Discuss The Front Page
Discuss → Movies → The Front Page → General
ugh. Struggling with this one
posted by rooprectSTAFFMOD on March 10, 2024 at 12:21 PM
I made the mistake of watching the remake His Girl Friday first, then backtracking to this. The immediate problem is that this version doesn't have any likeable characters. By design I'm sure. It's meant to be a brutal skewering of the sleazy press. So for example the character of Walter Burns (played by the suave Cary Grant in the remake) is played here like a villain, right down to the handlebar mustache, and you sorta hate him. Also the protagonist Hildy is equally sleazy, in his opening scene showing how little he cares for his fiancée. He's just using her, and the whole marriage, as an excuse to escape Walter.
It's much, much darker overall with much more emphasis on the impending hanging. It also disturbs us much more with the way everyone is treating the execution as a big joke, making constant wisecracks contrasted against the jarring images of the gallows where the executioner is practicing on a sandbag. This movie's power is in it's sarcasm and inhumanity.
Which is why, coming from watching His Girl Friday, the charming & human version with very likeable characters, it's really hard to get into this. HGF has the same dark themes, but there are moments when we get a relief from the merciless sarcasm and we see the human side of Walter & Hildy. For example the pivotal scene in HGF is where Hildy (Rosalind Russell) interviews the condemned man; it's a quiet, somber and contrastingly sentimental scene where we see Hildy's genuine sympathy--she's not just after a scoop. But here there's no such humanity. I've tried watching this 2 nights in a row but I keep losing interest within 30 mins. Again, I'm not faulting the production; I think it works on a different, darker level. But it's tough when you're expecting it to be as endearing as HGF.
Anyone else feel this way when they watched this?
Reply by wonder2wonder
on March 10, 2024 at 2:26 PM
Both movies are a bit different regarding the relationship plot. In "His Girl Friday (1940)" there is the handsome Cary Grant who is a possessive man, and doesn't want his ex-wife marrying someone else, and does everything to prevent this. She is also his star reporter, so it's a double loss. Of course, in the end it's all lovey-dovey, but how long will a second marriage last?
In "The Front Page (1931)" the editor is the villainous-looking Adolphe Menjou, who doesn't want his star reporter to quit and marry the love of his life.
It doesn't matter who plays the editor Walter Burns, I find him in both movies despicable.
I liked both movies, and could easily smile at the ridiculous situations the characters got themselves into when trying to get the better of the other.
Reply by genplant29
on March 10, 2024 at 4:36 PM
Despite it starring and featuring actors I've either always or usually liked, I've never cared for this movie. For various reasons mentioned in the two comments above, it's just never appealed to me any.
Reply by rooprect
on March 10, 2024 at 4:59 PM
Yup I think the entire story is just upsetting, so even though the film is effective it's hard to call it "enjoyable". I did like Cary Grant's "Walter" even though he was despicable. His charm and wit made him one of those antagonists you love to hate sort of like Hannibal Lecter in Silence of the Lambs haha.
The romance angle in His Girl Friday was brilliant and added so much to the story. The story (in both versions) is about Walter's possessiveness and need to control Hildy, so it was a stroke of genius to make a parallel with a dysfunctional marriage. @wonder2wonder I think the answer to your question "will a second marriage last?" is a resounding "NO" but I think their rekindled career partnership is made in heaven. I think the final scene of HGF hints at that, as they race off to chase a story in Albany, Walter unchivalrously making Hildy carry all the bags, without so much as a kiss to validate their romance.
Reply by bratface
on March 10, 2024 at 5:53 PM
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Front_Page_(1974_film)
Reply by rooprect
on March 10, 2024 at 6:21 PM
That's on my list next, just for the sake of completing the journey. Now that I have an appreciation for how dark the story really is, I wonder if some 70s cynicism is what it was waiting for (à la Network (1976))
Reply by bratface
on March 10, 2024 at 7:04 PM
I haven't seen the 1974 version in years, so can't remember much.
Reply by wonder2wonder
on March 10, 2024 at 8:42 PM
The relationship plot in "The Front Page (1974)" is the same as "The Front Page (1931)", but with comedy pair Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau - known from "The Fortune Cookie (1966)" and "The Odd Couple (1968)" - starring, it almost feels like the same two characters from the previous movies meeting each other again in a different incarnation.
Reply by rooprect
on March 11, 2024 at 9:49 AM
Welp I finished watching it and actually thought the 2nd half was really good. Maybe it just took me a while to get into it, but I think the 2nd half is when the condemned man "Earl" becomes a main character as well as "Molly" who was my favorite part of the movie (much more fleshed out than in HGF). Earlier I said there were no likeable characters, but I think these 2 filled that void and made a great contrast against the sleazy newspaper men, as well as a reason to get invested in the story.
Also I realized how powerful the use of silence is in this movie. Here's the scene where the newspaper men bully and basically assault Molly by throwing her out. Notice the long heavy silence after she's gone.... nearly a full 30 seconds with no real dialogue or movement. It really hits hard
The Front Page (Molly scene at 32:19)
This same scene was done in His Girl Friday, but in HGF Hildy was there to soften it a bit, so that kinda waters down the effect.
The 2nd half has more of those kinds of scenes with Molly & Earl, shocking here in the original but tamed for HGF. I suppose they had to soften it because having Molly & Earl as protagonists would've taken away from the Hildy & Walter story & humor. Anyway, 2 sides of a coin. I still didn't really "enjoy" this movie approached as a comedy, but as a sarcastic drama I think it's great. I did really enjoy the great ending twist & punchline which they sneakily slipped past the censors. That was epic!