Movies About Journalists and Newspaper Business
by lora-31 | created - 05 Feb 2011 | updated - 12 Oct 2012 | PublicA list of Golden Age Hollywood movies featuring journalists, reporters and newspaper business in general. Brass and sassy, always wisecracking -- I love those dynamic characters!
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1. His Girl Friday (1940)
Passed | 92 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A newspaper editor uses every trick in the book to keep his ace reporter ex-wife from remarrying.
Director: Howard Hawks | Stars: Cary Grant, Rosalind Russell, Ralph Bellamy, Gene Lockhart
Votes: 63,135 | Gross: $0.30M
2. Front Page Woman (1935)
Passed | 82 min | Comedy, Romance
A woman reporter tries to prove she's just as good as any man, but runs into trouble along the way.
Director: Michael Curtiz | Stars: Bette Davis, George Brent, Roscoe Karns, Wini Shaw
Votes: 1,723
3. The Front Page (1931)
Approved | 101 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
A crusading newspaper editor tricks his retiring star reporter into covering one last case.
Director: Lewis Milestone | Stars: Adolphe Menjou, Pat O'Brien, Mary Brian, Edward Everett Horton
Votes: 3,449
4. Dance, Fools, Dance (1931)
Approved | 80 min | Crime, Drama, Romance
After the death of her father and loss of the family fortune, Bonnie (Joan Crawford) gets a job as a cub reporter while her brother (William Bakewell) becomes involved in bootlegging.
Director: Harry Beaumont | Stars: Joan Crawford, Cliff Edwards, Lester Vail, William Bakewell
Votes: 1,243
5. It Happened One Night (1934)
Passed | 105 min | Comedy, Romance
A rogue reporter trailing a runaway heiress for a big story joins her on a bus heading from Florida to New York and they end up stuck with each other when the bus leaves them behind at one of the stops along the way.
Director: Frank Capra | Stars: Clark Gable, Claudette Colbert, Walter Connolly, Roscoe Karns
Votes: 112,235 | Gross: $4.36M
6. Love on the Run (1936)
Passed | 80 min | Comedy, Fantasy, Romance
A runaway bride and an undercover reporter get caught up in political intrigue as they lead a merry chase across Europe and uncover a spy plot.
Director: W.S. Van Dyke | Stars: Joan Crawford, Clark Gable, Franchot Tone, Reginald Owen
Votes: 1,353 | Gross: $1.14M
7. The Gilded Lily (1935)
Passed | 80 min | Comedy, Romance
A stenographer becomes a famed entertainer and is courted by an English nobleman and an informal American reporter.
Director: Wesley Ruggles | Stars: Claudette Colbert, Fred MacMurray, Ray Milland, C. Aubrey Smith
Votes: 792
8. The Big Clock (1948)
Not Rated | 95 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
A magazine tycoon commits a murder and pins it on an innocent man, who then tries to solve the murder himself.
Director: John Farrow | Stars: Ray Milland, Maureen O'Sullivan, Charles Laughton, George Macready
Votes: 9,533
9. Next Time We Love (1936)
Approved | 87 min | Drama, Romance
A young married couple's relationship becomes strained when he is assigned overseas as a foreign correspondent and she becomes a major stage star.
Director: Edward H. Griffith | Stars: Margaret Sullavan, James Stewart, Ray Milland, Grant Mitchell
Votes: 672
10. Foreign Correspondent (1940)
Passed | 120 min | Action, Romance, Thriller
On the eve of World War II, a young American reporter tries to expose enemy agents in London.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock | Stars: Joel McCrea, Laraine Day, Herbert Marshall, George Sanders
Votes: 23,710 | Gross: $3.48M
11. Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936)
Not Rated | 115 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A unassuming greeting card poet from a small town in Vermont heads to New York City upon inheriting a massive fortune and is immediately hounded by those who wish to take advantage of him.
Director: Frank Capra | Stars: Gary Cooper, Jean Arthur, George Bancroft, Lionel Stander
Votes: 23,212
12. Meet John Doe (1941)
Passed | 122 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A penniless drifter is recruited by an ambitious columnist to impersonate a non-existent person who said he'd be committing suicide as a protest, and a social movement begins.
Director: Frank Capra | Stars: Gary Cooper, Barbara Stanwyck, Edward Arnold, Walter Brennan
Votes: 14,899
13. Libeled Lady (1936)
Passed | 98 min | Comedy, Romance
When a socialite sues a big paper for libel, the editor responsible calls in the help of his ignored fiancée and a former employee to frame her and make the false story seem true.
Director: Jack Conway | Stars: Jean Harlow, William Powell, Myrna Loy, Spencer Tracy
Votes: 8,908
14. Adventure in Manhattan (1936)
Passed | 73 min | Adventure, Comedy, Crime
A reporter meets an actress whose producer is a presumed-dead thief, and stakes his reputation on predicting the next crime.
Director: Edward Ludwig | Stars: Jean Arthur, Joel McCrea, Reginald Owen, Thomas Mitchell
Votes: 840
15. Love Is News (1937)
Approved | 77 min | Comedy, Romance
A financier's daughter spars with a newspaper reporter: he by writing about her, she by announcing their engagement.
Director: Tay Garnett | Stars: Tyrone Power, Loretta Young, Don Ameche, Slim Summerville
Votes: 935
16. Big Brown Eyes (1936)
Passed | 77 min | Comedy, Crime, Mystery
Sassy manicurist Eve Fallon is recruited as an even more brassy reporter and she helps police detective boyfriend Danny Barr break a jewel theft ring and solve the murder of a baby.
Director: Raoul Walsh | Stars: Cary Grant, Joan Bennett, Walter Pidgeon, Lloyd Nolan
Votes: 1,174
17. Arise, My Love (1940)
Passed | 110 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A dashing pilot and a vivacious reporter have romantic and dramatic adventures in Europe as World War II begins.
Director: Mitchell Leisen | Stars: Claudette Colbert, Ray Milland, Dennis O'Keefe, Walter Abel
Votes: 1,037
18. The Philadelphia Story (1940)
Not Rated | 112 min | Comedy, Romance
When a rich woman's ex-husband and a tabloid-type reporter turn up just before her planned remarriage, she begins to learn the truth about herself.
Director: George Cukor | Stars: Cary Grant, Katharine Hepburn, James Stewart, Ruth Hussey
Votes: 73,826
19. Citizen Kane (1941)
PG | 119 min | Drama, Mystery
Following the death of publishing tycoon Charles Foster Kane, reporters scramble to uncover the meaning of his final utterance: 'Rosebud.'
Director: Orson Welles | Stars: Orson Welles, Joseph Cotten, Dorothy Comingore, Agnes Moorehead
Votes: 465,863 | Gross: $1.59M
20. Design for Scandal (1941)
Passed | 85 min | Comedy, Romance
To save his job, newsman Jeff Sherman offers to help his boss get out of a swingeing alimony settlement. But his devious plan to compromise Cornelia Porter, the judge on the case, while she... See full summary »
Director: Norman Taurog | Stars: Rosalind Russell, Walter Pidgeon, Edward Arnold, Lee Bowman
Votes: 520
21. Woman of the Year (1942)
Passed | 114 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Rival reporters Sam and Tess fall in love and get married, only to find their relationship strained when Sam comes to resent Tess' hectic lifestyle.
Director: George Stevens | Stars: Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn, Fay Bainter, Reginald Owen
Votes: 11,000
22. Call Northside 777 (1948)
Approved | 112 min | Drama, Film-Noir
Chicago reporter P.J. McNeal re-opens a decade-old murder case.
Director: Henry Hathaway | Stars: James Stewart, Richard Conte, Lee J. Cobb, Helen Walker
Votes: 10,235
23. That Wonderful Urge (1948)
Approved | 82 min | Comedy, Romance
When an heiress finds out that the friendly young man she's met at Sun Valley is really an investigative reporter, she ruins his career by falsely claiming they're married.
Director: Robert B. Sinclair | Stars: Tyrone Power, Gene Tierney, Reginald Gardiner, Arleen Whelan
Votes: 1,034
24. Ace in the Hole (1951)
Approved | 111 min | Drama, Film-Noir
A frustrated former big-city journalist now stuck working for an Albuquerque newspaper exploits a story about a man trapped in a cave to rekindle his career, but the situation quickly escalates into an out-of-control circus.
Director: Billy Wilder | Stars: Kirk Douglas, Jan Sterling, Robert Arthur, Porter Hall
Votes: 39,103 | Gross: $3.97M
25. Roman Holiday (1953)
Passed | 118 min | Comedy, Romance
A bored and sheltered princess escapes her guardians and falls in love with an American newsman in Rome.
Director: William Wyler | Stars: Gregory Peck, Audrey Hepburn, Eddie Albert, Hartley Power
Votes: 147,592
26. Wedding Present (1936)
Approved | 81 min | Comedy, Romance
When Charlie Mason is promoted from irresponsible reporter to hard-nosed city editor, it costs him his girlfriend, ace reporter Rusty Fleming. After he hears she's engaged to another, he quits and tries to win her back.
Director: Richard Wallace | Stars: Joan Bennett, Cary Grant, George Bancroft, Conrad Nagel
Votes: 735
27. Sweet Smell of Success (1957)
Approved | 96 min | Drama, Film-Noir
Powerful but unethical Broadway columnist J.J. Hunsecker coerces unscrupulous press agent Sidney Falco into breaking up his sister's romance with a jazz musician.
Director: Alexander Mackendrick | Stars: Burt Lancaster, Tony Curtis, Susan Harrison, Martin Milner
Votes: 35,685
28. Christmas in Connecticut (1945)
Approved | 101 min | Comedy, Romance
A food writer who has lied about being the perfect housewife must try to cover her deception when her boss and a returning war hero invite themselves to her home for a traditional family Christmas.
Director: Peter Godfrey | Stars: Barbara Stanwyck, Dennis Morgan, Sydney Greenstreet, Reginald Gardiner
Votes: 12,022
29. On Our Merry Way (1948)
Approved | 107 min | Comedy, Music, Romance
Three short stories revolving around the topic of the daily question posed by the roving reporter to the readers of a daily newspaper.
Directors: Leslie Fenton, King Vidor, John Huston, George Stevens | Stars: Paulette Goddard, Burgess Meredith, James Stewart, Henry Fonda
Votes: 846
30. Roxie Hart (1942)
Passed | 75 min | Comedy
Roxie Hart signs a murder confession in order to attract publicity for her dancing career as dames don't swing in Cook County. Will everything go as planned?
Director: William A. Wellman | Stars: Ginger Rogers, Adolphe Menjou, George Montgomery, Lynne Overman
Votes: 1,913 | Gross: $2.40M
31. It Happened Tomorrow (1944)
Approved | 85 min | Comedy, Fantasy
A young turn-of-the-century newspaper man finds he can get hold of the next day's paper. This brings more problems than fortune, especially as his new girlfriend is part of a phony clairvoyant act.
Director: René Clair | Stars: Dick Powell, Linda Darnell, Jack Oakie, Edgar Kennedy
Votes: 2,858
32. Easy to Wed (1946)
Passed | 110 min | Comedy, Romance
To prevent a libel case against the paper, a reporter tries to compromise the reputation of a tycoon's slandered daughter.
Directors: Edward Buzzell, Buster Keaton, Edward Sedgwick | Stars: Van Johnson, Esther Williams, Lucille Ball, Keenan Wynn
Votes: 942
33. Slander (1957)
81 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
In an effort to improve the circulation of his notorious scandal magazine, unscrupulous owner, editor and publisher H. R. Manley spares nobody.
Director: Roy Rowland | Stars: Van Johnson, Ann Blyth, Steve Cochran, Marjorie Rambeau
Votes: 484
34. Three Secrets (1950)
Approved | 98 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Three women who secretly gave up their newborn sons for adoption in 1945 wonder if the 5-year-old survivor of a plane crash, named in the the local newspapers, is their long-abandoned son.
Director: Robert Wise | Stars: Eleanor Parker, Patricia Neal, Ruth Roman, Frank Lovejoy
Votes: 670
35. The Underworld Story (1950)
Passed | 91 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
The story of the fight of a small-town newspaper to free an innocent girl of a murder charge, with the publisher of a metropolitan city newspaper heading, by forced circumstances, the opposing forces.
Director: Cy Endfield | Stars: Dan Duryea, Herbert Marshall, Gale Storm, Howard Da Silva
Votes: 1,329
36. Sex and the Single Girl (1964)
Not Rated | 110 min | Comedy, Romance
A womanizing reporter for a sleazy tabloid magazine impersonates his hen-pecked neighbor in order to get an expose on renowned psychologist Helen Gurley Brown.
Director: Richard Quine | Stars: Lauren Bacall, Tony Curtis, Natalie Wood, Henry Fonda
Votes: 4,695 | Gross: $9.27M
37. -30- (1959)
Not Rated | 96 min | Drama
A managing editor of a LA newspaper must put together headlines for the next day in a way that'll attract the potential readers, deal with hectic going-ons at the workplace and have a serious talk with his wife about her wish to adopt.
Director: Jack Webb | Stars: Jack Webb, William Conrad, David Nelson, Whitney Blake
Votes: 439
Thanks to blueish35 for this addition.
38. Story of G.I. Joe (1945)
Approved | 108 min | Biography, Drama, War
At the close of WWII, Pulitzer Prize-winning war correspondent Ernie Pyle travels with the U.S. Army's Company C Division during their liberation of Italy.
Director: William A. Wellman | Stars: Burgess Meredith, Robert Mitchum, Freddie Steele, Wally Cassell
Votes: 3,724
Thanks to blueish35 for this addition.
39. The Senator Was Indiscreet (1947)
Approved | 88 min | Comedy
A bumbling, long-winded and crooked Southern senator, considered by some as a dark horse for the Presidency, panics his party when his tell-all diary is stolen.
Director: George S. Kaufman | Stars: William Powell, Ella Raines, Peter Lind Hayes, Arleen Whelan
Votes: 707
40. All the President's Men (1976)
PG | 138 min | Drama, History, Thriller
"The Washington Post" reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein uncover the details of the Watergate scandal that leads to President Richard Nixon's resignation.
Director: Alan J. Pakula | Stars: Dustin Hoffman, Robert Redford, Jack Warden, Martin Balsam
Votes: 126,008 | Gross: $70.60M
41. Deadline - U.S.A. (1952)
Passed | 87 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
With his newspaper about to be sold, crusading editor Ed Hutcheson tries to complete an exposé on gangster Rienzi.
Director: Richard Brooks | Stars: Humphrey Bogart, Ethel Barrymore, Kim Hunter, Ed Begley
Votes: 4,097
42. Park Row (1952)
Approved | 83 min | Drama, Thriller
The Globe is a small, but visionary newspaper started by Phineas Mitchell, an editor recently fired by The Star. The two newspapers become enemies, and the Star's ruthless heiress Charity Hackett decides to eliminate the competition.
Director: Samuel Fuller | Stars: Bela Kovacs, Herbert Heyes, Tina Pine, George O'Hanlon
Votes: 2,013
43. Star Reporter (1939)
Approved | 62 min | Crime, Drama, Romance
John Randolph (Warren Hull), an idealistic young newspaper owner who uses his paper as an instrument for the public good, uses a campaign against crime to successfully run grafting ... See full summary »
Director: Howard Bretherton | Stars: Warren Hull, Marsha Hunt, Wallis Clark, Clay Clement
Votes: 124
44. Big News (1929)
75 min | Comedy, Crime, Mystery
A reporter's marriage is jeopardized by his drinking and he finds himself accused of a murder he didn't commit.
Director: Gregory La Cava | Stars: Robert Armstrong, Carole Lombard, Louis Payne, Wade Boteler
Votes: 321
45. A Shriek in the Night (1933)
Unrated | 66 min | Crime, Mystery, Romance
Pat Morgan and Ted Kord are rival newspaper reporters always trying to outscoop each other. They join together to solve a series of murders being committed in an apartment building.
Director: Albert Ray | Stars: Ginger Rogers, Lyle Talbot, Harvey Clark, Purnell Pratt
Votes: 1,091
46. Midnight Manhunt (1945)
Approved | 64 min | Comedy, Crime, Mystery
A gem heist gone wrong leaves a wanted man dead. A female reporter finds his body and, to claim the reward, hides the body in a wax museum. When the body vanishes, the hunt is on.
Director: William C. Thomas | Stars: William Gargan, Ann Savage, Leo Gorcey, George Zucco
Votes: 477
47. Scandal Sheet (1952)
Passed | 82 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
The editor of an exploitation newspaper commits a murder and assigns his protégé to investigate hoping to divert attention away from himself.
Director: Phil Karlson | Stars: John Derek, Donna Reed, Broderick Crawford, Rosemary DeCamp
Votes: 3,476
48. Follow Me Quietly (1949)
Not Rated | 60 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
An obsessed cop tracks an elusive serial killer who strangles his victims on rainy nights.
Director: Richard Fleischer | Stars: William Lundigan, Dorothy Patrick, Jeff Corey, Nestor Paiva
Votes: 1,743
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