I found 'The Front Page' to be a bit of a step up from the 1931 original and a couple of notches under 'His Girl Friday'. The thing is, one could argue for quite some time why one version is superior to another, but in this case, with these movies, it would be a really silly argument to make.
The only way 'The Front Page' seems to suffer (from what I've read on this site) is that its 1) Not as fast paced as 'His Girl Friday' and 2) Too much profanity mixed in with too much yelling.
Yes, it's not as quickly paced as 'His Girl Friday', but there aren't too many movies that are as fast paced AND as good as 'His Girl Friday'.
Sure, there's more profanity in this film than in the original and Hawks' version put together, but that's because there really wasn't any profanity in those earlier films. The other films used innuendo and some expertly placed camera mugging to get their laughs on film while getting over on the censors. The 'Wilder' version wasn't restricted to how far their dialog could go; they had more freedom and could abandon subtlety and nuance. I guess sometimes freedom can take you too far.
The profanity in this film doesn't bother me at all, besides, the film takes place in a newspaper room where the newspaper writers spend most of their time playing poker, drinking alcohol and making fun of prostitutes. Perhaps Wilder's version is more realistic in this regard. I think maybe the reason Billy Wilder slowed everything down and had so much yelling was to make sure that people actually heard the dialog in the film. It's too bad all they seemed to hear in the film was the profanity; there are some great moments of witty dialog amongst the crude and profane expletives.
Jack Lemmon (Hildy Johnson) and Walter Matthau (Walter Burns) are perfectly cast in their roles. I would say Jack Lemmon is a definite upgrade in the case of Lemmon vs. Pat O'Brien in the role of Hildy Johnson, but perhaps a close tie between Jack and Rosalind Russell. Maybe the edge goes to Rosalind. Maybe.
Matthau and Adolphe Menjou work out to be about the same. Menjou was the best thing about the original, but even so he rates about the same as Matthau in the role of Walter Burns. Matthau is always brilliant. I guess Cary Grant gets the edge because he's Cary Grant and had much more to work with. Grant has great chemistry with Rosalind Russell, as does Lemmon and Matthau, but Grant and Russell were working on a sexual chemistry that is not at all evident, let alone not appropriate, between Lemmon and Matthau. Grant is even better with his digs against Ralph Bellamy than Matthau is with Susan Sarandon. However, the moment where Matthau and Sarandon are both vying for the attention of Lemmon is fantastic. Once Matthau leans over Lemmon's typewriter and puts his arm around his ace reporter lost in his work, not in his marital plans, he knows that he's won the battle; furthermore he knows that she knows he's won the battle.
Oh no, I just realized that I started to make a silly argument.
See all three, start with the original, save 'His Girl Friday' for last. The Wilder version will have to suffice to being the glossy, shiny, colorful pull out middle section you get to read in the bathroom.
8/10. Clark Richards
The only way 'The Front Page' seems to suffer (from what I've read on this site) is that its 1) Not as fast paced as 'His Girl Friday' and 2) Too much profanity mixed in with too much yelling.
Yes, it's not as quickly paced as 'His Girl Friday', but there aren't too many movies that are as fast paced AND as good as 'His Girl Friday'.
Sure, there's more profanity in this film than in the original and Hawks' version put together, but that's because there really wasn't any profanity in those earlier films. The other films used innuendo and some expertly placed camera mugging to get their laughs on film while getting over on the censors. The 'Wilder' version wasn't restricted to how far their dialog could go; they had more freedom and could abandon subtlety and nuance. I guess sometimes freedom can take you too far.
The profanity in this film doesn't bother me at all, besides, the film takes place in a newspaper room where the newspaper writers spend most of their time playing poker, drinking alcohol and making fun of prostitutes. Perhaps Wilder's version is more realistic in this regard. I think maybe the reason Billy Wilder slowed everything down and had so much yelling was to make sure that people actually heard the dialog in the film. It's too bad all they seemed to hear in the film was the profanity; there are some great moments of witty dialog amongst the crude and profane expletives.
Jack Lemmon (Hildy Johnson) and Walter Matthau (Walter Burns) are perfectly cast in their roles. I would say Jack Lemmon is a definite upgrade in the case of Lemmon vs. Pat O'Brien in the role of Hildy Johnson, but perhaps a close tie between Jack and Rosalind Russell. Maybe the edge goes to Rosalind. Maybe.
Matthau and Adolphe Menjou work out to be about the same. Menjou was the best thing about the original, but even so he rates about the same as Matthau in the role of Walter Burns. Matthau is always brilliant. I guess Cary Grant gets the edge because he's Cary Grant and had much more to work with. Grant has great chemistry with Rosalind Russell, as does Lemmon and Matthau, but Grant and Russell were working on a sexual chemistry that is not at all evident, let alone not appropriate, between Lemmon and Matthau. Grant is even better with his digs against Ralph Bellamy than Matthau is with Susan Sarandon. However, the moment where Matthau and Sarandon are both vying for the attention of Lemmon is fantastic. Once Matthau leans over Lemmon's typewriter and puts his arm around his ace reporter lost in his work, not in his marital plans, he knows that he's won the battle; furthermore he knows that she knows he's won the battle.
Oh no, I just realized that I started to make a silly argument.
See all three, start with the original, save 'His Girl Friday' for last. The Wilder version will have to suffice to being the glossy, shiny, colorful pull out middle section you get to read in the bathroom.
8/10. Clark Richards