Case Studies of Film Adaptation
text: The Front Page (Hecht & MacArthur, 1928)
The Front Page was initially produced as a story about a newspaperman who plans to leave the business to marry and go into advertising, but director Howard Hawks' version places a twist on the theatrical script: the character of Hildy Johnson becomes female. Hildy Johnson is not only a woman; she is also Walter Burns' ex-wife. The changes in the screenplay stemming from Hildy's sex change necessarily alter some predominant themes of the play, but the film preserves and enhances its existing strengths.
Hawks' translation of Hecht and MacArthur's play significantly alters their initial intent. The Front Page represents a dichotomy between work and home; women belong only in the latter. By introducing Hildy as a female character, His Girl Friday blurs the relationship between these two spheres. Most of the film's complexity arises from the gender change; altering the roles of the play converts the narrative from a simple comedy about the newspaper business to an intricate study of women's roles in society, with some subordinate attention to journalism.
Hawks' choices complicate and enhance the play. For instance, Hildy and Walter's marital history in His Girl Friday lends itself more easily to exploitation of a fundamental asset of The Front Page, a dialogue technique that critic Gerald Mast refers to as "verbal polyphony". In the play, Walter and Hildy's overlapping banter is amusing but significantly less layered than in His Girl Friday.
Unlike many modern adaptations of drama, His Girl Friday does not exploit the spatial flexibility of film. With the exception of the first scene in Walter's office, lunch at a restaurant, and interview with Earl Williams, all of the action occurs in the newsroom of the County Courts Building. Hawks chooses to manipulate narrative aspects of the original work instead of taking advantage of the principal differences between drama and film.
SECONDARY SOURCES:
Internet
Movie Database Site
Gerald Mast, Howard Hawks, Storyteller, (Chicago:
Oxford UP, 1982) 208-242.
In addition to his observations
about "verbal polyphony" in the play vs. the film, Mast also argues that the
film offers a better depiction of the allure of the newspaper business. Whereas the
play fails to develop the attraction of being a reporter, portraying only the undesirable
attributes of the job. Hawks guides the audience's understanding of the job's lure
by adding the scene of Hildy interviewing Earl Williams. The fast pace of the film
and the chemistry between Hildy and Walter combine to demonstrate the excitement of the
newspaper game better than the play does.
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Last Modified Monday, January 29, 2001