His Girl Friday Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		5.0
Overall		5.0

His Girl Friday Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov December 30, 2016

Howard Hawks' "His Girl Friday" (1940) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion. Also included on this release is Lewis Milestone's film "The Front Page" (1931), as well as original trailers, taped audio conversations between director Howard Hawks and Peter Bogdanovich, archival featurettes, new video essay by film scholar David Bordwell, new documentary featuring Ben Hecht expert David Brendel; and a lot more. The release also arrives with two illustrated leaflets featuring essays on His Girl Friday and The Front Page by critics Farran Smith Nehme and Michael Sragow, as well as technical credits. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

Hildy Johnson

There is a short text that appears immediately after the opening credits that seems quite ironic now. It warns that the image of the media that is preserved by the film is from the “dark ages of the newspaper game”, which implies that at the time when the film was released a lot had already changed for the better. But fast-forward to present days and the hypocrisy that is highlighted in the film actually feels perfectly normal. In fact, even the most ridiculous behind-the-scenes bargaining and factual fabrications that are shown in it look perfectly normal because after this year's election cycle there is enough evidence that they are essential elements of the daily routine for many contemporary professional reporters that continue to play the game. Sad but true.

The key characters of this very good remake of Lewis Milestone's film The Front Page are Walter Burns, (Cary Grant), a prominent editor of a big newspaper in Chicago, and Hildy Johnson (Rosalind Russell), a brilliant reporter with an impressive record. They are former colleagues and partners who have recently divorced and agreed to stay out of each other’s lives so that they can quickly rebuild them. But Walter has not been entirely honest and has come up with a desperate plan to stop Hildy from relocating to Albany with her next husband (Ralph Bellamy), an insurance agent who believes that his future wife cannot wait to share an old family house with his mother. Walter’s plan is to distract Hildy with a big case and convince her to cover it for him in exchange for a big fat check. Hildy’s final job will accomplish two things -- it will make Hildy and her fiancé miss their train and then while she works on her article turn them against each other. Walter will then intervene in the middle of the inevitable drama and make the two realize that they can't marry because they are utterly incompatible. The plan works as intended until a high-profile prisoner (John Qualen) that could guarantee the reelection of the city’s corrupt mayor (Clarence Kolb) escapes from jail and ends up hiding in Walter’s office where Hildy is putting the final touches on her article.

Howard Hawks’ His Girl Friday works in the same manner and for the same reasons Preston Sturges’ Sullivan's Travels does. The two are based on brilliant scripts that blend comedy and social criticism that ultimately give them dual identities. So on one hand these are very charming, at times irresistibly funny films, but on the other hand they are also socially aware films that quite accurately dissect the reality in which their characters exist.

The two films, however, have different styles. Hawks’ film pits its characters against each other and unapologetically forces them to use all of their tricks to accomplish their goals. At times they basically engage in uncontrolled verbal battles and some become so fierce that they end up evolving into what can only be described as small cacophonies. (Indeed, there is a great deal of overlapping lines, a lot of group talk with abrupt interruptions, and even some completely unfiltered noise that would have been a lot more appropriate for a documentary, not a feature film from the early 1940s). There is a fascinating rivalry in Struges’ film as well, but the best hits in it are delivered by brilliant and ultimately carefully timed one-liners.

The plot has a number of twists that bring in various secondary players with big ambitions who are also willing to bend the rules, or even break them, so that they can accomplish their goals. These players then find ways to engage the reporters and further promote the hypocrisy that has corrupted their business. It is quite the circus.

*Also included on this Blu-ray release is Lewis Milestone's film The Front Page with Adolphe Menjou, Pat O'Brien, and Mary Brian. Though The Front Page and His Girl Friday are both based on the same classic comedy play by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur, in the original film Hildy is actually played by O’Brien. The Front Page was scanned in 4K and fully restored in 2016 by the Academy Film Archive and The Film Foundation.

His Girl Friday Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.33:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Howard Hawks' His Girl Friday arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion.

The following text appears inside the leaflet provided with this release:

"This high-definition digital transfer was was created on a Spirit DataCine film scanner from a new 35mm fine-grain master positive made from the nitrate original camera negative. Duplicate 35mm material was used where the original negative was damaged. Thousands of instances of dirt, debris, scratches, splices, and warps were manually removed at Technicolor in Los Angeles and Deluxe in Culver City, California. The original monaural soundtrack was remastered from the nitrate original soundtrack negative at Chace Audio by Deluxe in Burbank, California. Additional audio restoration was done at the Criterion Collection.

Telecine supervisor: Grover Crisp, in cooperation with Bib Gitt and the UCLA Film & TV Archive.
Colorist: Scott Ostrowsky/Technicolor, Los Angeles.
Additional color grading: Sheri Eisenberg/Deluxe, Culver City, CA."

Depth and clarity are very pleasing. Also, while there are in fact a few very small density fluctuations, the film has an all-around solid balanced appearance. Grain is well exposed, but ideally it should be even better resolved (some inherited source limitations are clearly contributing to the occasional over/under exposure). The grayscale is good, but the black levels are elevated a tad too much for my taste. As a result, in a some areas some light crush tends to sneak in. Image stability is very good. Finally, there are no distracting large cuts, debris, damage marks, stains, or other age-related imperfections. My score is 4.25/5.00.

***

Technical credits for The Front Page from a second leaflet provided with this release:

"This new digital transfer was created in 4K resolution on an Oxberry wet-gate film scanner from a 35mm safety print provided by the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, College of Fine Arts' Department of film and Howard Hughes Collection, housed at the Academy Film Archive of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Restoration was undertaken in 2016 by the Academy Film Archive and The Film Foundation, with funding provided by the George Lucas Family Foundation. Thousands of instances of dirt, debris, scratches, splices, and warps were manually removed using MTI Film's DRS NOVA, while grain management tools were utilized to mute staining defects inherent to the 35mm print. Additional restoration was performed by the Criterion Collection.

Restoration supervision: Heather Linville, Michael Pogorzelski/Academy Film Archive, Los Angeles. Scanning: Sean Coughlin/Image Pro, Burbank.
Colorist: Alex Chernoff/MTI Film, Los Angeles.
Audio restoration: John Polito/Audio Mechanics, Burbank, CA."

The technical presentation here is different, but the quality of the element that was used during the restoration is also substantially different. This is very easy to see because the visuals have completely different density and fluidity. Nevertheless, the film has strong organic qualities, and despite the sporadic softness and traces of fading overall balance remains quite good. The grayscale does not have the same range of nuances, but what was recovered and preserved is also properly rebalanced. Image stability is good, though some unevenness remains. Considering the source limitations, the end result is indeed very pleasing. My score is 4.00/5.00.

His Girl Friday Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

His Girl Friday is presented with an English LPCM 1.0. track. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.

The lossless track has obviously been remastered because there are no obvious traces of age-related deterioration. Indeed, clarity and depth remain stable throughout the entire film. Balance is also maintained well. Rather predictably, however, overall dynamic intensity is quite modest.

His Girl Friday Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Disc One

• Trailer - original restored trailer for His Girl Friday. In English, not subtitled. (3 min, 1080p).

• Teaser - original restored trailer for His Girl Friday. In English, not subtitled. (2 min, 1080p).

• Hawks on Hawks - presented here is a new program which features clips from taped audio conversations between director Howard Hawks and Peter Bogdanovich from 1972, and a 1973 interview with the director conducted by Richard Schickel. The material covers the casting process, some of major differences and similarities between Lewis Milestone's The Front Page and His Girl Friday, some specific lensing and editing choices, the use of dialog (and specifically the decision to use overlapping lines), etc. With clips and stills. In English, not subtitled. (11 min, 1080p).

• Lux Radio Theatre - presented here is a Lux Radio Theatre adaptation of His Girl Friday, featuring Claudette Colbert as Hildy Johnson and Fred Murray as Walter Burns. The adaptation initially aired on September 30, 1940. In English, not subtitled. (60 min, 1080p).

• Featurettes - presented here are four short archival featurettes that focus on the history, legacy and success His Girl Friday and the career of its creator, director Howard Hawks.
  
  1. On Assignment: His Girl Friday - featuring clips from archival interviews with author David Thompson (The Biographical Dictionary of Film) and critic Molly Haskell. In English, not subtitled. (9 min, 1080i).
  
  2. Howard Hawks: Reporter's Notebook - featuring clips from an archival interview with author Todd McCarthy (Howard Hawks: The Grey Fox of Hollywood). In English, not subtitled. (4 min, 1080i).
  
  3. Funny Pages - featuring archival footage from The Front Page and His Girl Friday and information about the classic play by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur. In English, not subtitled. (4 min, 1080i).
  
  4. Rosalind Russell: The Inside Scoop - featuring information about the life and career of actress Rosalind Russell, plus archival footage. In English, not subtitled. (4 min, 1080i).

• Lighting Up with Hildy Johnson - in this brand new visual essay, film scholar David Bordwell, coauthor of Film Art: An Introduction, discusses the auteur qualities of Howard Hawks' films and the brilliant structure and style of His Girl Friday. In English, not subtitled. (26 min, 1080p).

Disc Two

• The Front Page (1931) - presented here is Lewis Milestone's film The Front Page, starring Adolphe Menjou, Pat O'Brien,a and Mary Brian. For additional information about the recent 4K restoration of the film, please see the video section of our review. MPEG-4 AVC/1080p/English LPCM 1.0. With optional English SDH subtitles.

• Restoring The Front Page - this new featurette focuses on the recent 4K restoration of The Front Page and highlights some of the differences between the final restored version of the film and previously available versions. Included in the featurette are interviews with Dr. Hart Wegner (former chair, UNLV Department of Film), Francisco Menendez (founding artistic director, UNLV Department of Film), Michael Pogorzelski (dierctor, Film Archive, Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences), and Heather Addison (professor and chair, UNLV Department of Film), amongst others. In English, not subtitled. (24 min, 1080p).

• Ben Hecht - in this brand new documentary, Ben Hecht expert David Brendel takes a closer look at the life and diverse legacy of the prolific writer, some of the key themes that defined his best work, and some of the classic Hollywood films that were inspired by it (Foreign Correspondent, Scarface, Kiss of Death, Ride the Pink Horse). The documentary was created by the Criterion Collection in 2016.. In English, not subtitled. (26 min, 1080p).

• Radio Theater - presented here are two radio adaptations of The Front Page.
  
  1. 1937 Adaptation - featuring Walter Winchell as Hildy Johnson and James Gleason as Walter Burns. In English, not subtitled. (59 min, 1080p).
  
  2. 1946 Adaptation - featuring Pat O'Brien as Hildy Johnson and Adolphe Manjou and Walter Burns. In English, not subtitled. (32 min, 1080p).

• Two Leaflets - featuring essays on His Girl Friday and The Front Page by critics Farran Smith Nehme and Michael Sragow, as well as technical credits.

His Girl Friday Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Howard Hawks' His Girl Friday is an effective reminder that the more things change, the more they stay the same. Indeed, it is a brilliant comedy with a remarkable social awareness whose main observations about the media business during the 1940s can just as easily be used to describe contemporary media and its many disgraced 'professional' players. In addition to His Girl Friday, this upcoming two-disc set features a new 4K restoration of Lewis Milestone's original film The Front Page, as well as an impressive selection of newly produced and archival supplemental features. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.