His Girl Friday

His Girl Friday stands as the gold standard for dialog-driven movies.

The story sees newspaper editor Cary Grant trying to keep his best reporter, played by Rosalind Russell, from remarrying.

Director Howard Hawks ingeniously ditches the standard I-go, you-go form of dialog, and replaces it with a perfectly timed montage that turns the superfluous dialog into an almost rhythmic beat that drives the movie along.

Such an original undertaking must have been quite daunting, but fortunately for Hawks his performers were up the task. Russell in particular, is both commanding and enchanting and easily holds her own against the considerable star-power of Grant; which is no easy feat.

The end result is a movie that, like most of Hawk’s pictures, is immensely enjoyable and holds up well to repeat viewings.