His Girl Friday (1940)

"I often wish you weren't such a stinker!"
Cary Grant is such a great comedic actor! He doesn't even need to say anything - those facial expressions! Hilarious!
Walter Burns (Cary Grant) is the editor of the Morning newspaper and boss of his ex-wife, Hildy Johnson (Rosalind Russell). Hildy is an ace reporter who decides to get married and get away from the newspaper business to lead "a normal human life." After much convincing, Walter finally gets Hildy to write one last story for the paper before she leaves. And all the while he is trying to keep her there and win back her heart! He definitely succeeds!

Okay Movie, Poor DVD Transfer!
Unlike your earlier screwball comedy movies, this one has a little dark edge to it as it covers issues such as the death penalty for innocent people and police and government corruption. For its time, it was also unique in that the female lead was treated somewhat as an equal with her other male colleagues which we take for granted today but was unheard of in 1940. As far as screwball comedies go, I wouldn't call this the best one I've seen as that accolade would have to go to "My Man Godfrey" or perhaps "The Thin Man" but this movie while not coming close to the standard of these two is still entertaining.

The problem with this DVD though is the poor video quality although the sound quality isn't that bad if you have a system with Dolby Pro Logic which simulates surround sound and yet the hissing is still noticeable. The picture quality is riddled with imperfections and it may be a good idea to wait for a properly restored version to come out or maybe Blu-Ray? The Biography - Cary Grant On Film was entertaining but it isn't the best biopic on the man that I've seen. For that you would have to see the special features for the 2-Disc version of "Bringing Up Baby" which by the way is also a much better movie than this one. The jokes on "His Girl Friday" while they may have been funny 68 years ago have not aged very well and despite the quick dialogue, I guess living in this extremely fast paced society today, I didn't think it was that extraordinary either. Believe me people in Singapore speak just as fast or even faster as a matter of course. As far as screwball comedy with jokes that are still funny today go, I'd recommend "My Man Godfrey", "The Thin Man" and "Bringing Up Baby" ahead of this one and in that order. By the way, the Tony Curtis intro does nothing for the disc and I'm not sure what exactly his input had to do with improving the overall enjoyment of the disc as it clearly didn't do that.

Short on special features, okay sound but poor picture quality on humour material that doesn't age well makes me recommend you give this DVD a miss.

For all Cary Grant fans
This is Cary Grant at his debonair best. He's sexy, funny, and a smart aleck. Rosalind Russell is hilarious also. A definite must see for old time movie buffs.