His Girl Friday

Directed by: Howard Hawks

Written by: Charles Lederer, Ben Hecht, Charles MacArthur, and Morrie Ryskind









I'll try to keep my review here brief. For years, I'd had this movie on my radar for a long time, mainly due to the presence of Cary Grant, but had never gotten around to sitting and watching it.

As the script was based on a play, most of the film focuses on the dialogue between characters to develop the plot, with few moments of action and few changes of scene. Without this information up front, I struggled with the film's pace while I was watching it. It's a little long, and some scenes felt unnecessarily long.

That being said, the movie is quite enjoyable. The quick dialogue between Grant and Russell is top-of-the-line. The movie possesses an excellent balance of comedy (usually in the form of irony) and simple action/drama to keep things moving forward.

I didn't really know what I was getting into with this film, but I'm glad I finally got around to seeing it.

The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter

Carson McCullers's novel falls under the "southern gothic" genre, but in its own special way. Whereas Faulkner's prose intimidates you and beats you over the head with its brute strength, McCullers's text hums like a lullaby with a soft melody.

"The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter" is set in small-town Georgia during the great depression. It's the type of town where you know everyone else by name, and you're related to half of them by blood or marriage. Most of the story surrounds the deaf-mute John Singer and the fingerprints he leaves on the lives he touches.

This novel is beautiful and soft, but also powerful. I have a hard time describing it, but I highly recommend you experience it for yourself.