His Girl Friday (1940)

   "...one of those fast-moving and idyllic comedies in which the lovers behave like villains to each other..."

With Ralph Bellamy and Rosalind Russell.

His Girl Friday- Review is taken from 'The Films of Cary Grant' by Donald Deschner (1973):

"His Girl Friday" from a play by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur" is a remake of The Front Page, the movie success of 1931 and stage hit of 1928.  The original has been changed this time into one of those fast-moving and idyllic comedies in which the lovers behave like villains to each other - sophisticated is the usual word for the genre.  Hildy Johnson has become a woman for this purpose.  She has been married to the fanatical editor and divorced from him because there was never time for love.  Coming to tell him she is going to marry a simple insurance man from Albany, she soon finds herself, against her will, back on her former job as reporter.  There follows the plot of The Front Page, with managing editor playing his tricks partly on the insurance man.  By the change the accent is shifted to the lovers' quarrel, and the original story loses much of its sense and punch.  Yet Rosalind Russell and Cary Grant give such entertaining performances that nobody in the roaring audience seems to notice the tastelessness, to say the least, of playing hide-and-seek with a man condemned to death.  The tragic elements of the original story are misused for boy-meets-girl nonsense.  Charles Lederer has written the new version with great skill and Howard Hawks has directed it with liveliness but with too great a concern for the deaf."  

- Franz Hoellering, The Nation

New Artwork by Rebekah Hawley at Studio36 -
Number 35- His Girl Friday (Lobby Card Style)

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For more, see also:

Quote From Today - January 18th 2023

On This Day - January 18th 2022

On This Day - January 18th 2021

On This Day...Monkey Business (1952)

 Today, in 1952, saw the release of Cary Grant's 58th film Monkey Business.

Grant's character is Dr. Barnaby Fulton, a research chemist, who has been working on a formula to regenerate worn-out tissues in the human body. After taking the formula himself, he starts to feel younger which leads to complications and fun!!

 

Marilyn Monroe stars as Lois Laurel, a secretary at Dr. Fulton's company. Also starring as his wife, Edwina, is Ginger Rogers.

"If youth is anything like the nonsense displayed here, maybe it's just as well that nobody has really concocted anything that would force us older citizens back into it." - John McCarten, The New Yorker

"Grant has never been better than in his part as the absent-minded professor in search of the elixir of youth." - Motion Picture Herald

"...only Cary Grant could do Barnaby justice with the underplaying that avoids the mawkish and the silly." - Newsweek

Cary Grant showing that once an acrobat always an acrobat.

The skating scene with Marilyn Monroe, overseen by Howard Hawks and crew.

Cast:

Professor Barnaby Fulton     Cary Grant

Edwina Fulton                      Ginger Rogers

Mr. Oliver Oxly                    Charles Coburn

Lois Laurel                           Marilyn Monroe

Hank Entwhistle                   Hugh Marlowe

Dr. Siegfried Kitzel               Henri Letondal

Dr. Zoldeck                          Robert Cornthwaite

Mr. G.J. Culverly                 Larry Keating

Dr. Bruner                            Douglas Spencer

Mrs. Rhinelander                 Esther Dale

Little Indian                         George Winslow

Ginger Rogers and Marilyn Monroe costume test pictures.

Lobby Cards:

Lobby card that has the alternative title "Be Your Age"

Spanish lobby card - "Vitamins for Love"

With Ginger Rogers and George Winslow.

Directed by Howard Hawks.

Distributed by 20th Century-Fox.

Running time: 97 minutes.

With Ginger Rogers and "Esther".

On This Day...I Was A Male War Bride(1949) and People Will Talk(1951)

Today's date sees the release of Cary Grant's 54th and 56th full length feature films, I Was A Male War Bride and People Will Talk.

I Was A Male War Bride (1949):

Cary Grant plays suave French captain Henri Rochard.

Ann Sheridan co-stars as his assistant, Lt. Catherine Gates, who shares in their love-hate relationship!

"...Under Howard Hawks's direction, the end product is one of the most sparklingly original comedies of the year." - Newsweek

"Cary Grant is a past master at playing the handsome he-man thrown for a loss by a difficult dame or an undignified situation." - Scholastic Magazine

"...Cary Grant, as the French captain, and Ann Sheridan, as the WAC who married him, put their all into the fun and manage to keep things moving at a fast pace." - Philip T. Hartung, The Commonweal

With Ann Sheridan.

Although only appearing in the closing scenes, Cary Grant in his horse tail wig and WAC uniform has become the iconic image of the film.

Cast:

Captain Henri Rochard           Cary Grant

Lt. Catherine Gates                 Ann Sheridan

Captain Jack Rumsey             William Neff

Tony Jowitt                             Eugene Gericke

WACS                                    Marion Marshall, Randy Stuart

Innkeeper's Assistant              Ruben Wendorf

Waiter                                     Lester Sharpe

Seaman                                   Ken Tobey

Lieutenant                               Robert Stevenson

Bartender                                Alfred Linder

Chaplain                                 David McMahon

Shore Patrol                            Joe Haworth

Trumble                                  John Whitney

Sergeants                                William Pullen, William Self

Shore Patrol                            John Zilly

Sergeant                                  Bill Murphy

On location.

Lobby Cards:

Directed by Howard Hawks.

Distributed by 20th Century-Fox.

Running time: 105 minutes.

People Will Talk (1951):

Cary Grant plays Dr. Noah Praetorius, a doctor with a mysterious background who comes under investigation.

Jeanne Crain plays a patient who is treated by Dr. Praetorius, after attempting suicide. She eventually marries the doctor, but is unsure of his motives.

With Finlay Currie and friends.

"We've no space to go into particulars - to discuss the inventiveness and skill of Mr. Mankiewicz' story telling, the cleverness of his people's talk or the arch humor of his expose.

Neither can we do more than mention the delightfulness and the good sense of the performance of Cary Grant as the professor, of Jeanne Crain as the troubled girl, of Finlay Currie as the mysterious companion and of Hume Cronyn, Walter Slezak, and many more.

All we can say is that a picture so mature and refreshingly frank as to hold that an erring young woman might be rewarded  with a wise and loving mate is most certainly a significant milestone in the moral emancipation of American film, not to mention an unexpected portent to greet an eager reviewer on his return.

People Will Talk should foment chatter, but that should be all to the good."

- The New York Times.

With Julia Dean and Katherine Locke.

"And once again, Hollywood's ranking "genius" - the only man to win four Academy Awards in two years - has something to say and says it frankly and funnily.

The film, which has a three-way plot, concentrates on one of the strangest and most adult love affairs ever to emerge from Hollywood...Grant...turns in one of the most intelligent performances of his nineteen-year Hollywood career." - News Week

"Cary Grant is excellent as Praetorious..." - Ann Helming, Hollywood Citizen-News.

With Jeanne Crain, Walter Slezak and Sidney Blackmer.

With Jeanne Crain.

Cast:

Dr. Noah Praetorius         Cary Grant

Annabel Higgins             Jeanne Crain

Shunderson                      Finley Currie

Prof. Elwell                     Hume Cronyn

Prof. Barker                    Walter Slezak

Arthur Higgins                Sidney Blackmer

Dean Lyman Brockwell  Basil Ruysdael

Miss James                      Katherine Locke

John Higgins                   Will Wright

Miss Pickett                     Margaret Hamilton

Mrs. Pegwhistle               Esther Somers

Technician                       Carleton Young

Business Manager            Larry Dobkin

Nurse                               Jo Gilbert

Dietician                          Ann Morrison

Old Lady                         Julia Dean

Secretary                          Gail Bonney

Student Manager             William Klein

Haskins                            George Offerman

Mabel                               Adele Longmire

Coonan                            Billy House

Photographer                   Al Murphy

Toy Salesman                  Parley Baer

Cook                                Irene Seidner

Gussie                              Joyce MacKenzie

Night Matron                   Maude Wallack

Bella                                Kay Lavelle

Doctor                              Ray Montgomery

Students                           Paul Lees, Wm. Mauch, Leon Taylor

You can look at this two ways!!

Lobby Cards:

Directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz.

Distributed by 20th Century-Fox.

Running time: 109 minutes.

Based on the play "Dr. Praetorius" by Curt Goetz.