Forsgren: Let the Laughs Fly with ‘His Girl Friday’ on Netflix
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The modern romantic comedy has a pretty set formula. Boy meets girl. Boy and girl can’t stand one another. Boy and girl get to know one another and fall in love. Boy does something incredibly stupid and girl jets. Boy realizes he can’t live without girl and chases her down at an airport or something, where they have a smooch-filled reunion. Boy and girl live happily ever after. Something like that.
The modern rom-com’s roots run back to the screwball comedy, a genre that rose to popularity during The Great Depression, when people really needed a laugh. The screwball comedy typically featured witty, rapid-fire dialogue, elements of slapstick comedy and a relationship dominated by a strong female character. And one of the best examples of the screwball comedy “His Girl Friday,” is currently available to stream on Netflix.
”His Girl Friday” introduces us to Hildy Johnson (Rosalind Russell), a tough, fast-talking newspaper reporter who wants to trade the smoky newsroom for a home in the country with her husband-to-be Bruce Baldwin (Ralph Bellamy). But her boss and former flame Walter Burns (Cary Grant) isn’t on board with the plan, and he concocts a scheme to get Hildy to stay at the paper.
Hildy is the quintessential screwball comedic heroine. She’s independent, successful and witty. She also finds herself at a crossroad where she desires “normal life” raising a family and kicking back at home. Her fiancé is a decent guy, a sincere, honest man who clearly loves Hildy in spite of herself.
Walter, however, feels Hildy’s running away from her true self. She was meant to be a hard-hitting journalist. He also can’t let go of his feelings for her. He schemes to get her to cover a story concerning an accused murderer, betting that the charge she gets from putting together a story will change her mind about getting married and leaving the paper.
The strength of this film is primarily in two places: the acting and the writing. Russell is tough, yet not so tough that she’s not feminine. She fires off volleys of wicked fast dialogue with confidence and authority. She towers over her male cohorts in the press room, looking more competent than any of her male counterparts. Hildy even manages to put Grant’s character in his place.
Grant is fantastic because he makes an unlikable character likable. Walter Burns is a scheming rat who isn’t above messing someone else’s life up to get what he wants. He gets Bruce thrown in jail multiple times and kidnaps Bruce’s mother. What a scumbag! And yet, Grant is so funny and charming, you can’t help but pull for him. That’s great acting right there, folks.
”His Girl Friday” is stuffed to the gills with over-the-top characters, including Billy Gilbert playing a guy who can’t shut up about his wife and Clarence Kolb as the city’s slimy, crooked mayor. The performances the actors give draw plenty of laughs, provided you can keep up with the fast-flying dialogue.
Speaking of the dialogue, this movie is extremely well-written. The dialogue is witty and the characters are engaging. Because most of the scenes involve characters walking into frame and talking (sometimes A LOT), the dialogue has to hold your interest, which it does spectacularly well. The characters are engaging, and the bedrock of engaging characters is great writing.
Director Howard Hawks excelled at many different kinds of movies, from gangster movies to westerns to sci-fi, and that versatility is on display here. He effortlessly juggles scenes featuring multiple characters all talking at the same time. He makes sure the audience hears exactly what we need to hear while capturing the chaos of such scenes.
Hawks also draws terrific performances out of the leads and is smart enough to let scenes play out in front of the camera instead of cutting things to death. “His Girl Friday” is just one classic film in Hawks’ career. Check out his other work if you get a chance.
”His Girl Friday” is a fun, funny film that perfectly represents the screwball comedy genre. The dialogue and the laughs fly fast and the chemistry between Russell and Grant is infectious. If you’re looking for a fun classic movie on Netflix, you can’t go wrong with this one.