On F List of Movie Reviews

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The Front Page (1931)

Rate: 3
Viewed: 2/21

2/21: I'm a big fan of Billy Wilder's remake of The Front Page, but after seeing the original for the first time, I conclude it's a boring movie.

The biggest trouble is the dialogue. It's so leaden that over 5,000 words should've been cut out. All the characters do is talk, talk, and talk. That much was evident in the last five minutes when I wanted the movie to end already. Actually, I was interested to know which film first came up with the line: "The son of a bitch stole my watch."

I know who Pat O'Brien was: a long-time supporting actor in James Cagney pictures. The Front Page is his first film in a leading role, and he's young-looking. Unfortunately, Pat O'Brien doesn't have that kind of star quality. His comedic timing isn't great, either. That's why I think Cary Grant would've been perfect, hence His Girl Friday. Adolphe Menjou tries but is buried by too many lines.

More of a play than anything, I think the writers were too much in love with their words. The delivery is so fast that it's easy to miss them. Some of the lines didn't register in my mind; therefore, I kept moving on with the film which is not good. This is the reason why the remake worked plus it had two big stars in Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon who knew the art of perfect timing while working with a well-written script that's full of witty moments.

All in all, The Front Page may be considered the first screwball comedy, but it's a very old movie and I don't mean that in a kind way.

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