Review of IMDb Top 250 Films - His Girl Friday (1940)

I intend to conduct a review of the top 250 films on the IMDb database. At a rate of two per month this will still take forever as the list constantly changes. I don't claim to be a very knowledgeable or intellectual film critic but have tremendous confidence in my ability to discern good direction, script and acting, and to expose films which have enjoyed / endured an undeserved reputation in my perhaps arrogant opinion. There may be a few minor spoilers in my reviews.

His Girl Friday - Rating: 4.25 out of 6

There seems to be a pattern emerging with the films I am reviewing, in that they all start really really well and then lose it half way through. The first half or so of this third Cary Grant film I happen to be reviewing is of top-notch quality, and indeed the 14-minute opening scene in the newspaper office is perhaps the finest, freshest start to a film I have ever seen. The rapid-fire, razor-sharp contemporary dialogue may surprise the modern viewer who has cliched ideas about black and white films - but perversely nothing like it exists in films today. This is wonderful wonderful stuff. Similarly the following scene in the restaurant and, perhaps to a lesser extent, the following few scenes with (i) Walter / Bruce and (ii) the pressmen / Hildy / Molly Malloy. The reporters' change in attitude when Molly leaves the press room after telling the reporters what she thinks of them is worthy of particular note, so subtly is it portrayed: not one word is spoken yet we know what they are thinking.

So that covers the first 40 minutes of this 90 minute film. And then, just as with the last two Cary Grant films reviewed, it all goes a bit pear-shaped: the prisoner escapes, we have bullets, the pace increases the wit decreases (a little), and the host of minor characters (bureaucrats) and related subplots introduced hereabouts just don't work in (what was at least) such a tight little film concentrating on the interaction between three solid characters. Too madcap which makes it ironically a tad boring and dated (again ironically given the freshness of the script and the very undated quality of the first two scenes). Sergent Bilko (1950s admittedly) comes to mind. The significant plot contrivance resulting in the murderer being locked up in a trunk is another notable flaw.

Unfortunately the film does not recover its initial excellence and stays relatively mediocre until the end - though it is still more watchable than when Arsenic and Old Lace goes off the rails, and Grant and Rosalind Russell are superb throughout, the latter especially, and I'm pleased the latter's character made the choice she did at the end, an ending which doubtless upset many people, not least conservatives.