The Word According To: My Writer Andrew Katsis...As He Take A Look at Hawks' 1940 Film Classic "His Girl Friday..." Starring Cary Grant and Russell...

...As in Rosalind Russell.
[Editor's Note: I wanted to post a review about the only film noir that actress Rosalind Russell, appeared in called "The Velvet Touch, " but unfortunately, I was unable to locate enough source material...[i.e. video clips, screenshots, window-cards, and foreign posters...However, I did locate one poster and eight lobby cards from the film "The Velvet Touch" which you can view here:This Week Two Rare Posters ]

Therefore, I [with the assistance Of my writer Andrew Katsis] decided to take a look at director Howard Hawks' 1940 classic screw-ball comedy "His Girl Friday"
Starring actress Rosalind Russell, actor(s) Cary Grant,and Ralph Bellamy.

The Word According to Andrew...
""What do you think I am, a crook?"

"Just this morning, as I was flicking absent-mindedly through the television channels, I accidentally clicked my way onto Channel 31 ( In Australia), which, I hazard to venture, is not generally known for its quality programming.

Luckily, my eye was momentarily caught by a young and sharp-looking (Cary Grant), and I immediately identified the film to be 1940's "His Girl Friday," which I had been meaning to watch for some months. Just like Frank Capra's holiday favourite 'It's A Wonderful Life,' the film has fallen into the public domain, and so television stations are completely free to air it whenever they want.

This also means that any company is allowed to throw a poor-quality print onto DVD at practically no cost to them, so this is something to be wary of. Unfortunately, I missed a few minutes of the beginning of the film, but I was too hooked into the story to worry about that until later.
For his remake of the 1931 film "The Front Page" (which was directed by Lewis Milestone and starred Adolphe Menjou), Howard Hawks, took the story – complete with all its witty, rapid-fire dialogue – and changed the male character of Hildebrand 'Hildy' Johnson to a female – Hildegaard 'Hildy' Johnson (Rosalind Russell) – and also the ex-wife of the newspaper editor, Walter Burns (Cary Grant).
[To watch the original 1931 film classic "The Front Page" in its entirety just follow the link here: The Front Page ]

When Hildy expresses her intentions of quitting the newspaper business and marrying Bruce Baldwin (Ralph Bellamy) in Albany, Walter takes every precaution possible to prevent her from boarding that train. With a convicted cop-killer, Earl Williams (John Qualen), set to be hanged in the morning, the press-room at the prison is abuzz with vulturous reporters scavenging about for a good story. Rather than simply admitting his continuing love for Hildy, Walter uses the great lengths to which he will go to stop her leaving to tell her how he still feels about her. Also, along the way, Hildy discovers – as the night gradually becomes more and more exciting – that she is a reporter at heart, and will never be able to rid herself of the desire to uncover that perfect story.

The jokes come thick and fast, with the talented cast delivering the clever dialogue faster than you can register it, barely giving you any time to laugh. Especially in screwball comedies such as these, actor confidence is absolutely essential, and everybody involved here performs admirably.

In addition to the entertaining and often-heated banter between Walter and Hildy, other excellent characters include Bruce Baldwin (the unfortunate would-be future husband whose is arrested on no less than three occasions, and whose mother is kidnapped), the bumbling Sheriff Peter B. Hartwell (Gene Lockhart), Walter's sneaky henchman, Diamond Louie (Abner Biberman ),the governor's clueless delivery-man Joe Pettibone (Billy Gilbert) and a long line of newspaper reporters, each of whom witnesses the same event and yet still reports it in a completely different and entirely inaccurate manner."

To Watch The 1940 Film Classic "His Girl Friday" in its entirety just follow the link: Hawks'"His Girl Friday"



THE HISTORY Of THE LOBBY CARDS...

[Pictured: The "Jewel in the Crown" the title card from the film "His Girl Friday..." Starring actor Cary Grant and actress Rosalind Russell.
To View The Lobby Cards from "His Girl Friday" Up-Close and personal just follow this link:
The Definition Of...3 posters, one-sheet, window cards, foreign and lobby cards...]

In the days before multiplexes, movie theaters generally only had one screen and one movie. To boost ticket sales, studios printed paper advertisements of their films to entice potential audience members.

One of the more collectible forms of these ads was the lobby card, a small piece of card stock that theaters posted in their lobbies to promote a featured film. In a sense, the lobby card was the small relative of the movie poster.

The first lobby cards, introduced around 1910, measured eight by 10 inches and were printed in black and white. Eventually, with advances in heliotype and photo-gelatin techniques, these cards had three colors (blue, yellow, and pink). Other cards were hand-colored using a stencil.

The eight- by 10-inch cards quickly gave way to 11- by 14-inch cards, which became known as the “standard” size. In the 1920s, a “jumbo” size was introduced which measured 14 by 17 inches. Finally, the “mini” size was introduced in the 1930s as a rebirth of the eight by 10 size (another version was printed on eight- by 14-inch stock).

Jumbo cards were printed on their own, not as part of a series, but mini and standard lobby cards generally came in sets of eight, though sets of nine, 12, and even 16 or more were not uncommon.

The first card in these sets was almost always the title card, which included an attention-grabbing image alongside the film’s title, slogan, and main acting credits. As a notable exception, Paramount never printed title cards.



Following the title card [The Jewel in the Crown] were several “scene” cards, which featured still shots from the film. The first two or three scene cards generally promoted the major stars;



[editor's note:What makes this lobby card set unique is the fact, that there are 8 "scene" cards promoting the major stars: actor Cary Grant and actress Rosalind Russell...]

The two or three after that usually showed minor actors...This set Of lobby cards showed no minor actor alone in the set.

The last card or two in the set are known today as “dead cards,” a phrase coined by movie-art collectors because these cards are generally the least desirable in the set. These cards depict extras or scenery from the film.
[This set Of lobby cards has no "dead card..." Making This Lobby Card Set a Collectors Dream.]

All of these cards were numbered in the order they were supposed to appear in the series. Before the 1960s, a card’s identifying number could be found in the corner of the artwork. In the ’60s, the number was moved to the bottom border of the card.

Collectors generally prize lobby cards based on the order they appeared in a set—title cards are considered the most valuable, followed by those with major actors, those with minor actors, and finally the dead cards. Collectors generally only bother with dead cards when they are trying to complete a full set.