His Girl Friday

His Girl Friday is an American screwball comedy starring Cary Grant, Rosalind Russell, Ralph Bellamy and Gene Lockhart. Walter Burns, the hard-boiled editor of The Morning Post, learns his ex-wife and star reporter, Hildegard 'Hildy' Johnson is about to be married to an insurance man, Bruce Baldwin, and settle down as a housewife in Albany. Walter sabotages these plans by enticing Hildy to cover the upcoming execution of Earl Williams, a shy bookkeeper accused of murdering a policeman. Hildy agrees on the condition that Walter buy a $100,000 life insurance policy from Bruce so he can receive the $1,000 commission. In the meantime, Hildy bribes the warden to let her interview Williams in jail. Williams tells her he shot the policeman by accident. Walter is intent on keeping Hildy so he concocts various ways to frame Bruce and send him to jail. Hildy keeps getting Bruce out. In the meantime, Hildy learns that Williams has escaped from jail and pursues her journalistic career to report on Williams. Williams then sneaks into the deserted press room and holds Hildy at gunpoint. Williams's friend Mollie comes to look for him and Hildy hides the fugitive in a rolltop desk. Upon being harassed by the other reporters on William's whereabouts, Mollie jumps out of the window to escape. The crooked mayor and sheriff need the publicity from William's execution to keep their jobs, so when a messenger brings them a reprieve from the governor, they try to bribe the man to go away until after the execution has been completed. The finale of this story is a real belly laugh and well worth the watch! (92 minutes - 1940 - Black & White - 4:3)