A bustling Chicago press-room is about to lose top "Examiner" writer Pat O'Brien (as Hildy Johnson),who wants to quit reporting after fifteen years, to marry Mary Brian (as Peggy Grant). But, managing editor Adolphe Menjou (as Walter Burns) wants Mr. O'Brien to stay, and cover stories like the execution by hanging of George E. Stone (as Earl Williams). The plot thickens when Mr. Williams escapes from jail, and tightens when O'Brien meets the convicted killer.

"The Front Page" was held in high regard for the way director Lewis Milestone made a staid, one-room stage play really MOVE on the big screen. There were "Academy Award" nominations for "Best Picture", "Best Director", and "Best Actor". The later went to Mr. Menjou, although O'Brien is arguably the film's leading actor. Menjou had taken over the role when Louis Wolheim died; either man would have been up for a "Supporting Actor" award, had they been given.

"This story is laid in a mythical kingdom," by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur, the writers who deserved "The Front Page" award.

******* The Front Page (3/19/31) Lewis Milestone ~ Pat O'Brien, Adolphe Menjou, Mary Brian, Edward Everett Horton

One of the biggest problems facing filmmakers in the early sound era was not a technical one, but one of what form the stories should take. Now that the spoken word was a means of expression, stage plays became a prime source for movie material. The only trouble was that, while the theatre is not necessarily an inferior medium, if you shoot a play simply as it is, no matter how good it would be in the theatre, on the screen it becomes static and dull. There are ways round this problem, and they demonstrate how much of a difference it makes the way in which a movie is filmed.

The Front Page's director, Lewis Milestone, was an ostentatious attention-grabber who liked to make every use of the technology at hand. But all his showing-off was for a purpose. As oppose to the limited dimensions of the stage, Milestone is always staging things in extremes of width and depth, especially when introducing major characters. A really neat manoeuvre is when a cop visits the newsroom during a game of poker. The camera sits on the middle of the small table and pans round as each reporter is harangued in turn. A man walking round a table is a fairly low-key bit of business, but this technique makes it simply whirl. There is only one point where I feel it's too much, when the camera "bounces" up and down on the faces of the reporters as they sing a taunting song. But the great thing is Milestone also knows when to tone it down and let the players shine. He often uses a long, still take for a key scene, such as Pat O'Brien and Adolphe Menjou's talk at the bar.

But an equally important contribution is the sense of realistic camaraderie between the principle members of the cast. The atmosphere in the newsroom straddles comedic exuberance and realistic banter, and as such is absolutely in the spirit of Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur's original work. Adolphe Menjou shows impeccable control, with movements that are almost cartoonish, such as the little backward lean into his stride off after announcing "I'll kill him!" It's a fresh approach, but one that would catch on, being very much the vein of Clark Gable's Oscar-winning performance in It Happened One Night (1934). Lead man Pat O'Brien is at his most extrovert and, in the process, his most likable. Walter Catlett is unflappably brilliant, and there is also a chance to see Edward Everett Horton honing the persona that would make him a fixture throughout the next decade.

The result is probably the most vibrant and effective stage adaptation of the early talkies, and it set the tone of much of what was to come, straddling the gap between the wild farce of the Marx Brothers and the sophisticated comedies like Dinner at Eight. Later directors (George Cukor, most notably) would learn to tone down Milestone's approach and create stage-to-screen adaptations that flowed smoothly and were purely cinematic, but The Front Page was nevertheless an important jolt to an industry still trying to find its way, and a lesson in how to make a script low on action and confined in space into something dynamic and brassy.

I tried watching THE FRONT PAGE at least three different times. However, the first two times the copies I had were unwatchable--with very, very poor sound and washed out prints. The first was a videotape, the second was a DVD. Only when I saw a cleaner print on Turner Classic Movies was I able to enjoy the film. This is because apparently this is a public domain film--and so many of the versions out there are in horrid condition.

The reason I wanted to see the film so badly is that it's remake from 1940 (HIS GIRL Friday) is one of the best films of the decade and I enjoyed it thoroughly. Well, now I am glad that I did finally see THE FRONT PAGE because I enjoyed this film almost as much as its remake. This is rare for me because I almost always hate remakes and I can't think of a single example where I liked BOTH about equally.

For the most part, the plot and much of the dialog is identical in the two films. However, there are some major changes. First, Hildy Johnson was a man in THE FRONT PAGE but in HIS GIRL Friday there was a sex change! Now Rosalind Russell took on the role originally played by Pat O'Brien and both did great jobs. Additionally, as THE FRONT PAGE was a crude film even by the Pre-Code standards of 1931, you may be surprised to hear some cursing, a scene where a reporter gives the mayor the middle finger and the final crude line of the film (though it is obscured by the loud noise, he's clearly saying a rather foul line). Even by today's very relaxed standards, this is a rather adult film--not better or worse but certainly more realistic because of this.

As for the plot, it's already been explained by other reviewers, so I won't "beat a dead horse". However, the film truly excels mostly because of its very cynical and dark writing. The dialog is simply wonderful and the characters are amazingly dark as well. While the actors all did a good job, they couldn't help it due to the play by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur! The only minus, and it didn't bother me in the least, is that in 1931, films were much quieter because incidental music was almost always absent--and this is no exception. However, I actually think it works just fine and makes the film seem a bit more realistic and gritty.

Overall, any person who prides themselves on being a student of film should watch this film--it is a classic in the same league as its much more famous cousin, HIS GIRL Friday.