Thursday, October 20, 2016

The Front Page (1974)

Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau are good in this story of a reporter whose retirement plans are hindered by his boss's manipulations and a great story landing in their laps. Co-starring Carol Burnett, a very young Susan Sarandon, and a host of famous actors of the day, it's not as funny as some of director/co-writer Billy Wilder's other comedies, such as Some Like It Hot (1959) or One, Two, Three (1961). In fact, Carol Burnett happened to be on an airplane where this movie screened and apparently stood up afterwards and apologized to the passengers for her performance.

On our last trip to New York we had tickets to a revival (starring Nathan Lane, John Slattery, John Goodman, and a host of famous actors of this day) of this 1928 play so, as homework, I streamed this one on netflix in the hotel. The play was good fun.

There was also a 1931 adaptation for the screen, as well the 1940 version His Girl Friday, in which Lemmon's character was played by Rosalind Russell and Matthau's by Cary Grant. I haven't seen either one. This one is part of history and Jack, who has seen it multiple times, liked it more than I.

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