The Front Page (1974)

A satire on journalism seems to be the topic no filmmaker wants to touch, although I personally see the opportunity as a limitless one. With the modern era bringing forth the creation of the internet along with the concepts and ideas of information overload, misinformation, the idea that news is no long about being correct but rather being first, and the controversial and vague lines that determine whether or not websites like Reddit and Wikipedia are actually reliable sources are all things that could make a satire on modern-era journalism click on sight.

Maybe it's because I'm currently examining the journalism mediums in a high school source that I'd anxiously anticipate a satire on contemporary journalism if it were to be handled by someone delicately. For now, though, Billy Wilder's The Front Page is a fine film to hold one over. Immediately, the film is buoyed band blessed by having both Jack Lemmon and Wlater Matthau as its headlines, two fantastic actors whose work is only enhanced when they're placed in a film together. With The Front Page makes one of the earliest pairings of the two actors, almost ten years after the release of Gene Saks' The Odd Couple and about two decades before the wildly popular Grumpy Old Men films.

Set in the 1920's, Lemmon and Matthau star as Hildebrand "Hildy" Johnson and Walter Burns. Hildy is about to resign and retire from his position as ace-reporter of the Chicago Examiner but Walter, his editor, will have none of it. For years, he has trusted Hildy to write intelligent articles covering issues in the world in order to produce one of the finest papers around. But Hildy has other plans, to marry his new love (Susan Sarandon) and see the world are just a few of them. But when a checkered and incredibly juicy story comes along, Walter hopes to keep his star reporter one last time to write what may be the most outlandish story of his life.

Like most Lemmon/Matthau efforts, the real treat at hand is watching the chemistry of the leading men as they recite scripted dialog in such an elegant way that it conveys the buddy-to-buddy naturalism of a certain situation. Wilder and co-writer I.A.L. Diamond provide the men with several opportunities to put their loquaciousness to the test as the camera finds a way to fixate on them for several minutes at a time as the two bat off rapid-fire dialog at one another.

It is this chemistry that makes The Front Page a good piece of work and all the more fun, especially in the present time as it shows the functionality of old-school journalism and reporting and how journalists back in the day worked and operated. It's also hard to neglect a supporting cast made up of Carol Burnett, Susan Sarandon, and Charles Durning who, in some way, contribute to the film's overall success as a whole. And let us not forget the incredible talent of Billy Wilder, who takes one of the most cleaned-up occupations of the Roaring Twenties and Great Depression-era and turns it into complete lunacy, filled with those who go to astounding lengths to achieve a story worthy of the front page. Run and print that.

Starring: Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau, Susan Sarandon, Charles Durning, and Carol Burnett. Directed by: Billy Wilder.

Fmovies: A superb film with a brilliant script. Full of characters you can believe in. They all have superb characters, who act as you may well expect them to. Why some film critics rate it so low is strange to me - perhaps the film was too close to the mark? Wilder/Diamond did have the advantage of basing their film on an excellent stage play.

Billy Wilder's work didn't exactly decline in quality during the 70's; rather, he seems to have been making less of an effort to break new ground and reinvent genres, instead leaning back on genres he new well and making perfectly solid films that were fun to make and fun to watch. The Front Page is no exception; on the surface it's easy to blame Wilder of lacking originality, in adapting a play that had been put to film twice before. However, the 1931 version really isn't good enough to pay attention to, and the 1940 version (His Girl Friday) changed things around quite a bit, making Wilder's version the definitive version of the play. Wilder reverted the lead role from a woman back to a man, retaining the relationship between the two leads to the 'male life partners' version that the original play had, which I found more interesting than the romantic relationship in 'His Girl Friday'.

And the best thing is that the chemistry between Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau is so good, that they make this relationship really work. They worked twice before, in 'The Odd Couple' and 'The Fortune Cookie', and once again prove how good they are together; a testament to that is that the first half of 'The Front Page', in which Lemmon interacts with actors like Susan Sarandon and Austin Pendleton, moves along with a lazy pace, usually witty but never grabs the viewers completely; but the second half, which is mostly around Lemmon and Matthau, sparks all over the place and is an absolute joy to watch, right up to the ending - and nobody could direct an ending scene like Wilder. It's Wilder's knack for pacing that makes the film work, and Lemmon and Matthau have amazing timing that compliments it perfectly. The film may not be groundbreaking but it's a nearly perfectly made comedy, with some vicious observations about the nature of media and politics.

The Front Page fmovies. I also do not understand the critics on this one. It's fast-paced, magnificently cynical throughout, unabashedly edgy, and the one-liners come faster than zingers on your average sit-com. Plus it captures the world of urban newspapers better than other movies capture the world of almost anything they attempt.

MILD SPOILERS

The Front Page is one of my favourite Billy Wilder films, and by definition, this would mean also one of my favourite comedies of all time. I definitely agree with the view held by some that this magnificent work deserves much wider recognition than it has received. And here's the news: I HAVE seen His Girl Friday, and I STILL consider Wilder's take to be superior, even if the master himself dismissed it as a botch. Sorry to disagree, Mr. Wilder, but I believe that in few films you got a chance as good as this one to demonstrate your spectacular sense of rhythm and comic timing, and get performances as astounding from everyone involved; the Lemmon-Matthau unbeatable duo works like a perfectly greased machine at full blast and I definitely prefer their vicious bickering to the flirty, romantically-intentioned banter of Grant and Russell; and all the rest of the cast I think is perfect too, for example Sarandon, who with just one look can convey her frustration and her resigned acceptance at her husband-to-be's inability to change... I'm sorry, but I just can't find the slightest defect. To me, this is a perfect ten.

Billy Wilder's remake of the Ben Hecht play is a little better than the 1931 original, but not as good as the 1940 Cary Grant version (The Front Page).

Still, Jack Lemmon (won an Oscar the year before for Save the Tiger) and Walter Matthau (The Fortune Cookie, Kotch) give excellent performances, and Vincent Gardenia (Oscar nominated the year before for Bang the Drum Slowly ) and Susan Sarandon (a relatively new actress) support them to the extent that this is still a superior film.

Funny, funny film about politics and newspapers and some the the early seventies best actors. Catch this one and also see The Front Page.