Discussion Questions for Women in Film-Cleveland Gathering
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1 Discussion Questions for Women in Film‐Cleveland Gathering, Wednesday, April 2, 2014: Focal Film: His Girl Friday (1940; U.S.; Screenplay by Charles Lederer (with substantial punch‐up by Morrie Ryskind), based on the 1928 play The Front Page by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur; Cinematography by Joseph Walker; Directed by Howard Hawks for Columbia Pictures) In His Girl Friday, the principal characters are: * Walter Burns, hard‐boiled, self‐centered newspaper editor, the “bad” ex‐husband of Hildy Johnson (played by Cary Grant) * Hildy Johnson, Walter’s ex‐wife and former star reporter (played by Rosalind Russell) * Bruce Baldwin, Hildy’s safe and dull fiancé, the only character in the film to speak slowly (played by Ralph Bellamy) * Earle Williams, convicted murderer who escapes and whom Hildy then hides (played by John Qualen) * Mollie Malloy, “prostitute” with a heart of gold who has befriended Earle Williams (played by Helen Mack) The 1928 play has been adapted to film four times: As The Front Page in 1931 (D: Lewis Milestone; S: Adolph Menjou, Pat O’Brien), as His Girl Friday in 1940, as The Front Page in 1974 (D: Billy Wilder, S: Walter Matthau, Jack Lemmon), and as Switching Channels in 1988 (D: Ted Kotcheff, S: Burt Reynolds, Kathleen Turner). In the play, and in the first and third film adaptations, Walter and Hildy are both men. In the second and fourth film adaptations, Hildy is a woman. The original play was a satire on political corruption; for the gender‐switched versions, the focus moves to gender issues, with political satire relegated to a more minor role. His Girl Friday was entered into the U.S. National Film Registry in 1993. It is #19 on the American Film Institute’s list of funniest film comedies, “100 Years…100 Laughs.” His Girl Friday is a great example of the genre of screwball comedy. Examples of other classic screwball comedies of the era (1934‐1942) are It Happened One Night (1934), My Man Godfrey (1936), You Can’t Take it With You (1938), My Favorite Wife (1940), and The Lady Eve (1941). While most scholars place His Girl Friday squarely as a “classical” example of the genre, some feel it is “revisionist” or even “parodic” (e.g., Gerald Mast), i.e., belonging to later stages of the genre. Screwball comedy had a very precise set of characteristics that constituted its “contract” with the audience. These characteristics included: 1. Screwball comedy characteristic #1: A battle of the sexes. Using both verbal and physical conflict, “the screwball couple express attraction through aggression” (Leger Grindon). The comic romance often involves a romantic triangle, and sometimes a remarriage (Stanley Cavell). After a convoluted plot, the couple’s conflict is resolved at the end. As noted by Grindon in his book, The Hollywood Romantic Comedy, the woman struggles for greater social autonomy, and even when there is an apparent victory for the man, the couple is ultimately transformed as they discover “a fresh basis for partnership…allied against outside forces.” How does this apply to His Girl Friday? 2 2. Screwball comedy characteristic #2: A fantasy world of the eccentric rich…during the Depression. At least one eccentric character, usually the female, misbehaves and produces a “world turned upside down.” Because of her wealth, this misbehavior is “safe.” The eccentric behavior of the primary characters is played out against a backdrop of straight characters, thus lampooning the dignified. How does this apply to His Girl Friday? (And, is there a reversal here from the usual eccentric female, as proposed by writer Wes Gehring in his book, Romantic vs. Screwball Comedy?) 3. Screwball comedy characteristic #3: Fast‐paced dialogue that is used as sexual innuendo. In 1934, the Hayes Office began to enforce the Production Code, a set of movie industry self‐censorship rules that cut back on the more liberal standards of the “Pre‐code” era. Screwball comedy dialogue was a means of incorporating sexual tension into films without being explicit. How does this apply to His Girl Friday? 4. Screwball comedy vs. romantic comedy (“romcom”): Scholars debate the possible difference. While Leger Grindon (Hollywood Romantic Comedy) sees screwball comedy as one “cycle” in the genre of romantic comedy, coming after the “transition to sound” cluster (e.g., I’m No Angel, 1933) and before the “WWII/Homefront” cluster (e.g., The Major and the Minor, 1942). Genre theorist Wes Gehring, however, argues that screwball and romcom are separate—he says screwball emphasized “funny” while romcom emphasizes “love.” How does His Girl Friday stack up? 5. Which of the four main types of humor are most evident in His Girl Friday—disparagement/putdown humor, incongruity humor, dark humor, and social currency humor? Which of these best fit the screwball comedy conventions? 6. The pace of the dialogue in His Girl Friday may be the fastest of all time. Ted Sennett, in his book Laughing in the Dark, cites this legend, but provides no evidence. Scholar Maria DiBattista has called Hildy “the fastest of the fast‐talking dames of American screen comedy.” Citing the influence of the stage, others have noted the popularity of “machine‐gun dialogue” in film and radio during the first half of the 20th century, and have used this film as the prime example. The most objective evidence seems to be that the screenplay for His Girl Friday was 191 pages, and the final film ran only 92 minutes (Turner Classic Movies web site); the typical ratio is 1 or 1.5 pages of screenplay to 1 minute of screen time. Further, director Howard Hawks, noting that in real life people over‐talk one another, had lines rewritten so that the beginnings and ends of lines were unnecessary, and then instructed his actors to overlap their dialogue. In an era before multi‐track sound recording, Hawks had the sound switched “live” on set by turning microphones on and off. How does the rapid pace and overlapping structure of the dialogue have an impact on your reception? 7. Hawks encouraged his stars Rosalind Russell and Cary Grant (with whom he had an established working relationship) to come up with their own “bits, lines, and flights of fancy” (Todd McCarthy’s biography, Howard Hawks). One ad‐lib example is when Roz Russell throws her handbag at Grant and misses, and he says, “You used to be better than that.” Russell is quoted as noting, “It’s a good director who sees what an actor can do, studies his cast, learns about them personally, knows how to get the best out of them.” Russell even went so far as to hire her own gag‐writer. Your thoughts on the contributions of ad‐libbing to His Girl Friday? 3 8. Unlike most other screwball comedies, this film has secondary characters that evoke our sympathies. The characters of Earle Williams and Mollie Malloy seem to better fit the social satire of the original play. Contrast these two characterizations with those of Walter and Hildy. Also, compare Hildy’s verbal style when interviewing Earle Williams with her interactions with Walter. 9. The character of Hildy Johnson in His Girl Friday is supposedly based in part on Hearst Newspapers’ reporter in Hollywood, Adela Rogers St. John, who was known for her striped suits. In the film, Hildy’s wardrobe (“gowns” by Robert Kalloch, according to the credits) is limited but striking. Her chevron‐striped long coat and matching soft silk top hat denote her as a powerful, confident woman at the outset. Then, after the 25‐minute prologue (not part of the original play), she switches to another set of stripes, this one a suit over a white blouse, with a complementing hat. However, she becomes increasingly disheveled— notably, mangling her hat‐‐as she moves back into her role as reporter…and as Walter’s subordinate. What are your thoughts on the role wardrobe plays in the portrayal of Hildy? 10. Similarly, although scholar Maria DiBattista has called this film’s Hildy “perhaps the best newspaperman ever portrayed on film,” she also points out that the very title “His Girl Friday” denotes a dated, retrograde view of women. Hildy’s character, like Friday in Defoe’s novel, is “indispensable but subordinate.” Thus, is the character of Hildy in this film an advancement for women, or ultimately a retreat to subordination? 11. Rosalind Russell (1907‐1976) was happy to land the role of Hildy Johnson, a close follow‐up to her comic turn in 1939’s The Women. Prior to this, Russell had not been viewed as a comic actress. Of course, in future years she would become best known for her comedies—e.g., My Sister Eileen (1942), Auntie Mame (1958), Gypsy (1962), The Trouble with Angels (1966)—and comic‐relief roles in dramas—e.g., Picnic (1955). Rosalind Russell was not Howard Hawks’ choice for the role of Hildy; she was cast after the part was turned down by Jean Arthur, Ginger Rogers, Katharine Hepburn, Irene Dunne, Margaret Sullavan, Carole Lombard, and Claudette Colbert (Doris Milberg)…pretty much a who’s who list of screwball comediennes. What do you think Rosalind Russell brings to the role that is uniquely her contribution? How would another actress have interpreted the role, do you think? 12. In her selection of Bruce Baldwin, a milquetoast who travels with his mother, Hildy has chosen a potential mate that is in direct opposition to Walter Burns. What are some specific contrasts between Bruce and Walter? And how is each suited to Hildy’s needs and desires? 13. What about the other female characters in the film? Is Mollie Malloy, as noted by scholar Marty Roth, “a version of Hildy, but a version that is thrown out the window and forgotten…a career woman who yearns to be private and domestic”? Is this the utility of the Mollie Malloy character—to help us see the futility of this yearning? And is Mother Baldwin a thematic counterpoint to Hildy, e.g., not welcome in the newsroom and ordered out by Walter? 14.