Lecture 4 - His Girl Friday

dir. Howard Hawks, 1940

His Girl Friday as Classical Hollywood Cinema

A. His Girl Friday

A1. Themes

  • Comic satire of the worlds of journalism and politics
  • Uses comedy to perform social critique 
    "It all happened in the ‘dark ages’ of the newspaper game—when to a reporter ‘getting that story’ justified anything short of murder." - Opening Titles
  • Shows how the political world is a parallel to the journalistic world

A1-i. Criticisms of Journalists

The journalists of His Girl Friday are:

  • Unscrupulous and lacking in morals
  • Lacking in compassion
  • Corrupt
E.g. Hildy bribes a policeman to get access to Earl Williams

A1-ii. Criticisms of Politicians

The politicians of His Girl Friday are similary characterized by:

  • Unscrupulousness
  • Expediency
  • Corruption
E.g.
The mayor is corrupt and capable of bribery
Again, for the mayor, Earl Williams is just a political issue linked to the elections:
    -> The mayor needs to hang Earl Williams to be re-elected
    -> Earl Williams shot a black policeman
    -> The mayor depends on the black vote.

A2. Comedy in His Girl Friday

Types of comedy used:

  • Verbal wit and humor
  • Use of contrast
  • Physical comedy
  • Use of repetition

A2-i. Verbal Comedy

Includes:

  • Witty verbal repartee
  • Verbal insults
  • Verbal miscomprehension

Shows contrast between the worldly-wise characters and the more naïve, innocent characters

E.g. The mayor versus Pettibone
Pettibone doesn’t even know he’s being bribed, while bribery is second nature to the mayor

A3. Sound in His Girl Friday

  • Uses Overlapping Dialogue
  • Provides film with a sense of speed
Another e.g: Citizen Kane, boarding house scene

B. Classical Hollywood Cinema

B1. Narrative Form

CHC films:

  1. are Character-centered
  2. have Well-defined Character Traits
  3. are Character-driven
  4. have a Strong Sense of Narrative Closure

B1-i. Character-centered Narrative

  • Focus is on individuals
  • Characters who are highly individualized
E.g. His Girl Friday

Walter: quick-thinking, scheming
Hildy:  equally fast on her feet, able to engage in verbal sparring with Walter
Bruce:  sincere, trusting, naïve

B1-ii. Well-defined Character Traits

  • Characters are thus easily knowable
  • Examples of non-character-centered films:
    • October: Ten Days That Shook the World (dir. Sergei Eisenstein, 1927)
    • The Color of Pomegranates (dir. Sergei Paradjanov, 1969)

B1-iii. Character-driven Narrative

  • Characters are usually active agents who drive the narrative forward
  • They have clear motivations, goals and desires that propel the narrative
E.g. His Girl Friday

Walter’s goal is to win back Hildy
Hildy’s goal is to leave journalism and marry Bruce to become a “real woman”

B1-iv. Strong Sense of Narrative Closure

All outstanding issues are resolved by the end of the film

B2. Cinematic Style

Top priority is to focus on individual characters and the dramatic action they generate

Continuity System

Cinematic techniques are used to present the characters and dramatic action in as clear and uninterrupted a way as possible

B2-i. Continuity Editing

  • Typical CHC film comprises 600-800 shots
  • In Continuity Editing, these shots produce a narrative where the chain of events flows smoothly and clearly
  • Presents the characters and action as clearly as possible
  • Enables the narrative (shot after shot) to flow with as little interruption as possible
    • Facilitates the powerful illusion of the story being a “natural event” without anyone putting it together
    • Spatial and temporal structures in the narrative are coherent
  • Involves the seamless/invisible coordination of cinematography, mise-en-scene and editing
    • Conceals technique being used

5 Aspects of Continuity Editing:

  1. Establishing Shot
  2. 180-degree Rule
  3. Shot/Reverse Shot
  4. Eyeline Match
  5. Match on Action
Establishing Shot

Establishes the overall space of a scene

  • Shot usually from a distant framing, that shows the overall space of a scene
  • Shows clearly the spatial relation between the characters
  • Usually occurs close to the beginning of the scene
  • After the establishing shot, one needs to break down the space of the scene into parts (while maintaining continuity)
180-degree Rule

When directors break down the space of a scene, shots will be taken from only one side of the 180 degree line

  • Ensures consistent screen direction

Screen Direction: The left-right relationship in a scene

Shot/Reverse Shot
  • Also an example of breaking down the scene space
  • Two or more shots edited together of alternate characters, typically in a conversation scene
  • Allows close views of characters as they engage with one another
    • E.g. Facial expressions
  • Typically uses Over the shoulder filming
Eyeline Match

A cut where the 1st shot shows a person looking off in one direction and the 2nd shot what she sees.

  • Helps reinforce continuity
  • 180 degree rule must be obeyed first.
Match on Action

A cut that occurs in the midst of an action

  • Viewer is so focused on action that he does not notice the cut
  • Reinforces the “invisible” aspect of continuity editing
E.g. His Girl Friday, Office scene at the beginning

When Hildy flings her bag at Walter, it cuts on the action to a wider shot