His Girl Friday

Classic, unrelentingly hilarious war-between-the-sexes comedy. Cynical newspaper editor Walter Burns (Grant) wants to get a big scoop on political corruption, which involves convincing star reporter (and ex-wife) Hildy Johnson (Russell), to come back to work and put off her marriage to dull Bruce Baldwin (Bellamy). Hildy can't resist covering a good story, even when it mean helping a condemned man (Qualen) escape the law. One of Hawks's most furious and inventive screen combats in which women are given uniquely equal (for Hollywood) footing, with staccato dialogue and wonderful performances. Based on the Hecht-MacArthur play "The Front Page," which was filmed in 1931, remade in 1974, and again in 1988 (as "Switching Channels").