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Alec B Its been eclipsed by "His Girl Friday" which is understandable but also a little unfair. After the restoration back in 2016 you can more easily appreciate the filmmaking and fast talking performances. Rated 4.5/5 Stars •  Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 03/15/25 Full Review ChrisCSH H The front page is one of those films that if you don’t pay attention, you’ll miss exactly what’s going on real quick. This film for the time was definitely clever and unique, fast moving pace of each actor in and out of the scene along with the complexity of the dialogue, gives this film the lead for most unique for its time. For many the complexity and fast pace of the dialogue could be hard to comprehend or understand and you could feel lost very quickly but for many others, this is the start of complex filmmaking and it’s definitely worth a watch. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 09/19/24 Full Review Liam D One of the first screwball comedies. This has a solid script, a great cast and decent directing Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 09/06/24 Full Review Louisa E I found this movie so difficult to understand. Some of it was the sound quality, and the rest was the manically fast way the actors spoke. I couldn't understand about three-quarters of what was being said, so I struggled to string the plot together. This spoiled the whole movie for me. I worked out what was happening but couldn't get into the characters because it seemed all plot and no character development. Head and no heart. You can tell it was a movie made from a play because that's what it felt like. There was so much action in the little press room and not much else. I think if it were redone, it would be a good plot. There were great hints at journalists making things up and crooked government officials. It would be fantastic if more plot time were taken to enhance the relationships and take away unnecessary dialogue so that what is spoken can be done at a normal speed without sounding like a horse-racing caller. I have a soft spot for Slim Summerville after seeing him in All Quiet on the Western Front. But as for directing, it felt too much like they whacked a camera in front of a play. Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 05/08/23 Full Review William L The original cinematic adaptation of the Broadway play, that would itself later be adapted into the more rom-com-esque His Girl Friday. The Front Page will seem very familiar to fans of the 1940 Hawks classic, as it goes through most of the same story motions but with a much more dated sense of comedy and style; in some cases, that takes the form of some funny insults and charming anachronisms (even in the subtitles, you'll find scene direction like "blows a raspberry"), while in others you'll be quickly reminded of the not-so-palatable sensibilities of the time. Additionally, this 1931 adaptation is only about ten minutes longer than the Hawks version, but feels much more topheavy and unwieldy with less narrative flow; a few cuts here and there would have done it good. Menjou is probably the best part of the film, but the film's reliance on quick-paced dialogue ends up as a bit of a weakness given that studios were still working the kinks out of their audio setups. (2.5/5) Rated 2.5/5 Stars •  Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 05/29/22 Full Review Audience Member A screwball comedy centers on a reporter Hildy Johnson and his editor who hope to cash in on a big story involving an escaped accused murderer and hide him in a rolltop desk while everyone tries to find him. It's a Howard Hughes production, it was made into two separate films, one for international audiences and one for the US. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/08/23 Full Review Read all reviews

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