Quick Hits - His Girl Friday

Cary Grant plays a newspaper editor who is determined to get his ex-wife (Rosalind Russell) back. She is his former ace reporter who divorced him because he cared about the job more than her and is set to get married to a much less interesting and strong man than himself, of course.

These kind of Cary Grant vehicles are always interesting to watch because he is such a scum but he's also the hero of the affair, more charming than anyone ever, and everything he thinks is true. Russell's fiance is boring and kind of dumb and she should keep going with hew newspaper career because she is good at it and she enjoys it. It is impossible not to root for Grant.

Russell is tough enough to stand nose-to-nose with Grant--which is why he likes her so much--and foils most of his plots but of course his scheming eventually works and she gets roped back in.

After it's absolutely clear how things work out for the romantic leads in the film it transitions into a critique of politicians using tragedy for their own electoral good. At this point the screwball elements are still present but the subject matter is much more serious, however it's handled in a way that it slips in there without changing the actual tone. This is a sneaky movie that comes off as light material at first but has a clear contemptuous voice for the powers that be.