His Girl Friday - 1940

How can a film, without any steamy sex scenes and French kisses, manage to be very HOT & SEXY nonetheless?

His Girl Friday is not the first American Classic film I ventured into. It's Gone With the Wind, 1939. It is a beautiful film, very complex but it was a bit over the top with its costumes and dresses and drama. Therefore, it shaped my whole perspective towards what pre-1950 American Cinema was all about.

Then, I watched His Girl Friday and hell, I was swayed within seconds. The intelligent fast dialogue, the humour that makes me laugh my ass off and the crystal-clear chemistry between the leads that make me wanna say, "Damn to the both of you, just GET BACK together already!"

Walter and Hildy 

The plot is quite simple - a successful but difficult man, Walter Burns (Cary Grant), was a hardworking newspaper editor with a less-than-moral streak. He was superbly intelligent and kind when he wanted to but he could extremely manipulative if demanded [which was most of the time, really], especially when his ex-wife and reporter, Hildy, came to tell him that she's leaving the city to marry a new man, pursuing happiness at last after that tough miserable life she shared with Walter.

From left: the fiance, Walter & Hildy

Sweet words of romance was not one of Walter's many forte. He did not want her to leave but could not bring to say it out loud. But Hildy knew his disapproval of her decision. He tried everything - and managed to make her stay for a few more hours to report one last assignment about a murderer who claimed to be innocent. Along the way, Hildy was often reminded of her love for hard-hitting journalism and the addictive adrenaline that comes with it, especially while working together with Walter.

The script is really good, I must say. Despite the romance theme they had going on, the movie still managed to insert plots about an about-to-be-executed criminal who could be innocent, the dirty world of journalism and the politics above them which could be even dirtier. It is a smart film about smart people. And sometimes, smart people have feelings, too.

It was exciting to watch Walter and Hildy's interactions. Both of them knew all there was to know about each other - they were partners, best friends, enemies, former lovers, and all in all, equals. It was romance all the way. Who cared if all of that took place in a room above a prison complex? They were getting back together! Poor fiance, though. He was really a kind man. It was difficult, though, for him to fit in into the fast-paced world that Hildy belonged to.

How good is this movie exactly?

Well, it's good enough to make me want to watch all of Cary Grant's films. He was one sexy man!