The Front Page

Directed by Lewis Milestone, The Front Page details the chaos that ensues after a reporter (Pat O’Brien’s Hildy Johnson) and his editor (Adolphe Menjou’s Walter Burns) attempt to cash in on a breaking story by hiding an escaped convict (George E. Stone’s Earl Williams) in their offices. It’s clear immediately that The Front Page benefits substantially from Milestone’s often astonishing directorial choices, as the movie, set almost entirely within the aforementioned offices, boasts a number of impressive instances of fluid camerawork and long tracking shots that initially (and effectively) compensate for the inherently stagy atmosphere. There quickly reaches a point, however, wherein the relentless emphasis on plot and dialogue becomes completely oppressive, as the picture, which doesn’t contain a single interesting or compelling protagonist, is essentially dominated by long, drawn-out sequences involving progressively meaningless chatter spouted at a headache-inducing volume. (O’Brien, for example, essentially shouts the majority of his snappy, unfunny dialogue.) The absolutely interminable bent of the final half hour cements The Front Page‘s place as an uncommonly disastrous early talkie, and it goes without saying, ultimately, that the movie would hardly be worth mentioning were it not for its admittedly stirring visuals.

1/2* out of ****