The play "The Front Page" by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur opened at the Times Square Theater on August 14, 1929, and ran for 276 performances. In this comedy-drama about newspapermen, the journalists were all based on actual reporters who were Chicago colleagues of authors Hecht and MacArthur, with most working alongside them at the courthouse. The real names were only slightly changed: "Hildy Johnson" was based on the real-life reporter Hildebrand Johnson, "Walter Burns" was based on the editor Walter Howey, and "Mac McCue" was based on reporter Buddy McHugh.
Director Lewis Milstone's 1931 film version of the play was the progenitor for Howard Hawks' 1940 version for Columbia (entitled HIS GIRL FRIDAY) and Billy Wilder's 1976 version starring Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau. The 1931 film fell into the public domain, with the result that only poor quality versions have been available on video. This 5-minute video explains how the film has been restored, and why the restoration will look differently from what anyone has probably seen in more than 60 years.
Saw the restoration at the Academy, never having really seen it before in the earlier version. Wonderful. I also saw Robert Ryan and Bert Convy starring in a great revival on Broadway years ago, featuring Helen Hayes, widow of co-scripter Charles MacArthur, as the mother of the bride-to-be. If the new Broadway production is half as good, they should have a hit. At least they've got a great print ad for the upcoming production: they reprint quotes from the rave reviews which greeted the play when it first opened in 1928.
For those who are interested, the new restoration of this film is going to be included as an extra on Criterion's new edition of His Girl Friday in January.
Thanks Bob, interesting feature. I had no idea about all the various versions for world-wide distribution. This seems like a golden time for restoration of thirties & forties movies, some great stuff coming from Universal, Sony & Warner, & all the other restorations going on.
