Cary Grant Retrospective – His Girl Friday Review

Hello discerning podcast listeners. This is Tom

Kenny and you are listening to the geek cast

radio network Hello and welcome to episode 223

of the cinema geeks I am one of your cinema geeks

optimist solo and joining me as Always is the

common concierge. Hello, Dan. Hey, how's it going?

It is going well. We are here to continue our

new series here on the life and times of Cary

Grant. We did his first film that we covered

last week, which was bringing up Baby. And now

we are on to the second film we're going to cover

of his not counting the four we covered during

the Alfred Hitchcock series. We're talking about

the 1940s film called His Girl. Friday so before

we get the facts for his girl Friday Dan, what

is your? History or did you have any knowledge

of this film going into it or what had you heard

about it? Yeah, this is one I have seen before

it was a long time ago. It was about 15 years

since I have seen it So it took it. I didn't

remember that much about it. I do remember I

also watched the front page which the the Billy

Wilder version and Watching that I that's when

I realized that oh I didn't know that they come

from the same source material because the Billy

that movie came out in the 70s So it came out

after this so I did watch it I'll be honest with

you as I was going through it. I remembered Very

little about it. So it was it felt like watching

it for the first time But how about yourself?

It very much felt like watching it for the first

time for me since it was the first time that

I watched it So I definitely knew nothing about

it. Like I was familiar that of the title right

like i've heard of the title i knew that's a

movie title i know that's a movie that exists

from back in the day and that's and i knew that

carrie grant was in it and that was about it

so i went in completely um i guess blind except

for the fact that we did have a mention of it

when we were talking about bringing up baby that

it was going to be from the same director howard

hawks and that he was trying to take some things

that he perceived as i guess lessons from bringing

up baby and then Kind of inserting that or taking

that into account when he was making his girl

Friday. That's the only like I guess nugget that

I knew that maybe Gave me a hint that it's gonna

be At least have some similarities to bringing

up baby if not to maybe a slight different direction

and tone overall, but that's about all I knew

so Definitely went into this one blind So let's

go ahead and get the facts about his girl Friday

and then we can let you guys know how we reacted

after we watched it Whoever said nothing good

came from dinner parties? This week on our Cary

Grant retrospective, we're taking a look at the

1940 film, His Girl Friday, directed by Howard

Hawks, starring Rosalind Russell and Cary Grant.

It's based on the play The Front Page by Ben

Heck and Charles MacArthur. Howard Hawks gained

interest in directing the adaptation after reading

the play at a dinner party to demonstrate its

impressive dialogue. A woman took the part of

Hildy and Hawks felt the lines read better with

the dynamic of a man and woman and went to secure

the rights to make the film. His Girl Friday

follows Hildy Johnson, a sharp and ambitious

newspaper reporter who is determined to leave

journalism behind to marry her mild mannered

fiancé, Bruce Baldwin, and start a new life.

She visits her ex -husband and former boss, Walter

Burns, the editor of the Chicago newspaper, to

tell him the news. Walter, still in love with

Hildy, is unwilling to lose his star reporter

and schemes to win her back, both romantically

and professionally. He lures her into covering

one last big story, the case of Earl Williams,

a meek man accused of killing a police officer

who is scheduled to be executed. This is not

the only time this material has hit the big screen.

In 1931, Lewis Milestone directed the film adaptation

and then in 1974, Billy Wilder gave it a shot

with actors Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau. However,

Pierce Hogg's intuition was right as his Girl

Friday remains the most well regarded of all

those adaptations. The film holds a 99 % on Rotten

Tomatoes in 2012. the Sight and Sound Poll, this

was listed on a number of major lists, including

that of Quentin Tarantino. It also ranks 19 on

AFI's top 100 last list, as well as number 100

on their 100 years, 100 movies list. So how does

this rank in the career of Cary Grant? Let's

bring it back to Kevin and myself to discuss

further. All right, thanks for that, Dan. So

those are the facts. And now we get to go with

our reactions of watching. His girl friday so

obviously um, this is a comedy like dan mentioned

and It does go quickly I don't know if I would

call it as unhinged as I called bringing out

baby I think there is a slight difference when

it comes to that. But what did you think on this

rewatch for you on his girl friday? I mean, yeah,

I would say it's very hinged in the sense of

it is so meticulous and how this dialogue is

kind of executed throughout. It just makes Aaron

Sorkin, I'm trying to think of what it can make

Aaron Sorkin look like, but as a huge fan of

his dialogue and his back and forth, you can

certainly see a lot of influence from something

like this, but it's even more rapid and fast

paced compared to what you're used to with him.

And that's certainly the thing I actually kind

of thought about watching this was almost like

a Jack Jackie Chan kind of fight sequence and

how they have to lay out everything. So specifically

the editing has to be on point because it is

so rapid pace and it's honestly hard to pick

up at times. And I'm certain there are even on

a second watch, you know, seeing this years later,

there are probably plenty of jokes. I didn't

fully catch. Or just references, especially,

you know, timely of references I didn't pick

up on, but I, I still think this is quite a film,

uh, in again, Cary Grant, but is really good

in his role. Although this is really Rosalind

of Russell. Like she is the one like this really

her movie, like Cary Grant is more of a supporting

player in this, but they're, they have such great

back and forth. And I think, I don't know if

they have better, but their, their chemistry,

I think is more. Compelling then bringing up

a B in the sense of their bit more combative

and I thought you know they are fun together

in that way and I love how. There's almost a

site competition it's almost like a tennis match

watch watch them go back and forth they know

each other so well she's trying to think ahead

of what his next move will be and there's like

all these little things are like why is he asking

her to do him why is she asking him to put his

check in his hat that's straight you know there's

like all these little things just seeing them

you know go back and forth it was it was a really

good time it is but also i'd say sometimes there

are some wild total shifts. in the sense of like

there, it gets really dark really quickly at

times and then kind of then makes a really sharp

left turn. And I don't know the ending. Maybe

I guess it works, but again, it felt like it

didn't know how to conclude and it's kind of

just concludes. But overall my issues are minimal

compared to my enjoyment. Yeah, I was. I found

this interesting because we knew it was going

to be the same director. We know it's also, you

know, quote unquote, a screwball comedy and things

of that nature. And we're hearing that he's going

to take some lessons from the other one and improve

himself, I guess. Not that I agree with the lessons

or whatever, but. So I wasn't sure going into

this one. How I was going to take everything

with Cary Grant. We've seen him in a number of

different roles. I will tell you that one of

the main differences for me between bringing

up baby and his Girl Friday is in this one. Cary

Grant feels natural and at home from go like

he is in his wheelhouse from the first line of

this movie until the last. And you can tell he

is just having fun playing in the sandbox. Like

he is just like on another level, like just like

this is he's as funny as he is in North by Northwest.

Like he's just like soaking up the role and.

I felt like that was a little bit different with

bringing a baby because he's coming across trying

to play this nerd. And I was like, I just can't

I can't buy it. I'm like, I know you're really

trying to play this nerd, but you're like so

smooth that that's just not working for me. And

then I agree. Like, I think like the relationship

between him and Rosalyn Russell is very intriguing,

like kind of their banter back and forth like

that. You said something very important, which

is this film almost begs for rewatches because

There's no way it's just going such not that

the film itself is going at such a fast pace,

but the dialogue is going at such a fast pace

that there's almost no way you can pick up on

everything the first time or probably even the

second time. Like, I feel like you probably need

three or four watches before you're like in or

you need the script in front of you that you

can like follow along as they're saying stuff

because it is such a rapid pace. And I was like,

the other thing that I really wish I would have

done was I wish I would have had notes. Next

to me when I was watching it, I try to do this

as natural as I can just from memory and my feelings

and stuff like that versus relying on reading

off of a note sheet. But there was lines in here

that had me dying and I thought for sure I would

remember them without the knowledge that I was

about to be bombarded with 7 ,000 more lines.

Some of the funniest jokes in the movie, I don't

remember what they were and I can't tell you

what they were. that there's just it's just one

after the other. And I feel like the amount of

improv that they allowed, I don't know if all

the actors were doing it, but they for sure allowed

Cary Grant to just be doing his own thing and

improv and throwing in lines there like left

and right. And it's just a lot of fun. Like,

I do agree that it's probably more of Rosalyn

Russell's movie. However. Maybe it's just my

love of Cary Grant, but there was a sequence

because we get the whole first sequence, which

is in the the newsroom, right, where she comes

in there trying to like kind of tie some loose

ends up with Cary Grant and obviously their interaction

together. And then we get introduced to her fiance

and all of that sequence is happening, you know,

in that newsroom. Then we transition to what

would you call the other room like the press?

I'm gonna call it the press room, but like the

press room. Yeah, I think in the jail location

Yeah, so like they have they have where all the

reporters are kind of? incrementally and within

that room and they have all the phones and and

for a big part of that Segment at least in the

beginning Cary Grant's absent, right? Like yes

Rosalind Russell. It's the other reporters. It's

the people involved in the you know accusations

of murder and different things of that nature

and what's gonna happen with the hanging and

all this kind of stuff, right and then obviously

Cary Grant gets Brought back into it in that

like last act maybe like the last third I did

find myself in that middle sequence wanting Cary

Grant back in the film Like I don't know if that's

just me being like a Cary Grant fan or selfish

But I was like when does he come back because

I want to hear more of his dialogue But I understand

why you know from a movie standpoint from a story

standpoint why he wasn't there, but I was like,

okay I'm ready for more scenes with Cary Grant.

So What what as far as. Kind of the humor we

talked a little bit about with bringing up baby

how sometimes humor is hard to translate or hard

to kind of withstand the test of time and things

of that nature and we talked about how you know

sometimes when it's more like a humor you would

find in like a silent film or or just kind of

humor that doesn't rely on points of references

like somehow that. Sometimes that can like last

better than you know something that's full of

you know pop culture references or something

that's dated and things of that nature How did

you feel like the humor worked in this one in

comparison to bringing up, baby? There's obviously

I think less like universal like Physical humor

here, of course, because it is it is all and

almost almost nearly all dialogue based there's

some like what he tackles the sheriff like that,

you know, there's some some elements here and

there but I do think like I'm certain like this

was probably even funnier in the time it was

located in because There there's so many different

references to things that like I don't like it's

not a real person or is that's just a joke I

don't like Cary Grant uses his real name a few

times and stuff like that, but Uh, but I think

even just the rhythm of it is what's sometimes

was was funny. It's like when you Don't know

the lyric like lyrics of the song, but you know

the beat and that's what's interesting. It's

similar to that But also there's a lot of like

innuendo and stuff that I was not expecting that

they they make i'm like Is this what it's is

it saying what I think it is and it's just trying

to get around it Or am I just looking too much

into it? So I thought most of the humor held

up as well as you could considering so much of

it is just you know based upon conversation.

Right I think another thing that kind of surprised

me because we do talk about how you know it is

basically a Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell more

her than him but like those are like the main

two folks and and so you you get a lot of enjoyment

out of their banter because you know like it's

it's inherent with how we're introduced to the

characters that they have a history they were

you know married before it didn't work out so

you know there's going to be some not bitterness,

but there's gonna be some jabs, you know, back

and forth between the two and that type of stuff.

But what surprised me is how well Cary Grant

and Ralph Bellamy worked off of each other. And

Ralph Bellamy plays Bruce, which is her new fiance

about to be husband and stuff like that. And

that's the dynamic to me that's like super important

for this film to work. And it's... They're obviously

playing two completely different characters because

Cary Grant's very charismatic He's very quick

talker Swindler almost type and you almost get

like the feeling that Bruce is From the like

What was the film that we watched where they're

like just in the the Hitchcock film with? Shadow

of a doubt it's like Bruce Baldwin came out of

that community right like he's like very like

just By the book and doing things and trying

to be nice and trying to be proper at least for

a good majority of the film He does get irritated

a little bit towards the end but it's very interesting

how you see those two kind of playing off each

other and and I didn't expect that to be as as

fun of a Kind of back and forth. What did you

think about those two characters kind of together?

We'll go back when you mentioned like how rocks

try to learn from his previous mistakes or you

know to take what he One of the big things he

mentioned was having like normal people And I

think that right there, Ralph Bellamy's character

is a perfect example of that because he was kind

of your normal guy. He was the ultimate stray

man for them to both play off of and give that

element of normalcy. And without him, a movie

doesn't work as well, you know, because he becomes

like you mentioned how it's like a tennis match.

Like he's the ball that they're playing with,

in a sense, like trying to, you know, he's trying

to obviously Cary Grant's character is trying

to Use him in a way, you know, and then she's

trying to protect him without really him realizing

it. So I thought he played that role really well.

Like he was, he was, you know, nice and cheapish

and you like almost like that all shocks, like

you mentioned, very of like he in a, in a, when

you think of, I'm pretty, pretty sure when people

think of like 1930s, 1940s. Leading man like

his you know that is the type of character that

might think of because he is you know, Idealically

nice he kind of does the right thing in a way

But here he's kind of you know, he is a chump

in a lot of ways But they balance the line a

little bit though, like he's not just He's a

chump, but they don't make it so that he's overly

like Like he's not lacking intelligence to the

way that it's unbelievable, right? Like there

are some jokes that you're like Well, this guy

should have picked up on that or he's kind of

being somewhat dumb But he wasn't like it wasn't

an unbelievable aspect of it It wasn't like this

is not a real person like he's so dumb or he's

so blind to everything that like I can't believe

it like I felt like he kind of like towed that

line where it was like he's being nice and being

naive and being innocent but not necessarily

being flat -out like Why isn't this guy picking

up on stuff, you know, I don't know if it makes

sense or not. Yeah He was normal. He was he was

acting how normal people do Yeah, he was brought

into the world where these are people who don't

act in a normal way They act, you know, they're

very conniving. They're almost like in a way

like car knees as not to disparage car knees

or whatever, but in the sense of they're always,

you know, looking at there's all these different

tricks and languages and kind of ways of life

that they have in order to get ahead. And they're

very cutthroat. And he's not that way. And I

think, like you mentioned, like Howard Hawks

taking what he learned and bringing a baby, not

saying one movie is better than the next, but

certainly at least made that adjustment. And

it makes a lot of sense in the sense like, yeah,

I think it holds up and I can't. on it even though

I watched the front page I meant to try to rewatch

it before we did this but I didn't get the opportunity

because I was I'm curious to go back and see

how much because this how much was changed in

the sense of like obviously they changed at least

you know character to a woman and uh just trying

to figure out like how much of the other story

that had to change as well but I I do know I

like His Girl Friday much more than the front

page even though both are good, but I think the

dynamic is actually far more interesting this

way than the original play. I would assume I

didn't see the original play, but at least in

how it was depicted in the movie. And it seems

like from the contemporary critics of that time

period, obviously, that they, from the ones I

read, they were very much fans of the fact that

they changed the gender and introduced this character

as a female and things of that nature. So it

seems like it went over pretty well in that time

period. Yeah with what what they edited there?

Which obviously I didn't haven't seen that version

or anything else so I can't speak for them, but

I can't picture I mean because at first they're

they're casting Cary Grant as that character

and then it shifts a little bit and they create

another character Cary Grant becomes a different

character so it's kind of Interesting dynamic

that they went through I would want to get your

take two on Rosalind Russell because she's for

sure not the first choice for them And they go

through a number of people like Ginger Rogers

turns this down Katherine Hepburn turns it down

Irene Dunn turns this down like we've talked

about all of them in different way shape or form

There was a one actress that I guess got suspended

for turning it down Like she was obligated by

the studio and she still said she wouldn't do

it this is You know different types of awards

that she has on her resume, but I haven't seen

I don't think I've seen any of her other Films

have you I have not that I know of and yeah,

she's nominated for four Oscars So clearly, you

know, she's had a career, but she's not an you

know, you know Katherine Hepburn that's a name

we hear a lot but Rosalind Russell isn't one

that I hear as much or one of his nearly as much

experience with even like looking at the film

as he was nominated for Once I have not seen

my sister Aline Sister Kenny, she really like

sister movies Auntie ma 'am. It's interesting

morning become Electra. None of these honestly

never seen any of those. I've heard of but I

haven't seen it Yeah, so all of this comes like

we're talking about at least Well, I think my

sister Eileen is in the couple of those are in

the mid to late 40s So but his girl Friday comes

before all of that not saying that was her first

film or whatever She's does she has a probably

a dozen films or 20 films before that, but I

don't know I don't know if this was considered

a breakout role or not But all of her award stuff

comes later after his girl Friday for sure. Yeah,

but yeah, I thought she was fantastic I thought

like I mentioned I thought it there was her movie

just as much as Cary Grant and knowing that this

at this time Cary Grant was Huge star I would

you know, he was a he was a name for sure and

like had no issue and I know like Going through

some of the information. She got some help to

like learn to better adlib She felt like her

part didn't have as many good lines, which is

perhaps the case because it was He worked for

this film, but I thought the final The final

product It was you know, she gave as well as

well as she took or she would guess that was

yeah, so and held her own and I thought she was

really funny and I do like that you see That

in a reporter always come out like she's fighting

against it But it's just like mm -hmm. She can't

get away from it and and it's just when she's

in that element It's so it's so very clear. So

it was almost like almost like muscle memory

took over like she's she's not yeah there to

do that but then the phone rings and she answers

or something like that just because you know

that's what you do in that situation if you're

working there so it was kind of interesting to

see that you know we talked about how the dialogue

you know was very artfully crafted and things

of that nature just a little bit of trivia it

almost reminds me of like when you see one of

those memes where they write the words all wrong

with the wrong letters but you can still read

it because whatever like they said that they

were very careful to make sure that most of the

sentences the beginning of the sentence and the

end of the sentence was not necessary or was

not important so that they could continue to

talk over each other and it wouldn't affect our

ability to kind of Understand and get the message

which I can't even imagine writing like that

like yeah that just seems like a chore of all

chores like that that's worse than trying to

like have anything like the right number of syllables

or different stuff like that. Now we're trying

to make sure our sentences aren't important at

the first or just last words. And then I guess

there was other things. He said he did something

with like, what did it say? Like 30 plus different

microphones or something that were being turned

on and off to catch different stuff because they

didn't have the technology to do this the way

they could have done it maybe nowadays. And he

had a desire. It says that he literally had a

desire to Have a film that had the fastest dialogue

Known like he I don't remember which film he

was comparing it to but he was basically like

put I want you to be able to put both of these

films next to each other and See that my films

faster. Yeah Like this is two movies what Hamilton

was a Broadway place. It's like yeah as much

dialogue as we you know, we can and Not that

long of a movie, it's what, 90 minutes? Which

is crazy. Yeah, and it doesn't even feel like

that, I can tell. Just because of how fast that

dialogue's coming, it feels like it's flying

by for sure. And then you mentioned some of his

interesting ad -libs, like his real name, Archie

Leach, he throws in there. He calls somebody

a mock turtle, which he played a mock turtle

in the Alice in Wonderland production in 1933.

So there was a lot of that that he was able to

he even mentions like one of the actual actors

the Ralph Bellamy who plays Bruce like he's you've

references Seeing a movie with Bellamy in it.

So like yeah, he's throwing that stuff in left

and right I wanted to get your take on one other

thing though, too in bringing up, baby You had

mentioned how it almost was like Carrie Grant

was Well, we've talked about who was it was a

Clark Kent or not Clark Kent Dean Kane or somebody

that like my like we made a rough story as yeah,

Christopher Reeve as far as the The the Clark

Kent slash Superman take like on that especially

the Clark Kent aspect and you can totally make

a similar connection with this one with Hildy

Johnson and Lois Lane like oh, yeah So it's kind

of interesting how we've seen in these two films

almost like an archetype for our Kent and an

archetype for Lois Lane I don't know. Did you

pick up on that while you were watching it? No,

honestly, but that's a that's a good call because

I think there is a lot of It was laying in here

like you could eat the lowest lane film because

same thing She's a woman in the men's world.

She kind of takes charge is about getting the

story. Although like This isn't kind of a newspaper

that is I think it very They're more about the

entertainment aspect of perhaps than then than

the truthful aspect of news, but certainly Certainly

the sense of her ability to command a room and

get respect even from even though she's like

a woman in a men's world That is very Lois Lane

as well. Yeah, absolutely Any other things that

you thought of I'm actually reading the the cast

list for the Billy Wilder movie I didn't realize

all the people that were in that so that makes

me even yeah. Yeah, Walter Mathau and Jack lemon

Susan Sarandon so that definitely makes it seem

interesting so you said there was a couple things

that maybe didn't work as well but maybe just

kind of minor things anything like that that

you wanted to point out or other things you haven't

had a chance to talk about yet. Well before I

get yeah I won't go on it I didn't did you. Considering

news is such a big part of this obviously it's

always different newspapers going at you competing

you see. In a sense of like they're making jokes

about how they're gonna utilize praising this

one candidate in order to try to basically a

lot of Wheeling and dealing going on using the

power of the press to get things sometimes maybe

in not the most moral way and Did you take anything

from that considering the world? You know the

world we live in now when media and news is at

So much discussion regarding it like did I was

curious what you thought about that considering?

This is this it's clearly saying a lot about

the way in which news is wasn't handled at that

time And I don't think it was necessarily as

positive as we look back at that time I think

what we know back at the time is a rose in rose

-colored glasses where this was like You know

it was very critical of the way newspapers work

Right and it's definitely intentional too because

like they put the whole text on the screen right

at the beginning right like they kind of like

set that stage up for that so it kind of has

a through line that without that I know sometimes

people don't like like tech like that put at

the beginning and things of that nature but I

think that. And seeing that first and then kind

of going through the the first act, which is

kind of madness, like just funny and fast and

stuff like that. You could almost forget. And

then when they get to that press room or whatever,

you really start to draw back to what they're

putting on on the seat on the screen in the beginning

to give you that through line, which is kind

of nice. And you do get a lot of instances where

you have kind of two different parties. One of

them, the mayor is involved with and the other

I think it's the mayor. And then the other one,

the governor is. The clearly the governor and

the mayor I believe are two different parties

right or or conflicting. There was a there's

a there's a sheriff who is like the one that's

kind of. Leading the charge for the person to

be. Right on which is also something we because

it's also weird that this comedy is centered

on a hanging like that's kind of crazy but yeah

yeah there's a sheriff of course lose kind of

the center of it because his. kind of clearly

incompetence is kind of leading the charge here

then you have the mayor and then the governor

who we never see clearly is not a fan of that

mayor and there's a bit of a combative relationship

well i mean it's interesting because it kind

of puts up a multiple levels right because you

you see like uh it almost reminds me in a completely

different way this is a weird comparison i guess

but in gangs in new york like You get to see

like a hierarchy right so like you have the people

that are more on the local level that are are

in control and acting kind of like the the big

man in town but then there's always a bigger

fish right like there's always somebody that

has a little bit more power and you get that

right because the sheriff's there but then the

mayor kind of represents a level up and then

he thinks he can do whatever you want but then

he you know there's always that next person so

then you have the governor who's who can kind

of trump him and stuff like that and that was

bad choice of words but Anyway, so yeah, you

kind of have that going and it is interesting

because it reminds you of what we see now, but

like it's almost I don't know. It was almost

like a foreshadowing in a way because you have

it and it's always going to be the case where

you have people in power trying to manipulate

stuff, right? But it's interesting because in

this movie we're seeing. How that would work

and like the mechanics of that in a system where

we still had? At least the shroud of like some

sort of journalistic integrity which Completely

does not exist anymore like yeah between different

things that happened in the Reagan era and whatnot,

like all of that, like there's no penalty for

lying now. There's no like you can just be blatant,

like false, like with your reporting and there's

no repercussions. So like that wasn't the case

back then, but it's showing that like it's all

right there under the surface, though, still

like there's still going to be people that are

trying to manipulate things or trying to use

the press or this different way. It was just

we had some protections that sort of helped.

Once upon a time and it's kind of a rough foreshadowing

of what was to come once those protections are

no longer there At least that's kind of how I

picked up on it Certainly. Yeah, it just it was

an interesting kind of seeing A world in which

you know, it's all about getting the story for

we talk about that how a lot you hear that a

lot of news what's about you know being first

not necessarily being right and in a lot of ways

there's a little bit of that, but you do see

at least they are trying to Get the truth, even

if they maybe not go out and do it in even if

it's through bribes or whatever. So but I did

think that Billy Gilbert character before you

continue the messenger. I don't know if that's

the name of the character or that's the name

of the actor. But there was a I think that's

the name of the. actor but he plays like the

the messenger for the mayor I guess or something

or he he comes in with like the thing from and

the both the sheriff and the mayor are trying

to tell him like he wasn't here and I loved that

sequence because he's just like not just completely

oblivious to everything that they wanted him

to do and I was like I love this guy yeah he's

very much it's like yeah he's very for one he

loves his wife I know that much about him the

guy was a big fan of his wife so But with that,

you know, we do have a lot of, I wouldn't say

slapstick, but this is a comedy. It is very focused

on the comedy. Like I mentioned at the center

of this is a story about dude getting hung and

you, you know, you even have, uh, uh, you know,

the, the running noise of like them practicing

for that hanging, have an attempted suicide at

one point as well. So within like this comedy,

there are some darker elements. Do you, I was

curious how you felt with that. Did it seem like

those were cohesive or is it was just, you know,

like how did those work for you? I think, first

of all, I just have a question. Is, would they

have really practiced that many times the night

before or the day before? Because that's the

one point where I'm like, I don't know if I can

believe that they're literally, it was like the

12th time they had let that thing fly and I'm

like, good gracious. I think what helps this

film kind of get around the seriousness of what

the underlying issue is with some of this is

it doesn't because it's moving so fast and because

the dialogue such fast paced and you know everything

else it doesn't allow itself to stop in those

moments and kind of give you a chance to think

and dwell on that i think the closest it came

for me is when we are in that sequence of the

sheriff the person that has been a that is on

death row, I guess you could say, and then the

doctor or the psychologist or psyche, whoever

that other guy was that was kind of giving him

a test like they're in a room separately. And

I think that sequence is as close as it came

to me to be feeling like it almost didn't belong

or that it was like, ah, or like, I don't know

what we're doing quite here. Like, I know that

they had to get the escape and things of that

nature. But there was that moment because it

was almost as. I wouldn't say slow, but it slowed

down as much as it did in the entire movie, probably

for that sequence. And then it kind of ramps

back up. But I think the rest of it going at

the pace it did kept me from spending too much

time thinking about that and didn't take me out

of the movie of like, hey, we're we're having

a whole lot of fun with all these quotes and

all these different things. But we're talking

about somebody that's trying to kill themselves

and all that kind of stuff. What did you think?

That for the most part it it let it Helped kind

of fuel into the insanity of it all because yeah,

it just kind of again bringing us into this world

of non -normal people and the way they were to

act the one scene I felt like was a little bit

like it caught me off guard, but not necessarily

in a bad way was when Molly Malloy like just

jumps out the window like and like it's the ground

and it's like Wow that felt like an extreme at

first I thought she was it was like was that

her intentions did you think she would survive?

Maybe that's what I mean. She ultimately Doesn't

die, but we also never see her again either probably

did not there also is that sequence with her

before where she comes into the press room and

she's kind of like The rating the all the people

for giving her a hard time for you know, just

being a kind of person I thought that was interesting

too because it almost Could have gotten really

serious there. But at the same time still touched

on the fact that the press can sometimes forget

about the humanity involved with what they're

doing and Like how it affects real people that

they're reporting on so I thought that was an

interesting too Like way to balance that because

I guess that's another moment where it almost

could have gotten too serious Yeah, that was

the one moment where I felt like it... It slowed

down for a moment, but I was wondering if it...

The way it kind of went to that and like shifted

and just didn't necessarily recognize the the

serious of that moment. I don't know. It just...

It felt like a strange choice and it was the

one part of the movie that fell off with me both

in how it was executed and then... What came

after and it kind of just happens and they move

on but it was like I said It wasn't I don't know.

I do wonder like rewatching it Like you mentioned

that there's more there because there's a like

with so much dialogue There is so much going

on even you know We get mentions of the red scare

and they're talking about stalling and and all

this and that to me was pretty fascinating because

yeah Oh, yeah, this is Well, this is 1940. So

this is even before right like the mccarthyism

and stuff like that and I When we and we even

get mentions of you know, hitler and the war

in europe, you know when they when it's like

The funny line about like who cares about the

war in europe on the front page and stuff like

that. So It's interesting something about like

put hitler on the funny page or something like

that. Yeah Yeah, it was just interesting but

then like the you know, the the whole the red

menace thing i'm like, oh yeah, and i'm like

wait, this is before this is even before the

cold war and You know, I was like, wow You could

definitely trace a lot of this movie into things

that happened later. Like there's a lot of like

almost foreshadowing whether it was intentional

or not, like kind of. Yeah, which is that. That's

what I found interesting too, because it's like

that the news, the press becomes such a huge

part of that later on. And like you mentioned,

there's this kind of crazy foreshadowing, but

I was that that was kind of caught me our guard

because, you know, during that time we hear about,

I know, I know about the American German bond

and like all the of the massive amounts of lobbying

and stuff that went on the German side, but I

didn't, I wasn't even aware that there was like

a lot of, they even mentioned like communist

sympathizers and things like that. So I found

that this, like one thing I do love about going

watching these past movies is like getting a

glimpse of the past that in elements that we

don't really talk about and aren't super aware

of. So I just found that part kind of interesting.

the the Trigging the sea and considering it there's

just like a lot I think is going on here a lot

of a lot of it saying well a lot what it's saying

regarding news and I'm considering this is based

upon the front page of court like which was a

play I'm interested so I was curious to kind

of go back and see like what that was saying

at the time like I just For a movie that's only

90 minutes I'm still amazed with like the amount

of layers that are here that you can kind of

depict in the fact that it does all that while

being Extremely funny in the entire time. Yeah,

cuz you don't usually it's not it's not usually

like When you're describing a movie that you

say like well, you probably need to go watch

it like At least three times to pick up everything.

You're usually not talking about a slapstick

comedy Yeah, yeah, that's not usually the recipe

there. You're usually talking about something

else So and I see that we also still can't I

know we're not on Hitchcock anymore, but we can't

escape like moms showing up in films either So

there's an interesting situation with Bruce's

mom in here And how how she interjects herself

into this whole mess? So it kind of leads to

a funny encounter with what happens to her what

happens to Bruce and kind of how this whole movie

wraps up with the Cary Grant kind of With the

throwaway line at the end wondering if bruce

will put him up in albany when they decide to

go there so that's funny right until the end

really it to me so any other final thoughts on

his girl friday before we wrap this up. Did you

watch so this is been released in both color

and black and white did you watch which which

way did you watch it i watch the black and white

i don't know if it was a remaster it was interesting

i think i sent you the picture but i did a search

and brought it up and i'm like well why do i

have. Four three options to watch this film on

the same service But I guess one of them was

may have been colored one of them may have been

black and white and one of them I think was like

a remastered version of black and white or something

Yeah, and that's the version I watched because

I read that somewhere that you should watch it

in black and white So I did yeah, I was curious

about that. I watched it in black and white too

I watched it because it's on hoopla and that's

all they had available there But also, you know,

we've watched two Howard Howard Hawks movies

back -to -back Obviously, you know Cary Grant's

a big part of him, but does it have you interested

at all to check out any of his other filmography?

I mean, I know he's known for like You know some

some uh westerns and things like that, which

of course are very different But it was just

you know, it does has intrigued you It makes

me interesting to see how he works in a western

right and like that was something that we've

kind of tossed around a couple different times

in the past of like doing some some western uh

spotlights to kind of fill in some of our blind

spots in there, but you know, he's got what Rio

Bravo and Red River and probably a couple of

others. So like it'd be interesting to see his

take on a Western. Obviously, you know, Western

is going to be funny as well, but not all. You

know, it doesn't mean every film he does is funny

either. So it would be kind of interesting to

see like a few of his other ones. Did he do Scarface?

Yeah, he did do the original Scarface, which

I have seen. Hey remember not being a huge fan

of it, but also I saw like 15 years ago. So I

mean it may like it now But yeah, he watched

three it's and then there's a lot of similarities

to the original one Like it didn't that's original

one the remake. But yeah, he did Scarface as

well That's interesting. And do you think like

not that we're necessarily like saying which

films better or which films worse? but do you

do you feel like even if it wasn't the same thing

as far as like putting a straight man in there

that might have been like The end all be all

but did you feel like this was? Like that he

did learn some stuff from bringing a baby that

he took advantage of from this I think so too.

I think it's tightly it's edited in a tighter

fashion like this like I was rewatching the one

scene where they find I watched his name like

hiding under the in the desk and going back and

while like that scene is edited in such a brilliant

like it's it slowly builds and then when you

finally get to like the final showdown of them

like quick quickly cutting like it was done so

well and I and so I think too and even just the

way he works with these actors giving him giving

them the room of being able to like you mentioned

with like how they built an ad libbing and We

need to much more natural having them talk over

one another and it goes a long way. So I do think

Not just being able to have a level normalcy

but just in the execution of it work the way

he works with actors. And how it's i don't think

it's particularly shot in some sort of super

significant way compared to the catch cock because

it does is built on a play a lot of it is just.

Let giving their actors room to do what they

need to do but at the same time one of the directors

biggest roles is getting their actors to where

they need to go. And it seems like that happened

based upon what we're seeing here. And I like

both so far. But do you feel like it's there's

a lot of improvement, I feel like, between the

two films. The other thing that Howard Hawks

gets to do, which makes his filmography somewhat

interesting as he gets to like the actors that

appear in his films are like it's a who's who.

Like early on you have. People like Douglas Fairbanks,

James Cagney, Gary Cooper, both John and Lionel

Barrymore. But then it's like he does a trio

of films with Cary Grant. So he did Bring It

Up Baby in 1938. The next year he does Only Angels

Have Wings with Cary Grant. And then the next

year is His Girl Friday with Cary Grant. So he

had like three in a row there. Then he does two

in a row with Cary Cooper. Look, a little bit

later, he does a duo of films with Humphrey Bogart,

goes back and has a couple more films with Cary

Grant that we're not covering monkey business.

And I was a male war bride. You got Kirk Douglas

in there and then once he kind of gets into the

westerns kind of late in his career He does three

or he does four films with John Wayne and one

with the Rock Hudson. So it's yeah, he definitely

hit a bunch Yeah, he was I think people talk

about like golden age film directors his name

needs to be on that list just like as you mentioned

because He's got so many huge films that were

successful, both in the sense of, maybe he doesn't

have the, maybe his filmmaking style isn't as

impactful as a Hitchcock, but the way he either

picks his projects or is able, these actors worked

with him for a reason, maybe sometimes contractual

because they get suspended, in other words. Looking

like yeah, because the big sleep is not another

great film. Oh, gentlemen prefer blondes in there

with Marilyn Monroe. Somehow we've we've we've

accidentally started doing a Howard Hawks retrospective

as well. But yeah, but yeah, he's got all together.

Yeah, but I was just curious because it was like,

you know, we saw two of his comedies and I've

seen a few other of his films like The Big Sleep

and Scarface, but it's it's not like when I watch

a Howard Hawks movie. It's like, oh, this is

Howard Hawks. There's those directors that kind

of disappear into the work that they do. And

he feels like one of those types of, you know,

there's those writers, like I know an Eric Sorkin

script when I've seen it, you know, you know

that right away. But then there's other people

like Ron Howard, for example, who like Ron Howard,

like he's made good movies, but it's not like

he has that Artor style per se, which is not

necessarily, or even like a Ridley Scott in a

way where he does a lot of different. A lot of

different things and like Howard Hawks. When

you look through this guy, like every other film

is a different genre. Like he is bouncing all

over the place from war films to comedies to

romances to dramas to westerns. Like it is like

I think he only does like six or seven comedies.

It just happens that most of them have Cary Grant

in them. So it literally like I think he's I

think I counted and he has like seven or eight

comedies and Cary Grant and like all of them,

but like two or three. So he just knows what

he has with him, I guess. Yeah, so it's very

interesting to see like kind of how his career

has uh has gone and I would be interested to

see a couple of these other films that he has

done maybe down the road to see you know, if

you can Harken anything back to these two films

that we've watched or if it just feels completely

different You can get down the road. What what's

the next movie? We're going to be heading down

with our Cary Grant perspective So the next movie

on our list if we're going chronological order

is the Philadelphia story Which for once we get

to flip the script because usually you're the

one that's seen it 15 years ago And I'm the one

going in blind but this is one that I have seen

I'm gonna say more than 15 years ago I'm gonna

say that it's at least 20 years ago that I saw

the Philadelphia story and I believe you said

you have not seen this one, correct? No, it's

just my prejudice against Philadelphia being

a New York Giants fan that caused me to stay

away Finally get to the bottom of it the the

fifth With Jimmy Stewart and Katherine Hepburn,

so we get the three of them playing the the the

main three roles So that is what we are doing

next time that movie came out very late in New

York City in 1940 and then the rest of the US

in 1941 so it always depends on how you are you

categorized movies, but 1940, I guess for for

most people. So that's what we'll be covering

next week. If you guys have questions or comments

that you want to add to the conversation or the

discussion, you can reach out to us and search

out the cinema geeks on social media and you

can leave us a comment or follow and we'll definitely

respond to you. If you want to get a hold of

one of us individually, you can reach out to

me at Optimus Solo or Dan. How can people get

in touch with you? I just search Comic Concierge

on all the different social media platforms.

So that does it for this episode. Tune in next

time for another chance to listen to more of

the Cinema Geeks.