The Front Page (1974 film)

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The Front Page
The theatrical poster.
Directed by	Billy Wilder
Produced by	Paul Monash
Written by	Ben Hecht Charles MacArthur Billy Wilder I. A. L. Diamond
Starring	Jack Lemmon Walter Matthau
Cinematography	Jordan Cronenweth
Editing by	Ralph E. Winters
Distributed by	Universal Pictures
Release date(s)	December 17, 1974
Running time	105 min.
Country	US
Language	English
Allmovie profile
IMDb profile

For other films based on the Broadway play, see The Front Page.

The Front Page is a 1974 comedy-drama film directed by Billy Wilder and starring Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau as a reporter and editor at a 1920s Chicago newspaper. The film is the third adaptation of the 1928 Broadway comedy play by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur. Other feature films based on the play are The Front Page (1931), His Girl Friday (1940) and Switching Channels (1988).

Contents 1 Plot 2 Cast 3 Awards 4 See also 5 External links

[edit] Plot

It is the night a convicted murderer, Earl Williams, is to be hanged, and reporters in the press room of Chicago's Criminal Courts Building, overlooking the gallows behind the Cook County Jail, are getting ready to witness the event. Hildy Johnson, a star reporter for the Examiner, shows up late, and then only to say good-bye to his colleagues. He is going to leave to get married to his girlfriend, Peggy Grant, and to get a more respectable job. His editor, Walter Burns, doesn't want to see Hildy leave the paper, so he schemes ways to use the situation to his advantage and keep Hildy on.

[edit] Cast

• Jack Lemmon as Hildebrand "Hildy" Johnson
• Walter Matthau as Walter Burns
• Susan Sarandon as Peggy Grant
• Vincent Gardenia as "Honest Pete" Hartman
• David Wayne as Roy Bensinger of the Tribune
• Allen Garfield as Kruger
• Austin Pendleton as Earl Williams
• Carol Burnett as Molly Malloy
• Charles Durning as Murphy
• Herb Edelman as Schwartz
• Martin Gabel as Dr. Max J. Eggelhofer
• Harold Gould as The Mayor/Herbie/Green Hornet
• John Furlong as Duffy
• Jon Korkes as Rudy Keppler
• Cliff Osmond as Officer Jacobi

[edit] Awards

The film was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture (Musical or Comedy), but lost to The Longest Yard.

[edit] See also

• The Front Page
• Bob Rothberg

v • d • e Films directed by Billy Wilder Mauvaise Graine • The Major and the Minor • Five Graves to Cairo • Double Indemnity • Death Mills • The Lost Weekend • The Emperor Waltz • A Foreign Affair • Sunset Boulevard • Ace in the Hole • Stalag 17 • Sabrina • The Seven Year Itch • The Spirit of St. Louis • Love in the Afternoon • Witness for the Prosecution • Some Like It Hot • The Apartment • One, Two, Three • Irma la Douce • Kiss Me, Stupid • The Fortune Cookie • The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes • Avanti! • The Front Page • Fedora • Buddy Buddy

[edit] External links

• The Front Page at the Internet Movie Database
• The Front Page at Allmovie

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