849 His Girl Friday

Discuss releases by Criterion and the films on them. Threads may contain spoilers!
Post Reply
Message
Author
Werewolf by Night

849 His Girl Friday

#1 Post by Werewolf by Night » Wed Aug 10, 2016 12:25 pm

His Girl Friday

Image Image

One of the fastest, funniest, and most quotable films ever made, His Girl Friday stars Rosalind Russell as reporter Hildy Johnson, a standout among cinema's powerful women. Hildy is matched in force only by her conniving but charismatic editor and ex-husband, Walter Burns (played by the peerless Cary Grant), who dangles the chance for her to scoop her fellow newswriters with the story of an impending execution in order to keep her from hopping the train that's supposed to take her to Albany and a new life as a housewife. When adapting Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur's smash hit play The Front Page, director Howard Hawks had the inspired idea of turning star reporter Hildy Johnson into a woman, and the result is an immortal mix of hard-boiled newsroom setting with remarriage comedy. Also presented here is a brand-new restoration of the 1931 The Front Page, the famous pre-Code adaptation of the same material, directed by Lewis Milestone.

SPECIAL FEATURES

• New high-definition digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray
• New 2K restoration of Lewis Milestone's The Front Page (1931), made from a recently discovered print of the director's preferred version
• New interview with film scholar David Bordwell about His Girl Friday
• Archival interviews with director Howard Hawks
• Featurettes from 1999 about Hawks, actor Rosalind Russell, and the making of His Girl Friday
• Radio adaptation of His Girl Friday from 1940
• New piece about the restoration of The Front Page
• New piece about playwright and screenwriter Ben Hecht
• Radio adaptations of the play The Front Page from 1937 and 1946
His Girl Friday trailers
• PLUS: A booklet featuring essays on His Girl Friday and The Front Page by film critics Farran Smith Nehme and Michael Sragow

User avatar
domino harvey
Dot Com Dom
Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:42 pm

Re: Forthcoming: His Girl Friday

#2 Post by domino harvey » Wed Aug 10, 2016 12:33 pm

Werewolf by Night wrote:Image

Looks more like an interview or video introduction than a "commentary."
More Bordwell extras are always welcome, no matter how they are formatted!

User avatar
solaris72
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 3:03 pm
Location: Baltimore, MD

Re: Forthcoming: His Girl Friday

#3 Post by solaris72 » Wed Aug 10, 2016 1:53 pm

I wonder if they record commentaries like this, giving them the latitude to use the material in a variety of ways.

User avatar
Rayon Vert
Green is the Rayest Color
Joined: Wed Jan 08, 2014 10:52 pm
Location: Canada
Contact:

Re: Forthcoming: His Girl Friday

#4 Post by Rayon Vert » Wed Aug 10, 2016 2:04 pm

Seems it would make it more intimidating, less relaxing and intimate for the commentary maker.

User avatar
Ribs
Joined: Fri Jun 13, 2014 1:14 pm

Re: Forthcoming: His Girl Friday

#5 Post by Ribs » Wed Aug 10, 2016 2:29 pm

Doesn't the angle he's being shot at seem a little weird? It's all Errol Morris, right-in-your-face, rather than a more traditional, rule-of-thirds documentary composition.

User avatar
colinr0380
Joined: Mon Nov 08, 2004 4:30 pm
Location: Chapel-en-le-Frith, Derbyshire, UK

Re: Forthcoming: His Girl Friday

#6 Post by colinr0380 » Fri Aug 12, 2016 2:09 pm

Of course everyone knows that best way to discuss His Girl Friday is in silhouette in front of an attentive audience!

User avatar
swo17
Bloodthirsty Butcher
Joined: Tue Apr 15, 2008 10:25 am
Location: SLC, UT

Re: 849 His Girl Friday

#7 Post by swo17 » Fri Oct 14, 2016 3:17 pm


User avatar
Ribs
Joined: Fri Jun 13, 2014 1:14 pm

Re: 849 His Girl Friday

#8 Post by Ribs » Fri Oct 14, 2016 3:19 pm

Hooray, two discs to account for a remastered version of The Front Page! Great bonus.

User avatar
domino harvey
Dot Com Dom
Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:42 pm

Re: 849 His Girl Friday

#9 Post by domino harvey » Fri Oct 14, 2016 3:27 pm

Moment of silence for Kino and their now useless Front Page Blu-ray that came out recently

User avatar
Ribs
Joined: Fri Jun 13, 2014 1:14 pm

Re: 849 His Girl Friday

#10 Post by Ribs » Fri Oct 14, 2016 3:31 pm

Very amused to see not one, not two, but three separate radio adaptations being included.

User avatar
Drucker
Your Future our Drucker
Joined: Wed May 18, 2011 9:37 am

Re: 849 His Girl Friday

#11 Post by Drucker » Fri Oct 14, 2016 3:32 pm

domino harvey wrote:Moment of silence for Kino and their now useless Front Page Blu-ray that came out recently
Which I just watched and enjoyed last week. #-o

User avatar
Feego
Joined: Thu Aug 16, 2007 7:30 pm
Location: Texas

Re: 849 His Girl Friday

#12 Post by Feego » Fri Oct 14, 2016 4:14 pm

Well, the Kino Blu does include a commentary, so perhaps not entirely useless for those who already have it?

User avatar
domino harvey
Dot Com Dom
Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:42 pm

Re: 849 His Girl Friday

#13 Post by domino harvey » Fri Oct 14, 2016 4:16 pm

It does? The Blu-ray.com review doesn't mention it

beamish13
Joined: Sun Oct 14, 2007 5:31 am

Re: 849 His Girl Friday

#14 Post by beamish13 » Fri Oct 14, 2016 4:17 pm

I wish The Front Page had gotten its own spine. The differences between the American and international versions are really fascinating, and I saw how much work went into this restoration at the AMPAS' recent restoration festival.

User avatar
Feego
Joined: Thu Aug 16, 2007 7:30 pm
Location: Texas

Re: 849 His Girl Friday

#15 Post by Feego » Fri Oct 14, 2016 5:06 pm

domino harvey wrote:It does? The Blu-ray.com review doesn't mention it
It's mentioned in the DVDBeaver review. I don't own the disc myself, so I can't comment on its quality.

Bressonaire
Joined: Mon Dec 02, 2013 4:49 pm

Re: 849 His Girl Friday

#16 Post by Bressonaire » Fri Dec 02, 2016 3:15 pm

The booklet for the release has now become an insert.

User avatar
TMDaines
Joined: Wed Nov 11, 2009 1:01 pm
Location: Stretford, Manchester

Re: 849 His Girl Friday

#17 Post by TMDaines » Thu Dec 08, 2016 6:17 am

Bressonaire wrote:The booklet for the release has now become an insert.
$50

User avatar
mistakaninja
Joined: Thu Aug 15, 2013 5:15 pm

Re: 849 His Girl Friday

#18 Post by mistakaninja » Thu Dec 08, 2016 7:42 am

It's still eighteen quid on Amazon.co.uk. Presumably even cheaper for colonial raiders with VAT deductions.

User avatar
FrauBlucher
Joined: Mon Jul 15, 2013 8:28 pm
Location: Greenwich Village

Re: 849 His Girl Friday

#19 Post by FrauBlucher » Tue Dec 13, 2016 9:53 pm


User avatar
Drucker
Your Future our Drucker
Joined: Wed May 18, 2011 9:37 am

Re: 849 His Girl Friday

#20 Post by Drucker » Tue Dec 13, 2016 10:22 pm

Wow The Front Page does not look good. The audio is very rough of the Kino, but I prefer a film in rough shape being shown as is rather than what appears to be a not great restoration.

User avatar
domino harvey
Dot Com Dom
Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:42 pm

Re: 849 His Girl Friday

#21 Post by domino harvey » Tue Dec 13, 2016 10:38 pm

Criterion is charging us an extra ten bucks for that? Turns out Kino owners are having the last laugh in yet another twist as we wind down the year

User avatar
zedz
Joined: Sun Nov 07, 2004 7:24 pm

Re: 849 His Girl Friday

#22 Post by zedz » Tue Dec 13, 2016 11:43 pm

Though if this is an alternative cut with entirely different shots, then it's good that both versions are now available (even if the one on Criterion's disc is of poorer visual quality).

Costa
Joined: Fri Sep 03, 2010 5:10 pm

Re: 849 His Girl Friday

#23 Post by Costa » Tue Dec 13, 2016 11:51 pm

Drucker wrote:Wow The Front Page does not look good. The audio is very rough of the Kino, but I prefer a film in rough shape being shown as is rather than what appears to be a not great restoration.
Judging from the screenshots I agree.
The Kino looks much better.

But don't worry.
The Dr will make it look stellar and'll try to convince everyone that the Kino is actually the inferior one! So, all's well :lol:

User avatar
domino harvey
Dot Com Dom
Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:42 pm

Re: 849 His Girl Friday

#24 Post by domino harvey » Tue Dec 13, 2016 11:55 pm

To be fair, I saw the Front Page on one of those horrid PD DVDs and while it's an okay movie I kind of doubt I'll ever watch it again, so it's not like I won't be picking this up regardless on the strength of the A-feature. I just would prefer not have had to pay a premium on top of a premium to do so

User avatar
Minkin
Joined: Thu Aug 06, 2009 11:13 pm

Re: 849 His Girl Friday

#25 Post by Minkin » Wed Dec 14, 2016 12:01 am

Before you all go and grab your pitchforks, perhaps some research might be pertinent.
The source element used for the restoration was a black & white composite print of the film’s U.S. version discovered in the University of Nevada Las Vegas’s Howard Hughes Collection. The print was produced in the 1970s from the now lost original camera negative. Pogorzelski and Linville compared the print to surviving copies of an alternate European version and noted significant differences in action, dialogue and camera placement throughout. The U.S. version has not been seen in decades.
Looks like the restoration was done by MTI Film - who also worked on Lawrence of Arabia, Taxi Driver, etc. So this is certainly the best the print will ever look.

Granted, it hasn't held up as well as Kino's Library of Congress print of the European cut, but this should still be celebrated for finally being able to see the original version of the film.

Post Reply