--- title: "His Girl Friday" year: 1940 kind: "film" canonical: "https://film.one/film/his-girl-friday" fi1m_score: 90 critics_score: 88 critics_reviews: 13 published: "2026-09-16T11:50:15.633923+00:00" updated: "2026-09-16T11:50:16.123252+00:00" region: "US" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # His Girl Friday (1940) Directed by Howard Hawks · 1h 32m · MPA NR · Comedy, Romance, Crime **Fi1m score: 90** · Critics 88 from 13 reviews *In a sentence:* Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell make interrupting each other seem a reasonable basis for marriage > Howard Hawks makes newspaper work look irresistible without pretending its practitioners are decent. Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell give the romantic sparring extraordinary precision; the constant clamour is the price of an unusually sharp comedy. ## Synopsis Walter Burns (Cary Grant) is a newspaper editor; Hildy Johnson (Rosalind Russell) is a reporter and his ex-wife. Their arguments run through a pressroom caught up in a gallows story, mixing newspaper work with unfinished marital business. Walter wants his own way; Hildy answers him at speed. The surrounding company includes Bruce Baldwin (Ralph Bellamy) and Sheriff Hartwell (Gene Lockhart), alongside reporters competing to make something of the case. With a man’s fate supplying the copy, professional rivalry and personal sparring happen at once, and scarcely anyone waits for someone else to finish speaking. ## Review *His Girl Friday* is a sharply funny romantic comedy that makes us believe two combative ex-spouses might belong together. Howard Hawks lets a newspaper editor and his reporter ex-wife argue at speed, and makes their pleasure in the fight more convincing than any declaration of love could be. We recommend it without much hesitation, though its appetite for noise can be tiring. The attraction lies in watching two people who know exactly how the other works and still choose to engage. Cary Grant makes Walter Burns’s scheming enjoyable enough to cause a small moral problem: we keep wanting him to get another sentence in. Rosalind Russell gives Hildy Johnson the speed to answer and the assurance to refuse to be impressed. Neither performance would be half as funny without the other listening so competitively. Even when the words overlap, there is a clear contest for control. Their shared profession gives that contest something more substantial than a string of insults. Ben Hecht and Charles Lederer are credited with the screenplay, and the writing lets an argument serve several purposes at once. A professional exchange can carry resentment, attraction and an attempt to get an advantage without stopping to explain any of them. Howard Hawks trusts us to follow the important thread rather than gather every syllable. We occasionally miss a line, but rarely lose track of who is winning. That is what distinguishes the speed here from actors simply speaking quickly. The reporters’ excitement over the gallows story made us laugh, and we felt grubby about it. A man’s possible execution is something for these people to turn into copy, and their briskness makes the callousness funny before it has time to become appalling. Howard Hawks does not make them less entertaining to help us disapprove. The ugliness matters because it stops the pleasure of newspaper work becoming a simple excuse for everything done in its name. Joseph Walker’s cinematography gives the actors space to compete without making the competition difficult to read. Gene Havlick’s editing is similarly useful: with so many voices demanding attention, we need to understand who has gained ground. We notice the timing of the performances before the work of either man, which suits this comedy. Music is credited to Felix Mills and Sidney Cutner, but it is the collision of voices that supplies the memorable rhythm. The pressroom works as a setting because nobody’s personal business can remain separate from the job for long. The same relentlessness is also the film’s limitation. At 92 minutes, it is compact, yet there are passages when another interruption feels like another demand rather than another joke. Howard Hawks is so committed to the leading pair’s pace that a gentler response can seem beside the point. The black comedy sometimes moves past other people’s discomfort too briskly, even allowing for its deliberate callousness. Anyone who finds the volume wearing will not necessarily be rescued by the romantic chemistry. As screwball romance, it earns its reputation through the precision of the partnership. The work gives these ex-spouses a convincing reason to find each other interesting, however poorly either might qualify as a sensible choice. We believe in their attraction because we can hear how much they enjoy the argument. Watch it when there is enough attention left in the evening for two people determined to talk over each other. *Fi1m score 90, published 16 September 2026.* ## What the critics say Most critics greet His Girl Friday with enthusiasm, with praise clustering around Howard Hawks’ brisk direction, the overlapping dialogue and the chemistry between Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell. The reviews repeatedly single out Russell’s forceful Hildy and Grant’s comic timing, finding that making the reporter a woman gives the professional sparring and romantic tension fresh energy. Several also stress the comedy’s darker side: its sharp treatment of journalism and gallows humour keep the verbal speed from being its only attraction. The disagreement centres on whether that pace helps or hinders the comedy. The New York Times finds the noise and frenzy hard to follow, providing the lone mixed assessment. Variety is more measured than most, describing a close reworking of The Front Page while still praising the casting and pressroom action. The spread is therefore largely between approval and enthusiasm, with little resistance to the leads. ### Reviews we read (13) - **Radio Times**, Tony Sloman (5/5): This is the fastest-talking comedy in Hollywood history and an ideal showcase for Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell. The interplay between the ex-spouses and the black comedy of the gallows situation make it clever, witty and satisfying. [Read](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-w8y9s4/his-girl-friday/) - **The Times** (★★★★★): The critic praises this gender-flipped adaptation of The Front Page as a dizzyingly accomplished screwball comedy masterpiece, highlighting the propulsive, rapid-fire dialogue and the crackling romantic tension between Rosalind Russell and Cary Grant. [Read](https://www.thetimes.com/culture/film/article/his-girl-friday-review-1940-p8hl725gt) - **Time Out**, Joshua Rothkopf (5/5): The film is a masterpiece of rapid banter and screwball energy that makes journalism seem thrilling. Hawks' direction, the sparkling script and the perfect chemistry between Grant and Russell are singled out for praise. [Read](https://www.timeout.com/movies/his-girl-friday) - **Empire**, Colin Kennedy (90/100, inferred): The critic hails Howard Hawks' timeless screwball comedy as the finest example of its genre, elevated by the gender-swapped adaptation of The Front Page that turns it into a classic battle-of-the-sexes romp. Grant's comic timing and Hawks' dynamic direction are singled out for particular praise. [Read](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/girl-friday-review/) - **Slant Magazine**, Chuck Bowen (90/100, inferred): The critic hails the Criterion restoration of one of the greatest American comedies, praising Hawks’ perfect realization of professional camaraderie and verbal warfare between Russell and Grant, the film’s alive and electric quality, and its tart, unsentimental edge beneath the acclaim. [Read](https://www.slantmagazine.com/dvd/his-girl-friday-blu-ray-review-howard-hawks-criterion/) - **The AV Club**, Caroline Siede (90/100, inferred): The critic celebrates the film as a dense, rapid-fire screwball classic that redefined the genre with its overlapping dialogue at record speed, morally complex take on journalism, and iconic Hawksian woman in Russell’s Hildy, while noting its enduring influence on rom-coms and TV. [Read](https://www.avclub.com/his-girl-friday-redefined-the-screwball-comedy-at-240-w-1844950994) - **The Hollywood Reporter**, THR Staff (90/100, inferred): The critic finds the film a fast-moving and always interesting picture that furnishes good entertainment, with strong turns from Russell as the gender-swapped reporter and Grant as the scheming editor, plus solid support from the cast and brisk direction from Hawks. [Read](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/his-girl-friday-review-1235785495/) - **Little White Lies**, Adam Scovell (85/100, inferred): Hawks' 1940 film remains one of Hollywood’s finest and most radical comedies thanks to its frenetic overlapping dialogue and seamless blend of laughs with darker themes. The shift to rapid-fire, multi-layered speech and the handling of morbid source material are highlighted. [Read](https://lwlies.com/in-praise-of/his-girl-friday-howard-hawks-classic-hollywood-comedy) - **The New Yorker**, John C. Mosher (85/100, inferred): The critic praises the gender-swapped adaptation as fresh, undated and bright, highlighting Rosalind Russell’s verve in the Hildy role and the retention of the original’s lively dialogue and central scenes. [Read](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1940/01/13/1940-01-13-059-tny-cards-000002349) - **Variety**, Variety Staff (75/100, inferred): The review notes the film is essentially The Front Page with Hildy as a woman but praises the excellent casting of Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell and the still-exciting plot developments in the pressroom. [Read](https://variety.com/1939/film/reviews/his-girl-friday-1200413040/) - **The New York Times**, Frank S. Nugent (60/100, inferred): The critic finds the film a frenzied, noisy remake of The Front Page that is hard to follow amid the clamor but still concedes it is the maddest newspaper comedy of its time. [Read](https://www.nytimes.com/1940/01/12/archives/the-screen-in-review-frenzieds-the-word-for-his-girl-friday-a.html) - **/Film**, Lee Adams (90/100, inferred): The critic praises the film's relentless pace, overlapping dialogue, and Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell's chemistry as making it one of the most accessible and forward-thinking screwball comedies. They highlight its satire of journalism and modern gender dynamics in the workplace. [Read](https://www.slashfilm.com/1900211/cary-grant-best-screwball-comedy-his-girl-friday-streaming-free/) - **The Playlist**, Oliver Lyttelton (90/100, inferred): The critic highlights the whiplash-inducing dialogue, fizzy chemistry between Grant and Russell, and the film's energy from gender-flipping the leads, noting its sharp satire of journalism that has only grown in stature. [Read](https://theplaylist.net/essentials-5-great-howard-hawks-films-20120530/2/) ## Details - **Director:** Howard Hawks - **Director:** Howard Hawks - **Screenplay:** Charles Lederer, Ben Hecht - **Cinematography:** Joseph Walker - **Editor:** Gene Havlick - **Music:** Sidney Cutner, Felix Mills - **Costume design:** Robert Kalloch - **Producer:** Howard Hawks - **Cast:** Cary Grant as Walter Burns; Rosalind Russell as Hildy Johnson; Ralph Bellamy as Bruce Baldwin; Gene Lockhart as Sheriff Hartwell; Porter Hall as Murphy; Ernest Truex as Bensinger; Cliff Edwards as Endicott; Clarence Kolb as Mayor - **Runtime:** 1h 32m - **Certificate (MPA):** NR - **Release (the US):** 18 January 1940 - **Genres:** Comedy, Romance, Crime - **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0GYX46Bs1_8 ## Where to watch in the US - Pluto TV: free - The Roku Channel: free, hd - Tubi: free, sd - Amazon Prime Video: add-on, uhd - The Roku Channel: add-on, hd - Amazon Prime Video: rent $1.99, sd - Amazon Prime Video: buy $7.99, sd *Checked 2026-09-16.* Also available in: AU, BE, BG, BR, CA, CL, CO, DE, ES, FI, GB, HR, IE, IN, IT, JP, LT, MX, NL, NZ, PH, PT, RS, SE, US. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country. ## If you liked this - *The Lady Eve* (1941), Fi1m 90: Another romance in which quick thinking makes questionable behaviour dangerously attractive. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/the-lady-eve.md) - *Broadcast News* (1987), Fi1m 84: Workplace desire and professional conscience compete, with more room for regret. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/broadcast-news.md) - *The Apartment* (1960), Fi1m 91: For another comedy that understands how badly work can distort affection. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/the-apartment.md) - *Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown* (1988), Fi1m 84: Romantic chaos moves at speed, with women allowed anger as well as wit. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/women-on-the-verge-of-a-nervous-breakdown.md) - *The Thick of It* (2005), Fi1m 89: More overlapping voices, institutional cynicism and professionals who mistake cruelty for competence. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/tv/the-thick-of-it.md) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/film/his-girl-friday