Movie · 1940 · Comedy, Romance, Drama · 1h 32m · NR · English
Curator score: 8.9/10 (184.7K ratings)
They're at each other's throats when they're not in each other's arms!
Overview
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.
Ratings
Curator score: 8.9/10
IMDb: 7.8/10
Letterboxd: 4.03/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 99%
Metacritic: 94
TMDB: 7.4/10
Director
Howard Hawks
Production
Columbia Pictures
Cast
Cary Grant, Rosalind Russell, Ralph Bellamy, Gene Lockhart, Porter Hall, Ernest Truex, Cliff Edwards, Clarence Kolb, Roscoe Karns, Frank Jenks, Regis Toomey, Abner Biberman, Frank Orth, John Qualen, Helen Mack, Alma Kruger, Billy Gilbert, Pat West, Edwin Maxwell, Irving Bacon
Where to watch
fuboTV, MGM Plus, Philo, Pure Flix
Curator Review
Verdict
A blistering screwball classic with astonishing pace, razor-sharp banter, and a battle-of-the-sexes dynamic that still feels modern. Its newsroom setting and romantic sparring make it a great pick for viewers who like smart, fast, and aggressively funny comedies.
Best for
fans of rapid-fire dialogue
viewers who enjoy screwball comedy
people who like newsroom stories
audiences drawn to sharp romantic sparring
classic Hollywood enthusiasts
Skip if
you dislike very fast dialogue
you want a relaxed or visual comedy
you prefer understated romance
you need contemporary pacing or style
Overview
His Girl Friday is one of the great demonstrations of verbal velocity in American cinema. Howard Hawks turns a newsroom, a breakup, and a custody battle over a scoop into a machine-gun comedy where every line lands like a counterpunch. The result is less a gentle romance than a duel: witty, ruthless, and constantly in motion.
Worth noting
What makes it endure is how modern its rhythms feel. Rosalind Russell and Cary Grant are perfectly matched as exes who know each other too well to play fair, and the film keeps finding new ways to make professional ambition and romantic attraction look like the same impulse. It is funny, but it is also about power, timing, and the thrill of being intellectually outmatched.
Bottom line
If you like comedies that run on momentum, verbal dexterity, and romantic antagonism, this is essential viewing. If you need a slower, softer, or more sentimental love story, its speed and bite may be overwhelming. But for anyone who loves classic Hollywood at full throttle, it is a delight.
Top Letterboxd reviews
sarah (3★) · 4824 likes
my head is spinning from this screaming match of a film
90% of it sounded like this:
*phone rings* WHATwhatareyoudoingthereMAKEITSNAPPYblubblubblubblub *50th phone rings* blubblubblubtalkingfastaboutnewspapershitwithoutevertakingabreathblubblubblub
adelaide (4★) · 4417 likes
comedy was born when cary grant described ralph bellamy's character as "he looks like ralph bellamy"
Wes (5★) · 3542 likes
me:
every character in this movie at once: OFEUJFELAK;LDSAGSDK;EE;KEE;;;;
me: ok thanks
🇵🇱 Steve G 🐝 (5★) · 2093 likes
I can understand why His Girl Friday is usually labelled, first and foremost, a screwball romantic comedy. There's certainly plenty going on in its last 20 minutes to support that labelling especially.
But on this, my third viewing, I still remain resolutely unconvinced that this is a romantic comedy at all. Sure, Rosalind Russell does end up following Cary Grant out the door for a honeymoon in Albany but it's not because, all of a sudden, she's been bowled over… more
alex (4.5★) · 1896 likes
i think this could be categorized as an action film based purely upon the pace of the dialogue.
1936 · Comedy · 1h 35m · NR · Curator 9.2/10 (28.7K ratings) · Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video, Pure Flix, FlixFling, IndieFlix, Amazon Prime Video with Ads
Fast, witty, and socially nimble, with screwball energy and a strong sense of comic timing.