His Girl Friday

Name: His Girl Friday
Genre: Comedy, Romance, Drama
Released: 1940-01-18
Duration: 1 h 32 min
Rating: 7.7
Cast: Cary Grant, Rosalind Russell, Ralph Bellamy, Gene Lockhart, Porter Hall

They're at each other's throats when they're not in each other's arms!

His Girl Friday (1940)

Timing: 1:32 (92 min)

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All about film

Video 15

Photo 77

Actors and characters

Watch film His Girl Friday — HIS GIRL FRIDAY Trailer [1940]

2:50

Photo 77

Release date

1940-01-18

Country

United States

Production

Columbia Pictures

Genre

Comedy, Romance, Drama

Budget

Revenue

Website

Director

Howard Hawks

Actors

Cary Grant, Rosalind Russell, Ralph Bellamy, Gene Lockhart, Porter Hall, Ernest Truex, Cliff Edwards, Clarence Kolb, Roscoe Karns, Frank Jenks
All actors and roles (10)

Scenario

Producer

Howard Hawks, Jed Harris

Operator

Joseph Walker

Composer

Sidney Cutner

Artist

Audition

Editing

Gene Havlick
All team (19)

Short description

Walter Burns is an irresistibly conniving newspaper publisher desperate to woo back his paper’s star reporter, who also happens to be his estranged wife. She’s threatening to quit and settle down with a new beau, but, as Walter knows, she has a weakness: she can’t resist a juicy scoop.

What's left behind the scenes

To record sound (and specifically, rapid exchanges of dialogue), Hawks decided to use not one microphone held to the actors on a boom, but multiple microphones. Since the microphones were not switched on simultaneously, a dedicated sound engineer would turn them on in sequence. Up to 35 microphones were used simultaneously in one scene.
One of the first films – the very first being Gregory La Cava's (1892-1952) 'Stage Door' (1937) – in which characters speak over each other, before the other character has finished their line, was done to make everything look and sound more realistic. Previously, characters always let their scene partners finish speaking before starting their own line.
To record the audio (and specifically the rapid-fire dialogue), Hawks decided to use multiple microphones instead of a single boom mic. Since the microphones were not all active at once, a dedicated sound engineer switched between them. Up to 35 microphones were used simultaneously in a single scene.
At the end of the film, Walter mentions a man named Archie Leach, which is Cary Grant's real name.
This is Quentin Tarantino's favorite film comedy.
Filming wrapped up several days later than planned. The delay was caused by the difficulty of shooting dialogue scenes where lines were spoken very quickly and had to be delivered at a specific moment to coincide with the visuals. Four days were spent filming the restaurant scene where Hildy and Bruce are invited. Initially, only two days were allocated for filming this scene.
Rosalind Russell (1907-1976) disliked that her character had fewer quality lines than the character played by Cary Grant (1904-1986), so with the help of her brother she enlisted the services of an advertising slogan and copywriter, who slightly altered the lines written for her character. This went unnoticed by Hawks, who allowed his actors to improvise, as well as by the crew and other actors, with the exception of Grant.
Rosalind Russell (1907-1976) was unhappy that her character had fewer quality lines than the character played by Cary Grant (1904-1986). With her brother's help, she hired a copywriter to slightly rewrite her lines. This went unnoticed by the crew, the other actors, and even Hawks, who allowed his actors to improvise—with the sole exception of Grant.
There was a great deal of improvisation during filming, which made life very difficult for cinematographer Joseph Walker (1892-1985). It was particularly challenging to ensure Rosalind Russell looked her best on screen, as Walker didn't know exactly where she would be standing in any given scene. The actress had a prominent lower jaw that required specific lighting. Eventually, Walker solved this by asking Russell's makeup artist to contour her jaw with shading, allowing her to be filmed without further issues.
It is estimated that dialogue in an average film is spoken at a rate of 90 words per minute. In Howard Hawks' (1896-1977) screwball comedy, the average speed reaches 240 words per minute.
It is estimated that lines in a typical film are spoken at an average rate of 90 words per minute. In Howard Hawks' (1896-1977) screwball comedies, the average rate reaches 240 words per minute.
There was a lot of improvisation during filming, which seriously complicated the work of cinematographer Joseph Walker (1892-1985). It was especially difficult to film Rosalind Russell in a way that she looked perfect on screen, as Walker didn't know in advance exactly where she would be in any given scene. The actress had a prominent lower jaw, which required lighting during filming. In the end, Walker solved this problem by asking Russell's makeup artist to shade the actress's jawline, so that she could be filmed without any further issues.
A loose adaptation of the play by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur.
It was one of the first films—the very first being Gregory La Cava's (1892-1952) 'Stage Door Goings On' (1937)—in which characters deliver their lines before the other character has finished speaking. This was done to make everything look and sound as authentic as possible. Before that, characters always waited for their scene partners to finish speaking before starting their own line.
At the end of the film, Walter mentions a man named Archie Leach, which is Cary Grant's real first and last name.
The scene in which Walter and Hildy hide the criminal in the newsroom was based on a real-life case where an editor of The New York Evening Graphic hid a fugitive criminal in the newsroom, interviewed him, wrote an article about it, waited for sales of that issue of the newspaper to begin, and only then handed the criminal over to the police.