The Front Page

Directed by Billy Wilder, The Front Page follows 1920s newspaperman Hildy Johnson (Jack Lemmon) as he decides to retire from the business and move away with his new fiancee (Susan Sarandon’s Peggy Grant) – with complications ensuing after a convicted murderer (Austin Pendleton’s Earl Williams) escapes just hours before his scheduled execution. Filmmaker Wilder, armed with his and I.A.L. Diamond’s screenplay, delivers a progressively tiresome endeavor that fares best in its briskly-paced and thoroughly promising opening stretch, as the movie does, at the outset, benefit from its assortment of appealing, ingratiating attributes and elements – with, especially, the predictably compelling work of its various performers heightening the pervasively affable atmosphere. (Lemmon and Matthau’s superb efforts are matched by such sterling character actors as Charles Durning, Allen Garfield, Vincent Gardenia, and Carol Burnett.) It’s disappointing to note, then, that The Front Page eventually moves into a plot-heavy midsection that slowly-but-surely drains one’s attention, and there’s little doubt, as a result, that it becomes more and more difficult to work up any real enthusiasm for the protagonists’ stagy, talky exploits (ie most of this stuff just isn’t interesting, ultimately). By the time the less-than-satisfying climax rolls around, The Front Page has cemented its place as a rare misfire from Wilder that squanders its appealing setup and the efforts of its magnetic leads (and it doesn’t help, either, that the picture’s various attempts at comedy fall hopelessly and pointedly flat).

** out of ****

Leave a comment