October 13th 2013. Pick Of The Day.

Due to time constraints this morn I cut to both chases concerning today's sked in rep film screenings. The lineup;

Film Forum

SHALL WE DANCE (1937) Dir; Mark Sandrich

DONKEY SKIN (1970) Dir; Jacques Demy

IFC Center

THE LAST PICTURE SHOW (1971) Dir; Peter Bogdanovich

ALIEN (1979) Dir; Ridley Scott

Nitehawk Cinema

ROSEMARY'S BABY (1968) Dir; Roman Polanski

MoMA

10 RILLINGTON PLACE (1971) Dir; Richard Fleischer

Museum of the Moving Image

HIS GIRL FRIDAY (1940) Dir; Howard Hawks

A SONG IS BORN (1947) Dir; Howard Hawks

And my Pick today goes to, surprise surprise, Howard Hawks' HIS GIRL FRIDAY at Moving Image, for the simple reason that it may indeed be my all-time fave Hawks flick, and those of you who know me know what gravitas that statement comes weighted with.

Columbia Pictures prez Harry Cohn, so the story goes, approached the very successful but tempermental producer/director about a possible remake of Lewis Milestone's 1931 adap of Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur's THE FRONT PAGE. Hawks was unenthused to say the least, as he considered the source play and original screen iteration to be perhaps the finest example of modern scripted dialogue. To make his point he held a reading of the play, and lacking a nearby male voicebox to read the part of ace reporter Hildy Johnson he asked his female secretary to read the part. From small requests great cinema comes.

The gender swap redefined the entire story, and Hawks leapt at the opportunity to reimagine the original work as a battle-of-the-sexes screwball comedy, the likes of which he'd already created the template for with TWENTIETH CENTURY and BRINGING UP BABY. Among the actresses Hawks pursued for his female lead to no avail were such archetypal screen broads and past collaborators like Carole Lombard, Kate Hepburn and Jean Arthur. Rejection upon rejection finally led him to accept Rosalind Russell as a last resort. Yep, you read that right. He "settled" for Roz Russell. And as much as you might adore the actresses who turned the part down can you for the life of you imagine in your right mind anyone else as Hawks' Hildy?

Russell apparently never let Hawks forget she was his "consolation prize" and took to having her advertising copywriter brother-in-law rewrite her dialogue when she felt it could be improved. Expecting some form of admonition for this mutinous behavior during production she was instead met with encouragement. As long as you make it better, Hawks apparently made it known, you can rewrite whatever you want. I don't consider this eventual mutual respect at all coincidental with what I deem the first true emergence of the Hawksian woman, still incomplete even as realized by Hepburn's Susan Vance and Arthur's Bonnie Lee. Indeed, Russell's Hildy doesn't just prove herself worthy of membership in the men's club, she absolutely outdoes them at their profession (Hawks' favorite word), all except perhaps for Cary Grant's newspaper publisher Walter Burns, one of the rare times Grant was allowed to portray a complete heel, but the only man worthy of Hildy's abilities and affections.

The Hawksian woman, the whip-smart rat-a-tat overlapping dialogue, the rare instance of Hawks getting stylish with the camera, the even rarer instance of Hawks getting political, the potent moments of drama daringly and seamlessly injected into the comedy, the cunning, callow, conniving perf by Cary Grant, and what may ultimately be my all-time favorite performance by an actress in a leading role. I absolutely dare you not to fall in love with Russell's Hildy Johnson after you've seen this film. The question, as Hawks would undoubtedly put it, is are you good enough for her?

For more info on these and all October 13's classic screenings in NYC click the interactive calendar on the upper right hand side of the page. And be sure to follow me on Facebook and Twitter. Back in 22-24 hrs with a new batch of flicks, til then safe and sound and keep an eye out for the next guy/gal!

-Joe Walsh

joew@nitratestock.net