The Front Page (1974)

The Front Page (1974)

starring Walter Matthau, Jack Lemmon, Susan Sarandon, Vincent Gardenia, Carol Burnett

directed by Billy Wilder

105 minutes

Earl Williams has been convicted of murdering a policeman and the city is getting ready to hang him, just before election day, when he escapes from police custody. Hildy Johnson (Jack Lemmon) is getting ready to quit his job at the Chicago Daily Examiner, get married, and move to Philadelphia when the movie begins. He tries to wiggle his way out of covering it but he finds himself smack in the middle of the Earl Williams story. 

Walter Burns (Walter Matthau), Hildy's boss at the Daily Examiner, knows that Hildy is gold, the best reporter he has on staff, and does everything he can to keep him from quitting. The two men wind up working together to land the big story on Earl Willians who drops right into their laps while reporters from the other newspapers in town are running around trying to figure out what has happened to the fugitive.

Peggy (Susan Sarandon), Hildy's fiancée, also places pressure on him but, unlike Walter, she wants him to follow through on his promise to quit his job and move to Philadelphia with her. Molly (Carol Burnett), a prostitute who sheltered Earl Williams before he was captured by the police, does what she can to fight for Earl's freedom. The sheriff (Vincent Gardenia) and the mayor, both up for re-election, are desperate to see Williams hanged because they believe it will help them in the election.

Thoughts

I've seen this movie more than once before. I think I first saw it about 40 years ago. I enjoyed it then and I still think it is a damn good movie. There are a couple homophobic remarks early in the movie. These are the only strikes I have against it. It isn't a great movie but I really like it. It might be the first Billy Wilder film that I saw. It might also be the first movie that costarred Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau that I saw.

There are a number of familiar faces in this movie including Charles Durning, Harold Gould, and few others that I don't know by name but who I am sure that I have seen in other films and television shows.

There is an earlier version of this movie from the early 1930s. I have tried watching it but the sound quality on the copies of the early 1930s that I have been able to find is really bad. I couldn't get myself to watch the whole film.

I love how Lemmon and Matthau work together in this movie. Everyone in this movie is good. I love how they play off of one another usually for laughs. I forgot that Carol Burnett was in this movie. She was quite good in what was for the most part a serious role.