Synopsis
They'd do anything for a story…and do.
A journalist suffering from burn-out wants to finally say goodbye to his office – but his boss doesn’t like the idea one bit.
The Front Page
1974 Directed by Billy Wilder
Cast
Jack Lemmon Walter Matthau Susan Sarandon Vincent Gardenia David Wayne Allen Garfield Austin Pendleton Charles Durning Herb Edelman Martin Gabel Harold Gould Cliff Osmond Dick O'Neill Jon Korkes Carol Burnett Paul Benedict Allen Jenkins Barbara Davis Biff Elliot Lou Frizzell Doro Merande Noam Pitlik Joshua Shelley John Furlong Leonard Bremen
Director
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Executive Producer
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Original Writers
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Cinematography
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Sound
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Alternative Titles
Primera plana, Prima pagina
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Action! - Three Auteurs: The Witty and Eclectic Mr. Wilder
The picture, which had already been brilliantly adapted by Howard Hawks, albeit under the name "His Girl Friday," sees the return of Billy Wilder's beloved Jack Lemmon and reuniting him with Walter Matthau in this wacky satire on the media, the press, and especially sensationalism.
Wilder's adaptation is faithful to the source material in that it features rapid action sequences and a brisk tempo. Amidst this mayhem, the film's interrogation sequence and reenactment of the crime is hilarious, but the humor doesn't always land, especially when it involves the accused, who will be brought to execution by the death penalty and who looks very much like Woody Allen. Some of…
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"The Front Page" is a 1974 comedic Billy Wilder effort centered around the 1928 stage play of the same name. 1928's "The Front Page", co-written by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur, in actuality spurred a multitude of films based upon its inceptional written platform. That not only goes for this presented feature but also the very notable Howard Hawks film, "His Girl Friday" (1940) among others. The uniqueness of "His Girl Friday" is that the centralized role of "Hildy" is switched in a gender reversal to make for an interesting twist. I full complete honesty of things, I have seen "His Girl Friday" but it had been an absorbent amount of time. Jumping into this film, in which I didn't…
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The Front Page is the third film version of Hect and MacArthur's play about a Chicago newspaper publisher who doesn't hesitate to resort to Machiavellian gimmicks to prevent his best reporter from leaving his job to get married. If Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon are hilarious as the two combative protagonists, the gallery of side characters is really excellent. Despite the theatrical structure, the extremely brilliant writing manages to give vigor and pace to the whole story, thanks in particular to a succession of witty and sharp dialogues. Also in this case, as in several previous works, Billy Wilder hides an implacable social satire behind an apparent tone of comedy, with the aim of representing - desecrating it - the…
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It's jarring going from The Odd Couple to this, not because it also stars Lemmon & Matthau, but the way it's shot makes the former look like a banal sitcom. This shit looks like a MOVIE. If you're into (mostly) single location screwball comedies where people use a lot of old timey words like 'palooka' and 'wisenheimer', this'll be a treat, Uncle Moe, while ya eat.
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The Front Page. 1974. Directed by Billy Wilder.
We gave The Front Page (1974) three stars for Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau, Susan Sarandon, Carol Burnett, and Billy Wilder’s direction. However, we will not award a reboot of His Girl Friday by Howard Hawks. Wilder rebooted a very important film for a new generation and for that we support his Herculean effort.
Purchased Blu-Ray from Amazon.
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It´s maybe a bit unfair to always compare movies that are based on the same source material, but it was impossible for me to watch “The Front Page” without constantly thinking “Well, this is no “His Girl Friday””. Not as snappy, not as funny, not as sizzling, and it also doesn´t help that Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau don´t share as many scenes as they should. Even judged on its own, “The Front Page” feels like Billy Wilder on autopilot. Don´t get me wrong, Wilder on autopilot still results in a consistently entertaining dark comedy with witty dialogue, enjoyable performances, and sharp satire targeting the justice system, political corruption, and the work culture of print journalist (or “newspapermen”, as old movies like to call them). It´s decent filmmaking all around but not quite on the level I expect from Billy Wilder.
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Walter Matthau is a slamdunk casting as Walter Burns, but, sadly, Jack Lemmon's Hildy Johnson feels way too dry for the character and for Lemmon. Pauline Kael calls Lemmon's Hildy "a mortuary assistant".
Pretty disappointed Susan Sarandon had so little to do. I was hoping that this would follow more in His Girl Friday's footsteps than the original The Front Page's by having Sarandon play Hildy and Lemmon play her fiancé trying to take her away from journalism. Maybe, just beef up Lemmon's role? Sadly, that's not the case.
Amazing cast, lots of "that guy's"
Susan Sarandon #20
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In 1988, I saw Switching Channels starring Kathleen Turner, Burt Reynolds and Christopher Reeves in a cinema. Years later I found out it was a remake of The Front Page - which is a remake as well. I guess this is one of those stories adaptable in time and scope. The story: editor-in-chief Walter Burns (Matthau) wants to outdo the other dailies by having his star reporter Hildy Johnson (Lemmon) secretly take a photo of an execution. Johnson confuses his plan because he wants to quit his job right now to tie the knot, but there's a story evolving messing up Johnsons plan as well.
Lemmon and Matthau are great in this film (as well). The film is a delight…
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Prima Pagina è la terza versione cinematografica della commedia di Hect e MacArthur imperniata su un editore di giornali di Chicago che non esita a ricorrere a machiavellici espedienti per evitare che il suo miglior reporter lasci il proprio posto di lavoro per sposarsi. Se Walter Matthau e Jack Lemmon sono divertentissimi nei panni dei due battaglieri protagonisti, la galleria dei personaggi di contorno è davvero eccellente. Nonostante l'impianto teatrale, la scrittura, estremamente brillante, riesce a dare vigore e ritmo a tutta la storia, grazie in particolare ad un susseguirsi di dialoghi arguti e taglienti. Anche in questo caso, come in diversi lavori precedenti, Billy Wilder nasconde dietro un tono apparente di commedia un'implacabile satira sociale, con l'obiettivo di rappresentare…
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Billy Wilder might just be the greatest filmmaker of all time.
The man never missed.
Never lost his touch.
His comedic genius stayed intact.
His commentaries on American society and politics stayed poignant and hilarious throughout the years.Here we have him re-adapting a play that had been adapted already twice (correct me if I'm wrong), first in 1931 in a film with the same title as this one and then in 1940 Howard Hawks adapted it and the result was his beloved classic His Girl Friday. This one, being a remake of a remake somehow manages to stay original in its craft and almost as hilarious as its predecesor, Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau, two frequent Wilder collaborators shine…
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