The other night on Netflix, I watched, for the first time in many years. the 1940 screwball comedy “His Girl Friday.” It’s well-directed by Howard Hawks. The stars–Cary Grant as the smart, fast-talking, conman newspaper editor, Rosalind Russell as his beautiful, talented, duped ex-wife, and Ralph Bellamy as her stupid, boring fiancé–played their intended roles well. The message was typical. Rosalind, a “great newspaperman,” should stay at work, and never, ever become a mother. Cary tricks her twice, and takes advantage of Ralph’s naivete to trick him, with counterfeit money, into jail. Usually, Hollywood puts fathers in a bad light; TV continues the tradition. In Ralph’s case, he’s a jerk and a joke because he merely wants to be a father in the future. Oh, and perhaps worse, he’s also a businessman.
One funny note: the subplot involves the planned hanging of a crazy man who shot a cop by mistake. Can’t he still be reprieved? No, says a reporter. “it was a colored cop, and the colored are a big voting bloc in this city.”
1:43 pm on December 6, 2015
