The Front Page (1974)

As a tabloid newspaper editor tries to prevent his top reporter from retiring, an escaped death row convict shows up at the office trying to convey his innocence.

Director:

Billy Wilder

Writers:

Ben Hecht (play), Charles MacArthur (play),

Stars:

Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau, Susan Sarandon

Nominated for 3 Golden Globes. Another 2 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jack Lemmon	...	Hildy Johnson
Walter Matthau	...	Walter Burns
Susan Sarandon	...	Peggy Grant
Vincent Gardenia	...	Sheriff
David Wayne	...	Bensinger
Allen Garfield	...	Kruger
Austin Pendleton	...	Earl Williams
Charles Durning	...	Murphy
Herb Edelman	...	Schwartz (as Herbert Edelman)
Martin Gabel	...	Dr. Eggelhofer
Harold Gould	...	The Mayor
Cliff Osmond	...	Jacobi
Dick O'Neill	...	McHugh
Jon Korkes	...	Rudy Keppler
Lou Frizzell	...	Endicott

Storyline

Hildy Johnson is the top reporter on a Chicago newspaper during the 1920s. Tired of the whole game he's determined to quit his job to get married. His scheming editor, Walter Burns, has other plans though. It's the day before guilty (but insane) murderer, Earl Williams, is due to go to the gallows and Burns tempts Johnson to stay and write the story.

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Plot Keywords:

reporter | train station | wisecrack humor | reference to ben hecht | execution | 

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Taglines:

It's the hottest story since the Chicago Fire... And they're sitting on it.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

17 December 1974 (USA)

Also Known As:

Prima pagina

Filming Locations:

Universal Studios - 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$4,000,000 (estimated)

Gross:

SEK 4,427,652 (Sweden)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

105 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Walter Burns' idea for Hildy Johnson to surreptitiously snap a death photo of Earl Williams' execution by strapping a camera to his ankle with the shutter release in his pocket actually happened. On January 12, 1928 (over 18 months before the Ben Hecht - Charles MacArthur play The Front Page opened), murderers Ruth Brown Snyder and her lover, Henry Judd Gray, were executed in Sing Sing's electric chair for the murder of the Ruth's husband, Albert Snyder, the previous year. At the moment of Ruth Snyder's electrocution, Tom Howard, a reporter for the Chicago Tribune using a one-use camera strapped to his leg to snap a notorious picture of Ruth in the chair. The camera used is now part of the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History. In another film irony, the story of Snyder and Gray case was also used as the basis for the James M. Cain novel later made into the classic Double Indemnity, also directed by Billy Wilder.

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Goofs

Hildy reminds Jenny, the cleaning woman, that he got her husband on "The Amateur Hour." Major Bowes' Amateur Hour premiered as a local show in New York in 1934 and on the NBC Network in 1935, six years after this movie was set.

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Quotes

'Honest Pete' Hartman Sheriff of Clark County: [walks into the press room to see the reporters drinking liquor] Ah, what's the idea, fellas? You know better than that. This is a government building!
Kruger: Uh, hi, sheriff.
Endicott: What'll ya have?
'Honest Pete' Hartman Sheriff of Clark County: I got a good mind to have you all locked up!
Hildebrand 'Hildy' Johnson: The state's atterney wouldn't like it, because I bought that stuff from his brother.

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Connections

Version of Switching Channels (1988)

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Soundtracks

"Congratulate Me"
Lyrics by Bob Rothberg
Music by Lou Handman

User Reviews

Great cast gives powerful performances as Matthau as scheming managing editor and Lemmon as convincing star journalist

Rip-roaring third remake of the classic newspaper comedy ¨The Front Page¨ makes some memorable exchanges and sensational acting from everyone . Cynical editor newspaper (Walter Matthau) wants to get a big scoop on a death row which involves convincing star reporter (Jack Lemmon) to come back to work and put off her marriage to handsome pianist woman (Susan Sarandon) . Lemmon can't resist covering some good news , even when it mean helping a condemned man (Austin Pendleton) getaway the law . And the escaped convicted murderer offers the journalist an exclusive interview . Other reporters (Dick O'Neill, Charles Durning, Allen Garfield , David Wayne , Cliff Osmond) also give hilarious acting in this breathless pursuit of an exclusive with the escaped death row inmate .

A splendid remake of the Ben Hecht , Charles MacArthur play about a scheming managing publisher of a 1920s Chicago newspaper and his incautious reporter. Very good performance from Jack Lemmon as ace journalist who wants to quit the business and get married and exceptional Walter Matthau as editor who finds out his main reporter wants to leave him and gets in the way . Phenomenal playing from everyone , including a top-notch secondary cast as Carol Burnett , Vincent Gardenia , Harold Gould and magnificent direction render this frequent-told story more funny than usual . One of Wilder's most inventive and furious screen combats in which Lemmon and Matthau are given equal footing with staccato dialog and marvelous interpretations . I.A.L. Diamond's brilliantly tart screenplay overlaps dialogue and scenes to carry the black farce along the roller-coasted speed . Certainly the kind of movie that Billy Wilder only can make , though achieved moderated success in 1974 . Meanwhile , do't miss this stunning adaptation.

Other versions about this classic story are the following : 1931 ¨The Front Page¨ by Lewis Milestone with Adolph Menjou , Edward Everett Horton , Mae Clark and Pat O'Brien in his film debut ; ¨His Girl Friday ¨ 1940 by Howard Hawks with Gary Grant , Ralph Bellamy and Rosalind Russell with the pivotal character assigned to a woman instead a man ; ¨Switching channels¨ 1988 by Ted Kotcheff with Kathleen Turner , Christopher Reeve , Ned Beatty and Burt Reynolds in which an attractive TV anchorwoman want to marry tycoon but his mean ex-husband impedes it .