Movies

Billy Wilder's remake of the Ben Hecht play is a little better than the 1931 original, but not as good as the 1940 Cary Grant version (The Front Page).Still, Jack Lemmon (won an Oscar the year before for Save the Tiger) and Walter Matthau (The Fortune Cookie, Kotch) give excellent performances, and Vincent Gardenia (Oscar nominated the year before for Bang the Drum Slowly ) and Susan Sarandon (a relatively new actress) support them to the extent that this is still a superior film.Funny, funny film about politics and newspapers and some the the early seventies best actors. Catch this one and also see The Front Page.

When the subject of great movies is being discussed, this movie must be included in the discussion. This movie is a witty and fast-paced satire that pokes fun at the news media. The characters are memorable and the acting is fantastic. Walter Matthau, Jack Lemmon and Vincent Gardenia are great in this movie, but most impressive is Carol Burnett's wonderful and powerful performance which dominates every scene in which she appears. But what makes this movie even more appealing is that it is a story of how the quest for the extra buck can corrupt everyone involved, with tragic consequences. Billy Wilder is very strong on this point and for this reason this movie is worth watching.

It's 1929 Chicago. Hildy Johnson (Jack Lemmon) is the top reporter in his paper but he's quitting to marry Peggy Grant (Susan Sarandon) in Philidelphia. His editor Walter Burns (Walter Matthau) works to stop him with lies and schemes. Walter wants Hildy to cover the hanging of cop killer Earl Williams.Billy Wilder adapts the play, the most famous film adaptation being 'His Girl Friday'(40). The dialog is rapid-fire. By returning Hildy to being a man, the intensity is lost. It loses a compelling dimension to the movie. It's not as much fun despite having Lemmon and Matthau. They don't have enough screen time together. When they're together, the energy goes up noticeably. Without the duo together, the movie feels flat.