The Front Page (1931)

Hildy Johnson, newspaper reporter, is engaged to Peggy Grant and planning to move to New York for a higher paying advertising job. The court press room is full of lame reporters who invent ... See full summary »

Director:

Lewis Milestone

Writers:

Ben Hecht (by), Charles MacArthur (by),

Stars:

Adolphe Menjou, Pat O'Brien, Mary Brian

Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 2 wins.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Adolphe Menjou	...	Walter Burns
Pat O'Brien	...	Hildy Johnson
Mary Brian	...	Peggy Grant
Edward Everett Horton	...	Bensinger
Walter Catlett	...	Murphy (as Walter L. Catlett)
George E. Stone	...	Earl Williams
Mae Clarke	...	Molly
Slim Summerville	...	Pincus
Matt Moore	...	Kruger
Frank McHugh	...	McCue
Clarence Wilson	...	Sheriff Hartman (as Clarence H. Wilson)
Fred Howard	...	Schwartz (as Freddie Howard)
Phil Tead	...	Wilson
Eugene Strong	...	Endicott (as Gene Strong)
Spencer Charters	...	Woodenshoes

Storyline

Hildy Johnson, newspaper reporter, is engaged to Peggy Grant and planning to move to New York for a higher paying advertising job. The court press room is full of lame reporters who invent stories as much as write them. All are waiting to cover the hanging of Earl Williams. When Williams escapes from the inept Sheriff, Hildy seizes the opportunity by using his $260 honeymoon money to payoff an insider and get the scoop on the escape. However, Walter Burns, the Post's editor, is slow to repay Hildy back, hoping that he will stay on the story. Getting a major scoop looks possible when Hildy stumbles onto the bewildered escapee and hides him in a roll-top desk in the press room. Burns shows up to help. Can they keep Williams' whereabouts secret long enough to get the scoop, especially with the Sheriff and other reporters hovering around?

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Plot Keywords:

escape | press room | editor | newspaper | psychiatrist | 

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Genres:

Comedy

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Certificate:

TV-PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

4 April 1931 (USA)

Also Known As:

A Primeira Página

Filming Locations:

Metropolitan Studios - 1040 N. Las Palmas Boulevard, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

The Caddo Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

101 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.20 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The play "The Front Page" opened at the Times Square Theater on August 14, 1929, and ran for 276 performances.

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Goofs

In 1927, the year before the original stage play was produced, electrocution replaced hanging as the official method of execution in Illinois. Earl Williams is nonetheless sentenced to hang, not only in the play but also in the 1931 film and its later remakes.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Title card: This story is laid in a mythical kingdom.

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Crazy Credits

The end credits consist of Walter and Hildy above a big 'THE END,' covering a large question mark, while the sound of the train is heard and music plays. There is also laughter, presumably coming from Walter Burns.

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Connections

Version of Switching Channels (1988)

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Soundtracks

"By the Light of the Silvery Moon"
(1909) (uncredited)
Music by Gus Edwards
Played on banjo early in the film

User Reviews

Superior to Lemmon-Matthau version and "His Girl Friday"

This picture, of astronomical quality compared to other films of its era, represents, by and large, a photographic, if sanitized, record of the Hecht-MacArthur classic Broadway hit depicting yellow journalism, the "Red Anarchist Scare", and political corruption in 1928 Chicago. Being intimately familiar with the original stage production, this picture represents the play more faithfully than any subsequent remake (except for the rampant profanity in the original stage work); "His Girl Friday" being an inverted rework of the original, and the 1974 version merely a caricature of the original concept - with superfluous "madcap" elements added. Let's hope an intact negative can soon be found and restored - The viewing public and the memory of the artists and makers of this film deserve as much.