Front Page

by Ben Hecht, Charles MacArthur

Highly detailed, historically correct annotations by George Woodman Hilton accompany the original text of The Front Page. Character and text analyses, historical and production photos, a chronology of the play's productions, and an extensive index are also included. This book will provide students, directors, producers, theaterphiles, and historians an unprecendented understanding of this landmark American Classic.

Genres: Plays, Drama, Theatre, Comedy, Fiction, Classics, Journalism

162 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 1928

About the author

Ben Hecht, an American, wrote short stories, novels, such as Erik Dorn in 1921, dramas, including The Front Page in 1928 with Charles MacArthur, and screenplays, such as Gunga Din in 1938.

Ben Hecht, a journalist, directed and produced movies. A journalist in his youth, he went to 35 books and entertained most people. He received credits alone or in collaboration for seventy films.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Hecht

Reviews

[Juliette II]

This show is simply meant to serve as an enjoyable night out. You won’t learn anything, you won’t ponder deep thoughts, you’ll just laugh and (hopefully) be amazed that this gigantic cast can maintain a breakneck pace for three acts with special effects and some stunts added into the mix. A very challenging show that should not be take on lightly, especially if you are a community theater. If the pace can’t be maintained throughout, your audience will riot, because there will be nothing else to keep them interested.

I put this show in the category: You must see how hard stage actors can work in a single play!

[Jason]

I'm not sure what the point of this play is. It didn't seem to know if it was a comedy, a drama, or a farce. I didn't find any of the characters remotely likable or relatable, and about half of them were completely superfluous to the plot. I simply didn't get it.

[Jessica López-Barkl]

Well, I've now read this twice and watched the 1973 film with Jack Lemmon/Walter Mathau/Susan Sarandon in addition to watching HIS GIRL FRIDAY, which is an adaptation of the lead character as a woman (Rosalind Russell in that role). This has been a fun little research project...stopping and looking up all sorts of slang that I've never heard (of course they're from 1927, so...I'm not surprised), but I'm excited to jump into my little part of Peggy Grant. I have lots of books from the 1920s I'm going to start reading, films I've been watching and music that I've been listening to, in order to be ready to live this fast-paced/gilded age play. So...if you're looking for a comedy for a great male pair and a fascinating microscope on the gilded age's newspaper world...take a gander at this play.

[Andrea]

College production 1987. I was Jennie the cleaning woman.

[Barbara]

Really great, I'd love to see it performed on stage! Also saw a movie based on it: "His Girl Friday" - awesome adaptation!

[Rdb]

Broadhurst Theater, NYC
Nathan Lane
John Goodman
John Slattery

[JCP]

Broadhurst Theater, NYC
Nathan Lane
John Goodman
John Slattery

[Brian McCann]

2018: Rollicking old-fashioned, fast-paced farce. Loved it!

2025: Ditto!! So well-constructed.

[gage sugden]

Ruthless screwball satire, witty and hilarious.

Read for a class.

[Lauren]

A few years ago, I watched His Girl Friday, the 1940 adaptation of this 1924 play. I enjoyed the movie, so I was looking forward to reading this play.

This one’s a bit too dated for me. When judging a story, I generally try and consider the time in which a piece was written, but I couldn’t get over the casual racism and sexism in this one. Plus, Hildy Johnson is a much more interesting character as a woman (as she is in His Girl Friday). He’s kind of a jerk in the original play.

I rewatched His Girl Friday after reading the play, and I cannot believe how much better that version is. Changing Hildy to a woman is a brilliant touch, as is adding the screwball elements. More important, that adaptation cuts the chafe and gets to the heart of the story of a condemned man and the journalists assigned to cover the execution. The Front Page, to this twenty-first century reader, kills a lot of the plot’s tension with too many extraneous details and conversations. And again: even if expected for the 1920s, the casual racism and sexism was just too much (and unnecessary). Not recommended.

[Yourfiendmrjones]

A great play, marred only by the accurate depiction of the racism common to the time and characters. And in this edition, a deep, complex dramaturgy is utilized for better understanding of the context in which the play was originally written with forewords, introductions, footnotes and annotations as well as several appendixes added to the original text. Casual readers may want to pick up just the acting edition of “The Front Page.”

[Barbara]

DNF at p.23. The n--- word, casual references to domestic violence, constant jabbering. I realize the banter and chaos is supposed to represent a bunch of reporters killing time waiting for an execution to happen, but it just gave me a headache. No future for this one. Too bad because the movie was fun and the set is an octagonal press room at the criminal courts building. We've never done that one!

[Frank Marzano]

A quick read, with snappy dialogue. I do think Howard Hawks improved on it with the film HIS GIRL FRIDAY. In Hecht's play, the protagonist (Hildy) is a man. In the film, Hildy is a woman, specifically Burns' ex-wife. Moreover, in the film, Hildy's spouse-to-be (played to perfection by Ralph Bellamy) provides hilarious comic relief. Reading the play, I realize that Hawks' casting of Cary Grant as Burns was brilliant; I don't think anyone but Grant could have played him.

[Danielle Mercado]

Real good story love it

[Alexander Davidson]

Interesting. Quick moving. Complicated beginning. No real hero characters to cheer for.

[Jack Heath]

Synopsis: twice a movie. A comedic play about an escaped murderer set in a news room. Reporter Hildy hides him in a desk to get the scoop.

[Sherrie Colbourn]

Dated piece. Politically incorrect language in a big way. Most audiences would walk out I think.

[T. Tokunaga]

【The Front Page / Ben Hecht / 1928, Kraus & Smith, 2001】

This is a very cheerful, light comedy with slightly touchy, fairly jittery pre-honeymoon comedy, which is also something close to the slapstick chic of Luis Bunuel's that famous The Discreet Charm of Bourgeois. Namely, it's a comedy of a youngish journalist, Hildy, who strives so absurdly just to go to honeymoon, to be back from the press room home and then with his bride.

--Murphy. The paper's full of the hanging now. We ain't got room for the ads. (p. 74., Act 1)

--Schwartz. Now listen, Pete. I promised a pair [pass] to Ernie Byfiell. He's never seen a hanging. (p. 97., Act 1)

--Hildy. Yeah, sure. But that's all right...
Mrs. Grant (With the wandering egoism of age.) I had a terrible time finding you. First I went into a room where a lot of policemen were playing cards. (p. 114., Act 2)

--Pincus. They were all standing around when he wrote it. It was after they [governor and his men] got back from fishing.
Mayor. Get the governor or on the phone, Hartman.
Pincus. They ain't got a phone. They're duck shooting now. (p. 123., Act 2)

This play, being very capitalist in its motive as a commercial comedy, looks very neglecting in its treatment of actual capitalist factors, and it makes it tantalisingly comfortable for a modern reader like me - the one who's on the fence about it.

[Mike the Magnificient]

Reading the script to one of the most outrageous plays\films of the 20th century does not do it justice. It truly has to be seen in production to be appreciated. I've never seen The Front Page on stage, but I have enjoyed three of its many film adaptations. One of my favorite films of all time is His Girl Friday, so having the opportunity to read the original script was a real treat. I could hear the actors performing their lines as I read and that helped bring the written page to life.

However, just reading the script without seeing what the cast can bring to it leaves something to be desired. (At least, it would for me.) No doubt Hecht's work captures the absurdity of the news biz in the 20s and 30s (and therefore probably deserves a higher rating than 3 stars), but I much prefer my scripts enacted rather than read.

[Ranette]

A wacky play about a convict who escapes jail and is hidden by some reporters.

[Grace]

This is actually really sharp and queer and interesting under the shouty slapstick, and I think ultimately a compelling, if sepia-toned, snapshot of 1920s Chicago.

[Emily Carbone]

guys I cannot believe I had to read this in one day for my am dram class. It wasn’t even bad I’m just like what the hell. Whatever.

[Radwa]

His Girl Friday (1940)
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0032599/...

[Matt Meyer]

Slow start. Lots of talkers without much being said. DNF.

[Susan Molloy]

✔️Published in 1924.
This story is hysterical with newsroom hijinx and snappy dialogue.
As an aside, the 1931 and 1974 movie versions are the best. Scratch the "His Girl Friday" film version; that is not good at all.

💥 Recommended.