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The Front Page (1974)
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Overview
User Rating:
Director:
Writers:
Release Date:
17 December 1974 (USA)
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Tagline:
It's the hottest story since the Chicago Fire... And they're sitting on it.
Plot:
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...
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Plot Keywords:
Awards:
Nominated for 3 Golden Globes.
Another 2 wins
&
1 nomination
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NewsDesk:
(2 articles)
A bar on North Avenue
(From Roger Ebert's Blog. 5 October 2009, 6:41 AM, PDT)
It's Wilder's 95th
(From Studio Briefing - Film News. 22 June 2001)
(From Roger Ebert's Blog. 5 October 2009, 6:41 AM, PDT)
It's Wilder's 95th
(From Studio Briefing - Film News. 22 June 2001)
User Comments:
Updating a classic
more (35 total)
US TV Schedule:
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 |
Additional Details
Parents Guide:
Runtime:
105 min
Country:
Language:
Color:
Color (Technicolor)
Aspect Ratio:
2.35 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono (Westrex Recording System)
Certification:
Singapore:PG |
Australia:M |
Canada:PG (Ontario) |
Australia:PG (DVD rating) |
Finland:K-16 |
Sweden:11 |
USA:PG
Company:
Fun Stuff
Trivia:
The third pairing out of ten movies of comic actors and great friends Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau.
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Goofs:
Anachronisms: When Hildy enters the press room to say goodbye to his fellow reporters, he greets them with a Cagney imitation, saying "This is a raid, see." James Cagney would not become famous enough to imitate until The Public Enemy (1931) came out two years later.
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Quotes:
Dr. Max J. Eggelhofer:
Tell me, Mr. Williams, were you unhappy as a child?
Earl Williams: Not really. I had a perfectly normal childhood.
Dr. Max J. Eggelhofer: I see. You wanted to kill your father and sleep with you mother.
Earl Williams: [to Sheriff Hartman] If he's gonna talk dirty ...
Dr. Max J. Eggelhofer: When you were in grammar school, did you practice self-abuse?
Earl Williams: No, sir. I don't believe in it. I would never abuse myself or anybody else. I love people. I love all people.
'Honest Pete' Hartman Sheriff of Clark County: I suppose that cop committed suicide!
Dr. Max J. Eggelhofer: Let us get back to masturbation. Did your father ever catch you in the act?
Earl Williams: Oh, my father was - was never home. He was a conductor on the Chicago-Northwestern.
Dr. Max J. Eggelhofer: Very significant. Your father wore a uniform, just like that policeman. And when he pulled out that gun, an obvious phallic symbol, you thought he was your father, and he was going to use it to hurt your mother.
[...]
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Earl Williams: Not really. I had a perfectly normal childhood.
Dr. Max J. Eggelhofer: I see. You wanted to kill your father and sleep with you mother.
Earl Williams: [to Sheriff Hartman] If he's gonna talk dirty ...
Dr. Max J. Eggelhofer: When you were in grammar school, did you practice self-abuse?
Earl Williams: No, sir. I don't believe in it. I would never abuse myself or anybody else. I love people. I love all people.
'Honest Pete' Hartman Sheriff of Clark County: I suppose that cop committed suicide!
Dr. Max J. Eggelhofer: Let us get back to masturbation. Did your father ever catch you in the act?
Earl Williams: Oh, my father was - was never home. He was a conductor on the Chicago-Northwestern.
Dr. Max J. Eggelhofer: Very significant. Your father wore a uniform, just like that policeman. And when he pulled out that gun, an obvious phallic symbol, you thought he was your father, and he was going to use it to hurt your mother.
[...]
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Movie Connections:
References Some Like It Hot (1959)
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Soundtrack:
Wedding Bells Are Breaking Up That Old Gang Of Mine
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I'm sure that the reason for Billy Wilder to do a remake of The Front Page is the fact that around the time this was made, politicians running for office on 'law and order' platforms was suddenly coming into vogue. The chief example among these was Richard Nixon and we all know what happened to him in 1974. Seemed like a case of perfect timing to me.
The original material that Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur wrote in the Twenties was perfect for Billy Wilder's cynical mind. Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau were born to play the roles of Hildy Johnson and Walter Burns.
Of course other things now that the Code was lifted could also be made more explicit. David Wayne's character of Benzinger is quite openly gay in the film. It's an interesting characterization he does. Of course he's the butt of all the jokes in the pressroom, but I thought it rather funny when at the end when title cards show what happened to all the principal characters, he was the only one with a happily ever after ending. He settled down with a life partner and ran an antique store. A rather subtle comment on the sanctity of heterosexual marriage decades before gay marriage was an issue.
Carol Burnett was a big fan of Billy Wilder and it is mentioned in a recent biography of Wilder that she wanted very much to be in one of his films. Carol got her wish and did very well as Molly the prostitute who befriends poor Earl Williams, the anarchist who accidentally killed a policeman and is sentenced to be hung.
Austin Pendleton is all right as Williams, but no one ever played the role quite like John Qualen in His Girl Friday. Qualen had a patent on those little men up against the system parts.
Speaking of His Girl Friday, my favorite part in all versions of The Front Page is that of the messenger from the governor carrying Earl Williams reprieve. No one will ever top Billy Gilbert in His Girl Friday though Paul Benedict of The Jeffersons gives a good account of himself as well.
Sad to say that demagogic politicians who bray about law and order are still among us. Maybe it's time for another remake of The Front Page.