The perfect romantic
screwball. Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell are NYC journalists with the love
they have for getting the latest story surpassed only by their love for each
other. Odd then that they -– Grant is editor Walter Burns, Russell is reporter
Hildy Johnson -– cannot stand each other and were quite recently married. Not
enough room in a marriage when the third and fourth partners are outsize egos.
The plot is beside the point against dialogue that demands instant replay as
every rounded machine-gunned line pops one after the other and on top of one
another, leaving the viewer spellbound. But here goes: Hildy returns to the
newsroom that is her church and busts in on Burns’ office, declaring her intent
to quit and marry an insurance salesman from Albany (Ralph Bellamy), which in
newspeak equals marrying a scarecrow from Kansas. Burns has one ace up his
sleeve: A sizzling murder trail he knows Johnson won’t refuse. The rest is
marvelous. The puns and name drops (“Archie Leech!”) crash the fourth wall, a
shout to the audience that no matter how much fun they’re having watching, the
actors had more fun playing it. A+
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