Classic Film Friday: His Girl Friday

I must admit, this 1940 classis took me by surprise. Its playful banter in corrupt government and a biased press is light and fluffy. But gloomy connotations stay at the forefront so much that you find yourself loathing certain characters’ wickedness while eagerly awaiting their next punch line.

"Hildy" Johnson (Rosalind Russell), former star reporter for the Morning Post, arrives at her old job to meet her ex- editor, ex-husband, and outright swindler Walter Burns (Cary Grant) and break off their failed working and personal relationship by revealing that she is engaged to Bruce Baldwin (Ralph Bellamy), an insurance salesman from Albany. Walter then pulls a myriad of dirty tricks to keep Hildy in town and sparks the reporter in her into overdrive.

The film is a comedy and it is funny, but the dark undertones of manipulating the news to support various agendas hit a sour note of exaggerated realism. Other than the social connotations of a crooked press, the dialogue of the movie is lightning fast and razor sharp. Everyone should see this movie before they let anything within a newspaper sway them one way or the other.