"Excuuuuuuuze me, will ya, I'm talking to him!"
Sunday, January 11, 2015 at 1:17PM 
Walter: Now, look Bruce. You persuade Hildy to do the story and you can write out a nice fat insurance policy for me.
Today is the 75th Anniversary of the premiere of Howard Hawks classic His Girl Friday (1940). Here's a double sided bitchy moment to savor in which Walter Burns has dangled an insurance policy carrot for Bruce, who doesn't bite but Hildy does, eyeing the green while milking Walter for a bigger payday. Walter feigns objection, while egging Hildy on...
Hildy: [To Walter] You keep out of this! [To Bruce] Alright Bruce, suppose you have Mr. Burns examined over in his office and see what they'll allow on that old carcass of his? If his...
Walter: Say! I'm better than I ever was, I...
Hildy: [To Walter] That was never anything to brag about. [To Bruce] Now, look Bruce I'll go back and change and dress and after you get the check you phone me. I'll be in the press room at the criminal courts building. [To Walter] Walter...
Walter: What?
Hildy: By the way I think you better make that a certified check.
Walter: What do you think I am, a crook?
Hildy: Yes. No certified check, no story - get me?
Walter: It'll be certified. Want my fingerprints?
Hildy: No, thanks. I've still got those.
Hee! Cary Grant's physical comedy in this movie is so finely calibrated it's scary.
In truth I've never loved this movie quite as much as I'm supposed to. I find it hilarious but also exhausting. But I do totally love both of the big triangulated scenes when Ralph Bellamy, Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell are all talking (or rather Cary & Roz are talking and Ralph tries to keep up) but no one is really listening or they're pretending to listen or they're selectively listening with an entirely different conversation going on in their own heads. The bookend scene of this one towards the end -- 'I'm leaving on the 9 o'clock' -- displays this more nakedly, but both scenes are incredible: the actors are perfectly attuned to each other's comic timing while also feigning that they're running on completely different clocks in different time zones to boot.
Do actors study screwball comedies to perfect timing and chemistry? They should.
(Great Moments in Screen Bitchery #612: Rosalind Russell & Cary Grant in His Girl Friday)
Reader Comments (6)
I love this movie. But the real winner of the argument in this scene is Russell's hat. Smart, bitchy and all-knowing at the same time.
Greatest comedy of all time, and Russell gives one of the best performances. Wish Criterion would release it on Blu-ray.
It all worked out terrifically since this was one of the films that really moved Roz into star status but it's surprising how many of the comedy queens of the day, Carole Lombard, Claudette Colbert, Jean Arthur, Irene Dunne and Ginger Rogers, all turned the part of Hildy down.
Perhaps the part didn't read well on the page but I can imagine them all but Dunne doing well in the role, still Roz is an ace at that mile a minute patter and she and Cary make a great team. They stayed life long friends, he introduced her to her husband in fact, but this was their only film together which is a shame.
No one could have handled the patter as well as Miss Russell. You bring up and excellent point Nathaniel. Screwball comedies are so characterized by this pace of chatter.
One of the best movies/scripts/anything ever. I've never met anyone who didn't love it
I can't believe I missed this article when it was first posted, thank you for highlighting (what I think) is the best screwball comedy and most feminist of films. I understand you being a little overwhelmed by it at times, but all of the actors are fabulous.
Rosalind Russell & Cary Grant are a joy to behold, she had the best timing in the business. All aspiring actresses should study this, and learn from it. It's worthy of a Criterion edition for sure.