ENGLISH 299B: FILM AS NARRATIVE ART MR. KELLEY

HIS GIRL FRIDAY (HOWARD HAWKS, 1940)

According to Joseph McBride, the films of Howard Hawks “almost always deal with a tightly knit group of professionals trying to perform a difficult task together while upholding their own rigorously defined code of conduct. Whether they are gunfighters, aviators, hunters, detectives, newspapermen, or scientists, Hawks’s people function in a self-enclosed society in which the standard of personal conduct are professional skill, group loyalty, and self-respect.”

POINTS TO CONSIDER: What is marriage in this film? What is divorce? How are they portrayed? What values are represented by each “institution”? What role does the introduction of typical Communist rhetoric play in the film? What are the major tensions or values in the film?

More Points to Consider: Consider the character of Earl. Bear in mind that the action of the film takes place against the background of an impending death. Why is this? The images of jail and imprisonment are central to the film’s themes. Where do we see this imagery, and how, and why?

More Points to Consider: How is journalism portrayed here? What are “facts”? What are these journalists interested in? What is the verbal style of the film? Why is it appropriate for the themes of the film?

SELECTED HAWKS FILMOGRAPHY Scarface (1932) Bringing up Baby (1938) Only Angels Have Wings (1939) Sergeant York (1941) Ball of Fire (1941) To Have and Have Not (1944) The Big Sleep (1946) Red River (1948) Rio Bravo (1959)