The Front Page (1931)

The Front Page
Directed by Lewis Milestone
Written by Bartlett Cormack from a play by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur
1931/US
The Caddo Company (Lewis Milestone’s production)
IMDb page
Repeat viewing/YouTube

Walter Burns: We’ll kick over the whole city hall like an apple cart. We’ll get the Mayor and Hartman against the wall. We’ll put one administration out and another one in. Why, this isn’t a newspaper story, it’s a career! And you stand there belly-achin’ about some girl.

The oh-so-versatile Lewis Milestone gives us a rapid-fire comedy almost the equal of Howard Hawks’s remake.

In this version of the story, Walter Burns (Adolphe Menjou) is a ruthless crusading newspaper editor and Hildy Johnson (Pat O’Brien) is his ace reporter who wants to quit the business and marry a nice girl.

The story takes place on one day and night in a newsroom where reporters are waiting to cover the execution of Earl Williams.  Williams is an anarchist and the sheriff and Mayor know his execution will give them a boost in the upcoming election.  The reporters are up to their usual cynical doings while they wait.

But eventually Williams escapes and is hidden by Hildy.  Now he’s interested and it is relatively easy for Walter to manipulate him into staying and covering the big story.  His fiancee and future mother-in-law are not amused.

The wisecracks and gags get more pointed as the plot progresses.  With so many great 30’s character actors including Edward Everett Horton, Frank McHugh, and Slim Summerville and with Mae Clarke as the only person that believes in Williams’s innocence.

It’s amazing how little of the story needed to be changed when Hildy’s sex was changed. If you like His Girl Friday (1940), you will probably enjoy this.

The Front Page was nominated for Oscars in the categories of Best Picture; Best Actor (Menjou) and Best Director

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WlsW0qbbcjsA