The Front Page (1974)

"Well, if it's in the papers, it must be true. They wouldn't print a lie."

Hildy Johnson (Lemmon) is the best reporter at the Chicago Examiner, but quits to get married.  His editor, Walter Burns (Matthau), plans to fight dirty to keep him around.  Meanwhile, the big news story is Earl Williams (Pendleton), who was convicted of murder and sentenced to hang the next day.  The newsmen painted Earl as a dangerous, despite his meek nature.

During his final psych evaluation, Earl manages to escape.  The entire police force and the reporters are on Earl's trail... but he stumbles into Hildy and Walter's path.  With the biggest scoop in his lap, will Hildy choose the story or his fiance, Peggy Grant (Sarandon)?


"The Front Page" was originally conceived as a stage play in 1928.  The story gained popularity, and was turned into a film in 1931.  In 1940, Howard Hughes turned it into a battle of the sexes, making Hildy a woman and Walter's ex wife.  In 1974, Billy Wilder decided to remake the film with Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon, in their third on screen pairing.  Unlike the other films, Wilder chose to set the film in the 1920's, which is the time period of the original story.

The story and characters are engaging.  Lemmon and Matthau are always great together, and this film is no different.  They are perfect partners in crime and foils for each other.  The rest of the cast doesn't stand a chance when matched with Matthau / Lemmon.  The other newsmen are entertaining as a group, and get some great scenes.  Austin Pendleton's Earl Williams works in the film, but doesn't get to do much.  The women of the film don't get to do much, and more or less fade into the background, which is disappointing since they are played by Susan Sarandon and Carol Burnett.  Sarandon is the fiance, a character that you don't really care about.  Burnett, an excellent comedienne, is miscast as Earl's girlfriend Mollie.

The film is fine, but pales in comparison to Hughes His Girl Friday.

The Front Page (1974) 105 minutes
Director: Billy Wilder
Starring: Jack Lemmon as Hildy Johnson
Walter Matthau as Walter Burns
Susan Sarandon as Peggy Grant
Vincent Gardenia as Sheriff "Honest Pete" Hartman
David Wayne as Roy Bensinger
Allen Garfield as Kruger
Charles Durning as Murphy
Herb Edelman as Schwartz
Austin Pendleton as Earl Williams
Carol Burnett as Mollie Malloy
Harold Gould as The Mayor