and all motion is circular—always orbital and unfree. But there we go again, analyzing to death what most will agree is a terrific, fast-paced newsroom comedy-drama, well worth viewing, not just once but twice, and that is justly celebrated as a classic. But consider this: Any great comedy is always about things that are—well, not so funny.

I really enjoyed this movie. I expected Cary Grant to be good, and he was. Rosalind Russel is also excellent. Its success depends on the very quick and witty dialog. The main characters keep it interesting. The plot never drags. It is definitely a different style from modern movies and clearly based on a stage play, because most of the movie takes place in a single room. I really liked Rosalind Russel's 1940 style of clothes. Very nice.I expect to watch this move again.

His Girl Friday gets my vote for being the best of all the screwball comedies. Do you like old movies with an outstanding cast? Do you like fast and witty dialog? Good direction, intelligent camera work and a script that is as close to perfection as you can get? A good story? Then you want to see His Girl Friday.Note the warnings of others though so that if you do buy it on DVD or Bluray get a version from a publisher / studio you have heard of before. Criterion though pricey is your best choice. The big-name studios are OK but the bootlegs are no deal with lousy picture and worse sound.

Reçu rapidement et dans les délais prévus.Parfait !

My favourite Howard Hawks movie. Terrific story pacing helped along by Hawks' use of overlapping dialogue. Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell rightly drew kudos for their performances, but I've always felt that Ralph never got his proper due for taking on the thankless role of the hapless chump that Grant hilariously takes advantage of. Criterion, as usual, do a terrific job of packaging the film with their restoration and added supplements.

This is the UK 2002 Columbia Classics DVD that has English, German, Italian and Spanish Audio. It has subtitles in these languages along a whole bunch of other subtitles. The picture is good and the sound clear with featurettes on Grant, Russell, Hawkes and the film as well as a commentary. The film itself is great, one of Hawkes best with all the cast being in top form

Un rôle taillé sur mesure pour Gary GRANT. Et la brillante mise en scène du talentueux HAWKS associé au scénario a de quoi nous régaler/