Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
Cary Grant | ... | Walter Burns | |
Rosalind Russell | ... | Hildy Johnson | |
Ralph Bellamy | ... | Bruce Baldwin | |
Gene Lockhart | ... | Sheriff Hartwell | |
Porter Hall | ... | Murphy | |
Ernest Truex | ... | Bensinger | |
Cliff Edwards | ... | Endicott | |
Clarence Kolb | ... | Mayor | |
Roscoe Karns | ... | McCue | |
Frank Jenks | ... | Wilson | |
Regis Toomey | ... | Sanders | |
Abner Biberman | ... | Louie | |
Frank Orth | ... | Duffy | |
John Qualen | ... | Earl Williams | |
Helen Mack | ... | Mollie Malloy |
Having been away for four months, Hildy Johnson walks into the offices of the New York City based The Morning Post, where she is a star reporter, to tell her boss, editor Walter Burns, that she is quitting. The reason for her absence was among other things to get a Reno divorce, from, of all people, Walter, who admits he was a bad husband. Hildy divorced Walter largely because she wanted more of a home life, whereas Walter saw her more as a driven hard-boiled reporter than subservient homemaker. Hildy has also come to tell Walter that she is taking the afternoon train to Albany, where she will be getting married tomorrow to staid straight-laced insurance agent, Bruce Baldwin, with whose mother they will live, at least for the first year. Walter doesn't want to lose Hildy, either as a reporter or a wife, and if he does, doesn't believe Bruce is worthy of her. Walter does whatever he can at least to delay Hildy and Bruce's trip, long enough to persuade Hildy to stay for good. His plan ... Written by Huggo
I am mystified by the 8.2 rating this movie has here at imdb. Perhaps only its fans have voted.
The machine-gun dialogue would be fun for stretches, but when it spews non-stop for an hour, it becomes VERY annoying. And that leaves another half hour to go.
Hildy's "dream" of giving up being a top reporter/writer to become a housewife to a dullard is STUPID. And completely unbelievable as presented here.
Cary Grant's character is AWFUL, and when Hildy makes her inevitable (in a romantic comedy) end choice, it makes NO SENSE WHATSOEVER. Nothing is shown to indicate even the tiniest reason for her to change her mind about a finalized DIVORCE. Cary Grant is completely and criminally unsympathetic, and that is bad news for the lead in a romantic comedy.
Tone problems. It's a comedy with dramatic moments that aren't the least bit funny. The suicide attempt. The gallows shots. Every word that comes out of the killer's mouth. And his dialogue is perhaps the worst I've ever heard for a "disturbed" killer in a movie.