The Front Page
About The Front Page
Hildy Johnson wants to quit the Morning Post and marry Peggy Grant. His editor, Walter Burns, will not let him. Hildy refuses to talk, so Burns sets off a fire alarm outside Peggy's building, corners him, and takes him drinking. Convicted murderer Earl Williams escapes. Hildy finds him, starts to think he may be innocent, and with Burns hides him in the press room to hold the story.
Cast & crew
More about The Front Page
Lewis Milestone directed and produced with Howard Hughes. Bartlett Cormack and Charles Lederer wrote the script from the 1928 play by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur. United Artists released the Caddo picture. Adolphe Menjou is Burns. Pat O'Brien is Hildy. Mary Brian is Peggy. Edward Everett Horton is in the cast. New York premiere March 19, 1931. General release April 4. Western Electric sound. AFI also lists 90 or 100 minutes and 8,100 feet. Glen MacWilliams photographed it.
Themes
Look
Glen MacWilliams shot the press room and the street outside Peggy's building.
Preservation
The Academy Film Archive preserved the film in 2016.
Notes
- Louis Wolheim was cast as Burns and died. Menjou took the part.
- Hecht and MacArthur had been Chicago newspapermen. The city in the film is unnamed.
- The play was adapted again as His Girl Friday (1940), with the Hildy role played by a woman.
Scenes
- Burns pulls a fire alarm so Hildy will come downstairs.
- Williams is hidden in the press room while the papers hunt him.
Influenced by
- Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur, The Front Page (1928 play)
Influenced
- His Girl Friday (1940)
