The Cult Movie Project #7 (of 200) :: Quipping With Sharks and the Fine Art of Gender Upheaval: Howard Hawks' His Girl Friday (1940)

Originally intended for Broadway, The Front Page was written by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur, both former newspapermen from the self-aggrandizing and cutthroat (dark) days of Chicago's circulation wars, basing their characters on themselves and several old colleagues. Produced by Jed Harris and directed by the legendary George S. Kaufman, their play proved a smashing success. Seems audiences were delighted by the intricate plotting and the snarky, slang-filled dialogue of the irascible characters that inhabited the newsroom of The Examiner. Howard Hughes obtained the film rights and Bartlett Cormack adapted the screenplay for Lewis Milestone's 1931 film adaptation for United Artists, with an assist by Charles Lederer.

Lederer was also a holdover for Howard Hawks' proposed gender-bending remake of The Front Page for Columbia nine years later, who stayed true to Hecht and MacArthur's crackerjack, rapid-fire dialogue, soon to be his director's signature trademark, in perhaps the screwiest of screwball comedies of all time, His Girl Friday (1940).

"I had noticed that when people talk, they talk over one another," Hawks expounded later during an interview with fellow director, Peter Bogdanovich. "Especially people who talk fast or who are arguing or describing something. So we wrote the dialogue in a way that made the beginnings and ends of sentences unnecessary; they were there for overlapping."

To get the right mix for this effect, the director employed several microphones for each take, some hanging from above, others hidden around the set, all going to the same recorder, requiring the sound man to keep the dialogue in-synch with the switch-flipping to keep the right mic hot -- as many as 35 times a take! I'm telling ya, having a conversation in this film is like swimming with sharks in deep water, where multiple characters must keep paddling and defensively flailing to stop from drowning and being devoured simultaneously. And this is why His Girl Friday is one of those flicks that absolutely requires multiple viewings, where a person can pick up something new each and every time and STILL not catch it all.

Now, there are many apocryphal tales surrounding exactly why Hawks pulled this gender switch, making the battling and bickering Walter Burns and Hildebrant Johnson a divorced couple instead of just being an unscrupulous editor and a crack reporter. One catalytic influence that I think gets overlooked is Torchy Blane. See, in-between adaptations, Warner Bros. had unleashed Glenda Farrell in a successful series of films, starting with Smart Blonde (1937), spotlighting a savvy, motor-mouthed female reporter with an acid-tongue who always outwitted, out-quipped and out-reported her male counterparts, and she always, always, got in the last cracked-wise word with everyone, that were truly hilarious.

The most oft told tale on the origin of this switcheroo is how Hawks had his secretary reading the part of Johnson during the pre-production phase (other sources claim it was at dinner party during a dialogue tutorial) and a mental light-bulb clicked on, sending the director scrambling to Lederer for, well, not as massive a rewrite as you'd think because even though the story might've changed the dialogue remained the same as the scheming and cajoling Burns still wants his ace reporter to get him the real scoop on a condemned man (Qualen) destined to be hanged at midnight for his newspaper but this is also part of his overall stratagem to win her back by derailing (the now) Hildegarde Johnson's impending marriage to a doltish (but earnest and completely overwhelmed) insurance salesmen who kinda looks like Ralph Bellamy.

What's a cold hard fact is that Rosalind Russell was about sixth or seventh in line for the role and only got it when Carole Lombard proved too expensive and several other big names -- Katharine Hepburn, Claudette Colbert, Margaret Sullavan, Ginger Rogers, Irene Dunn, and Jean Arthur -- took a pass; a source of bitter contention between the actress and the director, causing a few dust-ups during production. Lombard was Hawks' first choice for Hildy, then Hepburn, whom he had hoped to pair up with Cary Grant again just like in the director's other britches-burning comedy, Bringing Up Baby (1938). Grant was the director's first choice all along for Walter Burns, who had a ball. For once, the actor got to stir the pot instead of being at the mercy of whoever else was pee--*ahem*, sorry, whoever else was holding the ladle.

Russell would have the last laugh on the director, though, beating him at his own game. Knowing Hawks favored a loose script, spontaneity and improvisation, Russell hired her own gag writer to punch-up her dialogue to match Grant, barb for barb and double-entendre for double-entendre. Grant soon caught onto this but played along and didn't rat her out. And in the end, with the crackling chemistry these two show as they spark off of one another, we should all be grateful that those casting dominoes fell that far. Also, major kudos must be given to Bellamy as the never-say-die but never-had-a-chance corner of this love-triangle. And how 'bout a big hand for the gaggle of reporters at the courthouse, who proved this gender identity switching goes both ways. I mean, that poker game is one of the most gossipy hen-parties I've ever witnessed onscreen.

I'm always kind of amazed that it took until the 1970s before Hawks conversational style really caught on, cinematically speaking. (Remember, Robert Altman was fired off Countdown in 1968 because the studio charged his actors were all talking at the same time.) But right here is where it really started, a veritable well-stocked vocabulary bar, brash, brassy, rowdy, and ballsy that'll leave your ears a little punch-drunk. And if you haven't seen it yet, the film is (quite inexplicably) in the public domain; and thus, available to stream almost everywhere, so give it a whirl. Just be sure to hang on to something after you push play because there's a gale-force storm of comedy primed and ready to run you over -- and then back up and run you over again. And again. Aaaaaaand again. 

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"Hawks immediately recognized that with Hildy as a woman the story takes on a new, interesting dimension: the characters play for higher stakes. In The Front Page, Walter wants Hildy to remain with The Morning Post instead of marrying Peggy and taking a higher paying advertising job. This is as much out of spite (as Peggy points out) as out of fear of losing his ace reporter. (In the play, there is additionally a subtle homosexual bond between Hildy and Walter.) In His Girl Friday, Walter, who becomes the lead male character, needs Hildy (as all Hawks' heroes are incomplete without women of equal intelligence, wit, and strength of character) because he loves her and because she is a crack reporter -- not necessarily in that order."
 
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXxxxxxxxxxXXXXXXX-- Danny Peary 

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The Fine Print: His Girl Friday was watched via Amazon Prime's streaming package. Watched as a Howard Hawks double-feature with Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953). What's the Cult Movie Project? That's seven down, with 193 to go.

   
His Girl Friday (1940) Columbia Pictures Corporation / P: Howard Hawks / D: Howard Hawks / W: Charles Lederer, Morrie Ryskind, Ben Hecht (play), Charles MacArthur (play) / C: Joseph Walker / E: Gene Havlick / M: Sidney Cutner, Felix Mills / S: Cary Grant, Rosalind Russell, Ralph Bellamy, Gene Lockhart, Abner Biberman, John Qualen

The Cult Movie Project #6 (of 200) :: No: A Girl is a Girl's Best Friend in Howard Hawks' Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953)

If I could sum up this raucous musical comedy in one word it would probably be "payload" -- of which our two headlining bombshells bump and wiggle and sing and quip to maximize the delivery for a resulting impact that is devastatingly awesome and then some. A Technicolor spin on the old Warner Gold Digger films of the 1930s, with Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell taking over for Joan Blondell and Glenda Farrell, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953) showcases our two starlets as friends to the end trying to snag the right sugar-daddy and avoid some wagging tongues and the private dick hired to shadow them while blasting their way through a succession of ever-escalating musical interludes.

This whole notion began as a novel penned by Anita Loos, who later adapted it into a play with Joseph Fields in 1928, and then a Broadway musical in 1948 with a score by Jule Styne and Leo Robin. With Carol Channing as the preferred Blonde, the show was a smashing success and opened a bidding war in Hollywood between Columbia's Harry Cohn, who wanted it for Judy Holiday, and 20th Century Fox's Daryl Zanuck, who hoped it would reignite the career of Betty Grable. Grable had campaigned hard for the role of Lorelei Lee, but Zanuck soon pushed her to the side, opening up the role for his latest blond bombshell, whose popularity was currently going through the roof.

Also of note (and one cannot discount the fact that) Monroe's salary would be a fraction of what Grable would cost. Top-billed Russell's paycheck was four times the amount of Monroe's, which officially opened a rift between the star and the mogul over contracts and assignments that would only get wider and worse until the whole thing blew up in 1955 and Monroe walked out on Zanuck and Fox altogether.

Despite the gap in pay, and the gossip columns beating the war drums for the expected battle between "The Bossum" and "The Behind", the claws never came out. In fact, according to nearly everyone involved, the pair got a long great, which bleeds over onto the screen to the film's betterment. Director Howard Hawks and screenwriter Charles Lederer made the right decision to make the film not about the relationships our heroines brazenly pursue but about the rock-solid friendship Lorelei (Monroe) and Dorothy Shaw (Russell) share. They are just a couple of gals from Little Rock after all.

Renown for the sense of camaraderie he brought out with the male characters in his previous films, Hawks proved just as adept at doing the same with women, allowing them into the inner-circle of his he-man protagonists. Here, is a rare opportunity where the women allow men into theirs. Sadly, the only other example I can think of that comes close to this are the Blondell and Farrell vehicles Havana Widows (1933), Miss Pacific Fleet (1935) and Kansas City Princess (1935) and William Wellman's Lady of Burlesque (1943).

Hawks later admitted the film would not have worked if Russell hadn't befriended Monroe. Already forged over the fires of sexpotism by Howard Hughes, Russell took an advisory big sister approach with Monroe, whose neurotic behind the scenes behavior, here, already showed the faults in the filament that would eventually burn the light out prematurely after reaching such incandescent heights so rapidly. Between her fits of temper, demands for retakes, and retreating into her dressing room and holing up, a protective Russell was always there to coax her back, explain what Hawks wanted, reassure her, and escort her to and from the set. As the production dragged on, Hawks infamously quipped the film would be better if they replaced Marilyn, rewrote the script and made it shorter, and got a new director. Luckily for us, they did none of the above.

Now, I for one despise the Cult of Marilyn and don't give two-sh*ts for all the myths and scandals off-screen because it detracts way too much from what we got onscreen. Here, she shows great comedic timing, self-depreciation on her looks and perceived lack of intelligence, and passable music skills. (According to legend, Monroe ad-libbed the line "I can be smart when it's important, but most men don't like it." I hope it's true.) And while Monroe's "Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend" is a bona-fide showstopper, my favorite scene in the whole movie is when she gets stuck in the porthole on the boat and gets rescued by little Georgie Winslow. I love that kid here, and in Monkey Business (1952), and in Room for One More (1952) and in Artists and Models (1955). 

And it's funny, now that I think about it, aside from Winslow and Charles Coburn bringing the irascible-fudd something fierce as Piggy Beekman, is how utterly forgettable the suitors are -- even the ones our gals wind up marrying! 

Sometimes lost due to the fervor of that Cult of Marilyn, one tends to overlook how good Russell is in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, too. I just love her "Ain't there Anyone Here for Love" number on the boat with the Olympians (-- apparently, Russell getting knocked into the pool was an accident that Hawks loved and left in the picture. Watch as Russell just rolls with it and finishes the scene.) And at the end, when Russell impersonates Monroe at the courthouse during the climax always leaves me giggling. One could even argue that Russell almost steals the movie from Monroe, but graciously took a step back and let her co-star take the spotlight.

Upon its release in 1953, 20th Century Fox had a huge hit on its hands and Hollywood's hottest star. And so thrilled were they by these results the studio immediately wanted to pair Monroe and Russell together again in How to Be Very Popular (1955). But the growing feud between Zanuck and Monroe derailed any notion of this and the film eventually was assigned to, ironically enough, Betty Grable and Sheree North. Russell would, however, team up with Jeanne Crain in the similarly themed Gentlemen Marry Brunettes (1955). Both follow-up films have their moments but definitely lack the spark that Russell and Monroe managed to ignite, flamed by Hawks, and the resulting comedic conflagration that all could and should enjoy. My only complaint is that Gentlemen Preferred Blondes just missed out on CinemaScope. I know the "Diamonds" number was re-shot in the widescreen process, but can you imagine the whole film broadened out? I sure can.

Other Points of Interest:

Newspaper ads for Gentlemen Prefer Blondes at the Morgue. 

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"The film is properly about the relationship between Lorelei and Dorothy. They are among the most loyal, protective, supportive female friends in movie history. They each regard their friendship as more important than their love lives. It may seem ridiculous to praise a film just because it presents women as friends, but think how few American films have two good female roles, much less two pretty women of the same age as friends. So female friendship in films is not to be taken for granted."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXxxxxxxxxxXXXXXXX-- Danny Peary
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The Fine Print: Gentlemen Prefer Blondes was watched via Netflix Instant's streaming package. Watched as a Howard Hawks double-feature with His Girl Friday (1940). What's the Cult Movie Project? That's six down, with 194 to go.

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953)20th Century Fox Film Corporation / P: Sol C. Siegel / D: Howard Hawks / W: Charles Lederer, Anita Loos (play), Joseph Fields (play) / C: Harry J. Wild / E: Hugh S. Fowler / M: Leigh Harline, Lionel Newman, Hal Schaefer, Herbert W. Spencer / S: Jane Russell, Marilyn Monroe, Charles Coburn, Elliott Reid, Tommy Noonan, George Winslow

Favorites :: Behind the Scenes :: The Rehersal's The Thing :: A Howard Hawks Dialogue Roundtable from Another World.

Starting with the man standing in the back and going counter-clockwise around the circle, we have director Christian Nyby, actors Douglas Spencer, James Young, Ken Tobey, Dewey Martin, Bill Self, dialogue coach Lorry Sherwood, unit manager Art Siteman, and producer Howard Hawks, holding court, looking for the right cadence during a script read-through for The Thing from Another World (1951).

And as an added bonus, a pin-up of Margaret Sheridan because of reasons. I mean, damn, WOW.

Movie Poster Spotlight :: Tieni D'occhio Il Cielo :: Photobustas for Howard Hawks' The Thing from Another World (1951)

 

As a shock to probably no one, but, when asked to name my all-time favorite movie there is no need for toiling or sweating or gut-checking over the answer. Hands down, Howard Hawks The Thing from Another World is still tops. Thus and so, I decided to mark the milestone of my 500th post at the Brewery by throwing a spotlight on the same with this batch of fantastic (if not slightly misleading) Italian photobustas for La Cosa Da Un Altro Mondo! Enjoy.

The Thing from Another World (1951) Winchester Pictures Corporation :: RKO Radio Pictures / P: Howard Hawks / AP: Edward Lasker / D: Christain Nyby, Howard Hawks / W: Charles Lederer, Howard Hawks, Ben Hecht, John W. Campbell Jr. (story) / C: Russell Harlan / E: Roland Gross / M: Dimitri Tiomkin / S: Kenneth Tobey, Margaret Sheridan, Robert Cornthwaite, Dewey Martin, Douglas Spencer, James Young, Robert Nichols, William Self, James Arness

Netflix'd :: Clearing Out the Instant Que :: Gone Fishing with Howard :: Man's Favorite Sport? (1964).

It's a familiar story: Boy meets girl. He's oil. She's water. He's ... Nah. Hold up. He's the water, and she's the oil. Anyways ... He works at a sporting goods store. She works at a hunting and fishing lodge. He's an expert fish angler. She needs to wrangle an expert fishermen. He's written a best-selling book on the art of catching a fish, earning him much publicity in such circles. Thus, she, through his fudd of a boss, has entered him in her lodge's annual fishing contest, hoping for more of the same. He thinks that's a terrible idea. She thinks it's a no-brainer. He adamantly refuses. She can't understand why. He puts his foot down. She proceeds to stomp on it until he relents. And so, our hero is in the contest. But, our heroine still has to overcome one major obstacle:


Her fishing expert has never, ever fished in his life. In fact, four out of his five senses can't outright stand the cold, slimy buggers; with only hearing getting a pass. Nope. Can't stand 'em. Revolted, even. Apparently, seems our boy became an expert behind the sales counter, milking his clientele for all their secrets; a bizarre ponzi scheme of advice on lures, rods and reels. Stuck and thus, taking pity on the poor fraud (-- after using it as leverage to hammer on him until he agrees to take part, 'natch), she has one week to turn this armchair angler into an ersatz Virgil Ward.


But he's kind of a hopeless dope. And she has the mutant ability to trigger a chaos effect on those within her reach. His world is falling apart. She is the root cause of it. He's infuriated by her. She's infatuated with him. He's engaged to someone else. She couldn't care less. Now just stuff all of that into a test tube, and then sit back and watch how these elements react. Will they explode? Or will they gel into some cohesive compound of co-existence?

And so, some ten years after Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, the stage is set for Howard Hawks' triumphant comedic comeback, Man's Favorite Sport?. And the stage is set-up beautifully, right out of the gate, with some spiffy animated collage and stencil credits, courtesy of Wayne Fitzgerald:


Originally intended as a remake of the director's screwball classic, Bringing Up Baby, Hawks wanted to reunite stars Cary Grant and Katherine Hepburn for this whopper of a fish tale. Obviously, that didn't pan out. Grant was game, but felt he was far too old for co-star Paula Prentiss and gracefully bowed out. Luckily, Hawks found a suitable replacement with Rock Hudson.


Hudson had already flexed his funny-bone in several light romantic comedies, but here proved he was also a very gifted physical comedian that could- and probably should have been explored and exploited more in future projects. And that, with Prentiss' help, makes all the pants-on-fire wackiness to come go down smooth. And speaking of the adorable Prentiss ... as a friend of mine commented upon first seeing Olivia Wilde in TRON: Legacy dudded-up in her digital spandex glory, and how it made her aware of a fetish she didn't even know she had, here, when Prentiss (and co-star Perschy) show up in those skin-tight rubber diving suits, well, lets just say my personal Comics Code rumbled and shifted. Noticeably. Very noticeably...


Now, normally, I'm not a big fan of this kind of third-wheel romantic plot: a seemingly happily engaged man meeting up and falling in love with another woman. And what I object to is how the films usually make the fiance, male or female, an irredeemable ass of the highest order. To me, that's just lazy scriptwriting and makes the decision to dump one for the other so easy one can hardly believe the hero got engaged to them in the first place.


Here, it's kind of reversed. Tex Connors (Charlene Holt), the fiance, seems nice enough but barely shows up long enough to say hello and goodbye. She's so incidental, and with the coming twist that sets up the third act, her character really wasn't even necessary. So one has to ask, Why bother? On the other hand, I freely admit I felt the urge to strangle Abigale Paige (Prentiss) on several occasions as she spastically blusters her way into bowling over Roger Willoughby (Hudson). In short order, in a flurry of stuck zippers, torn dresses, and one disastrous dose of sleeping pills, Paige falls in love, breaks up Willoughby's marriage, attacks him with a circular saw when another one of her hair-brained plans goes awry (-- okay, okay: I thought I was gonna die laughing at that scene), exposes him as a fraud, gets him fired, and then has the temerity to tell him it will never work and runs away once he expresses mutual feelings for her.


Will t'woo wuv win in the end? Usually, I wouldn't give a feh or rat's ass either way, but thanks to the leads I was hooked, and I laughed, a lot, all the way to the not-so-bitter end -- though most of the throwaway bits prove funnier than the overtly staged comedy. (Loved that running gag with the boss's errant hair piece.) Hawks helps, too. And all of his usual staples are there: strong female characters, sharp and overlapping dialogue, an obsession with gadgetry, characters always moving, and using the sets to dictate his scenes instead of the other way around. Add it all up and this one's a definite keeper.


Man's Favorite Sport? (1964) Gibraltar Productions :: Laurel Productions :: Universal Pictures / P: Howard Hawks / AP: Paul Helmick / D: Howard Hawks / W: John Fenton Murray, Steve McNeil, Pat Frank (story) / C: Russell Harlan / E: Stuart Gilmore / S: Rock Hudson, Paula Prentiss, Maria Perschy, John McGiver, Charlene Holt, Norman Alden