I'd know you anytime, anyplace, anywhere.
This was the first film I saw off the 100 greatest film list. When I started I wanted to begin with I film that was completely alien to me. This film was released over 40 years before I was born and I knew nothing about the plot or even what type of film I would be watching but this is what this experiment was all about.
The only thing I knew about this film going in is it's release date, 1940, this makes it one of the oldest films on the list (the oldest being Gone With The Wind (1939)). It's black and white and I was expexting it to dull slow and dated. Turned out to be none of those things.
Our leads Walter (Cary Grant) and Hildy (Rosalind Russell) are a divorced couple who are both work for The Morning Post newspaper. Hildy, the star reporter of the paper, is going to Walter, the editor, to say that she is leaving journalism to remarry a dull insurance salesman Bruce Baldwin. Walter does everything in his power to get Hildy back to both him and the paper. All of this is set against a satirical representation of the media as they report on the execution of a murderer.
This film is based on the play The Front Page, in this play Hildy is male and his relationship with Walter is purely as Editor and star reporter, the change of genders on this films adds an extra element to the story. Whereas in the play, from what I have read, the focus is more on the reporting of the execution of a white man who killed a black cop, by making Hildy and Walter a divorced couple the focus moved more towards their relationship and the choice Hildy must make between the exciting, passionate but volatile world of journalism with Walter; or the relaxing, loving but ultimately bland life of marriage to Bruce Baldwin.
I think the biggest downfall here is that no one is routing for Bruce. Not even Hildy seems that bothered.
The chemistry between the two leads is what really sells this film, the back and forth of banter and insults is hard to keep up with but you can't help but enjoy the ride. Walter tries throughout the film to do anything to get Hildy back both professionally and personally, there is a dark element to his actions and you can't help but question what his true intentions are. Does he want Hildy back as a wife or a reporter? Either way due to the charisma of Cary Grant you are routing for the crooked guy, the kind of guy who pays to get his ex-wife's fiance put in jail.
I enjoyed this film a lot more that I thought I would. I had this stereotypical view of a black and white romance film which was complete inaccurate and I was pleasantly surprised and I am looking forward to other classic films on the list regardless of age or genre. This is why they are great.
Best Parts :
- Any scene where Hildy and Walter are together.
- When Hildy was a badass, like when she threw down a phone or rugby tackled a dude.
- The press haggling with the judge about when the do the execution so they can get it to press in time.
Worst Parts :
- Not so much a fault with the film itself but the quality of sound made it difficult to pick up some of the speedy lines
- There was a messenger character, Joe Pettibone, who could get a little grating at time.
- The girl who was the murders friend was a little annoyingly hysterical. Was kind of funny when she jumped out a window though but I don't think it was suppose to be.
