The Front Page (1974)

Director:

Billy Wilder

Writers:

Ben Hecht (play) and
Charles MacArthur (play) ...

Release Date:

17 December 1974 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

Tagline:

It's the hottest story since the Chicago Fire... And they're sitting on it.

Plot:

Hildy Johnson is the top reporter on a Chicago newspaper during the 1920s. Tired of the whole game he's determined to quit his job to get married...

Plot Keywords:

Reference To The Madonna | Journalism | What Happened To Epilogue | Reference To Ben Hecht | Beautiful Woman

Awards:

Nominated for 3 Golden Globes. Another 2 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Jack Lemmon	...	Hildy Johnson
Walter Matthau	...	Walter Burns
Susan Sarandon	...	Peggy Grant
Vincent Gardenia	...	Sheriff
David Wayne	...	Bensinger
Allen Garfield	...	Kruger
Austin Pendleton	...	Earl Williams
Charles Durning	...	Murphy
Herb Edelman	...	Schwartz (as Herbert Edelman)
Martin Gabel	...	Dr. Eggelhofer
Harold Gould	...	The Mayor
Cliff Osmond	...	Jacobi
Dick O'Neill	...	McHugh
Jon Korkes	...	Rudy Keppler
Lou Frizzell	...	Endicott

Also Known As:

Spéciale première (Canada: French title) (France) [fr]
A Primeira Página (Brazil) [pt]
Etusivu uusiks' (Finland) [fi]
Extrablatt (West Germany) [de]
I proti selida (Greece) [el]
Koteret Rashit (Israel: Hebrew title) [iw]
Prima pagina (Romania) [ro]
Prima pagina (Italy) [it]
Primera plana (Spain) [es]
Ryd forsiden (Denmark) [da]
Stoppa pressarna! (Sweden) [sv]
Szenzáció! (Hungary) [hu]

Runtime:

105 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Singapore:PG | Australia:M | Canada:PG (Ontario) | Australia:PG (DVD rating) | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:11 | USA:PG

Company:

Universal Pictures

Trivia:

According to Austin Pendleton, Lemmon, Matthau, and Billy Wilder did not get along during filming and promised never to work with other again. The three would work together again on Buddy Buddy (1981).

Goofs:

Continuity: When Peggy decides Hildy doesn't want to leave the newspaper business, she takes her ticket and leaves the press room for the cab. A few minutes later, Bentzinger wants to come in and the door is locked, even thought neither Hildy or Burns locked it after she left.

Quotes:

Walter Burns: Get back in there, you God Damned Turtle!

Movie Connections:

References Some Like It Hot (1959)

Soundtrack:

Button Up Your Overcoat

One of my top 10 films of all time.

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.