{"id":43243,"date":"2019-03-27T16:55:35","date_gmt":"2019-03-27T23:55:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=43243"},"modified":"2020-11-28T12:34:47","modified_gmt":"2020-11-28T19:34:47","slug":"front-page-the-1931","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=43243","title":{"rendered":"Front Page, The (1931)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;So, you&#8217;re leaving me for marriage. Why?&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Front-Page-Poster.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Front-Page-Poster-194x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"194\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-43244\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Front-Page-Poster-194x300.jpg 194w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Front-Page-Poster-83x128.jpg 83w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Front-Page-Poster.jpg 324w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 194px) 100vw, 194px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nA wily editor (Adolphe Menjou) tries to prevent his star journalist (Pat O&#8217;Brien) from marrying his sweetheart (Mary Brian) by luring him into investigating a story about a cop-killer (George E. Stone) due to be hung that evening.\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Adolphe Menjou Films<\/li>\n<li>Career versus Marriage<\/li>\n<li>Journalists<\/li>\n<li>Lewis Milestone Films<\/li>\n<li>Pat O&#8217;Brien Films<\/li>\n<li>Play Adaptation<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nFresh from the success of <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=42881\"><em>All Quiet on the Western Front<\/em> (1930)<\/a>, Lewis Milestone directed this 180-degree change-of-pace screwball comedy, based on the Broadway <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/The_Front_Page\">play by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur<\/a> and famously remade and re-gendered by Howard Hawks as <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=11297\"><em>His Girl Friday<\/em> (1940)<\/a>. Given the brilliance of Hawks&#8217;s classic, I was pleasantly surprised by this earlier iteration, which offers ample fast-paced enjoyment of its own. The Pre-Code screenplay reveals its age in terms of numerous good-ol&#8217;-boy comments that wouldn&#8217;t pass muster these days (&#8220;He&#8217;s going to write poetry about milady&#8217;s panties.&#8221;), but otherwise has held up well. One generally expects early talkies to be somewhat static and slow; however, that certainly isn&#8217;t the case here. This one&#8217;s worth a watch.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Impressive direction and editing<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Front-Page-Still.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Front-Page-Still.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"702\" height=\"514\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-43247\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Front-Page-Still.png 702w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Front-Page-Still-128x94.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Front-Page-Still-300x220.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 702px) 100vw, 702px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Front-Page-Still3.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Front-Page-Still3.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"702\" height=\"514\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-43246\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Front-Page-Still3.png 702w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Front-Page-Still3-128x94.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Front-Page-Still3-300x220.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 702px) 100vw, 702px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Front-Page-Still2.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Front-Page-Still2.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"702\" height=\"514\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-43248\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Front-Page-Still2.png 702w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Front-Page-Still2-128x94.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Front-Page-Still2-300x220.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 702px) 100vw, 702px\" \/><\/a>\n<\/li>\n<li>A consistently amusing and engaging screenplay: &#8220;This place is beginning to smell like&#8230; like an owl&#8217;s foot.&#8221;\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nYes, as an enjoyable and historically relevant screwball comedy. Selected in 2010 for the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being &#8220;culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Categories<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?page_id=1784#oscar\">Oscar Winner or Nominee<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0021890\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dvdtalk.com\/reviews\/68913\/front-page-the\/\">DVD Talk Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1931\/03\/20\/archives\/the-screen-a-newspaper-melodrama-a-german-musical-film-on-other.html\">NY Times Original Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tcm.com\/tcmdb\/title\/5902\/the-front-page#articles-reviews?articleId=64127\">TCM Article<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;So, you&#8217;re leaving me for marriage. Why?&#8221; Synopsis: A wily editor (Adolphe Menjou) tries to prevent his star journalist (Pat O&#8217;Brien) from marrying his sweetheart (Mary Brian) by luring him into investigating a story about a cop-killer (George E. Stone) due to be hung that evening. Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors: Adolphe Menjou Films Career versus Marriage Journalists Lewis Milestone Films Pat O&#8217;Brien Films Play Adaptation Review: Fresh from the success of All Quiet on the Western Front (1930), Lewis&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=43243\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-43243","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43243","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=43243"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43243\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":55501,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43243\/revisions\/55501"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=43243"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=43243"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=43243"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}