The Front Page

    The Front Page
    1931

    Synopsis

    Hildy Johnson is an investigative reporter looking for a bigger paycheck. When an accused murderer escapes from custody, Hildy sees an opportunity for the story of a lifetime. But when he finds the criminal, he learns that the man may not be guilty. With the help of his editor, Hildy attempts to hide the convict, uncover the conspiracy and write the scoop of his career.

    Your Movie Library

    Cast

    • Pat O’BrienHildy Johnson
    • Adolphe MenjouWalter Burns
    • Mary BrianPeggy Grant
    • Edward Everett HortonBensinger
    • Walter CatlettMurphy
    • George E. StoneEarl Williams
    • Mae ClarkeMolly
    • Slim SummervillePincus
    • Matt MooreKruger
    • Frank McHughMcCue

    Recommendations

    • 100

      TV Guide Magazine

      A vigorous, manic drama, this Lewis Milestone classic about newspapers and newsmen wonderfully preserves a host of Depression-era attitudes and a glorious headline era.
    • 90

      The Observer (UK)

      This first film version, a milestone work in every sense, helped, through its fast, wise-cracking dialogue and rapid editing, to change the sight and sound of the new talkies. Adolph Menjou as the suave, double-crossing editor Walter Burns and Pat O'Brien as his star reporter head a great cast. [17 Dec 2006, p.8]
    • 90

      Variety

      A very entertaining picture for anyone anywhere. [25 Mar 1931, p.17]
    • 80

      The New York Times

      Front Page displays a giddy bitterness that is rare in any films except those of Mr. Wilder. It is also, much of the time, extremely funny.
    • 75

      Chicago Tribune

      Lewis Milestone preserves more of the original play than Hawks in His Girl Friday, but it's a much thinner movie: more mechanical, less chilling or ripe in its cynicism, the pace less nimble and charged. Still, the dialogue is gritty, magical, top-flight. Modern screenwriters, see this and weep. [25 Jul 1999, p.43C]
    • 70

      Chicago Reader

      Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur's perennial stage comedy about yellow journalism in Chicago hasn't much to offer in the way of action, but in this 1931 adaptation director Lewis Milestone (All Quiet on the Western Front) manages to inject a fair amount of visual energy to complement the firecracker dialogue.
    • 63

      Slant Magazine

      Milestone’s direction is only sporadically inspired.
    • 50

      Time Out

      Milestone's direction, veering between stagey two-shots and extravagant but purposeless camera movements, doesn't help either.