His Girl Friday
At first I thought I was going to die. I have to admit that I am a little bit afraid of watching screwball comedies without subtitles, and perhaps it would indeed be a great idea to re-watch the film sometimes soon. I was able to understand most of it though, and so did Loris.
In fact, we had great difficulty to find a film to watch. Mainly this is because we haven’t seen many films together yet despite knowing each other for a long time. If we watchsomething, it’d better be something good. So we were close to choosing “Dr. Strangelove” which I love and felt he would like it too, but then we would yet again see a film that one of us has watched before (the first time was “Fight Club”, the second was “Some like it hot”). I really would have wanted to re-watch “Dr. Strangelove”, but in retrospect, I am glad we decided for “His Girl Friday”: It was brilliant.
I have known the title of “His Girl Friday” for quite a long while, because it’s one of the more famous old screwball comedies. Apart from that, I had no idea what it all was about. If I had to compare it to the other Hawks film I have seen, “Bringing Up Baby”, I’d say that I like the main couple in “His Girl Friday” much more. In “Bringing Up Baby” the couple consists of a stiff man and a rebellious, crazy woman who chases the guy (the Nodame combination), whereas here, we have two people that are practically made for each other. Both very sharp and funny, with a little bit of maliciousness, they share a perverse love for their (admittedly quite shitty) job and you could see their attraction to each other in the eyes. Of course the great acting helps, plus Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell have absolutely great chemistry.
Besides wonderful storytelling and perfect characters, I admit that I especially like Hildy because she has exceptional potential for a modern woman to identify with. Hawks loves his strong women, and Hildy is even more lovely than Susan from “Bringing Up Baby”. This whole topic of a woman who cannot get away from her job, no matter how badly she talks about it, is just too intriguing. Loris thinks that marrying and having children does not suit Hildy. As for myself, I find it very understandable that a woman in a 1930’s film would want to have a family, and doubt it’ll be so different today. I cannot imagine a single film (think “All about Eve” or even “Sunset Boulevard”) in which the final happiness of a woman does not lie in a relationship with a man. Without a man, you are bound to be unhappy. It’s like an industry rule. I approve of the idea that maybe everybody’s secret dream to settle down. But I like it even more when in Hildy’s case, she ends up deciding for the excitement of life on the side of a more charismatic man.
For all these many reasons, I think “His Girl Friday” is a movie that definitely needs a re-watch, perhaps today in one year. I imagine this to be the kind of movie that I would enjoy at least as much at the second time, and am looking forward to it. At that point, it will become clear whether this could be a contender to “The Shop Around the Corner”, my current favorite screwball comedy.