Underplayed Gems

The Front Page (1931)

The Front Page poster
Directed by
Lewis Milestone
Genre
comedy film
Country
United States
Runtime
1h 41m
Rated
NR
Rating
6.5 of 10 from 85 voters
Elsewhere
IMDb
The 3D catalogue: film cases on wooden shelves, with the cat sitting at the counter next to its greeting.

The catalogue in 3D

The film shelves have a room of their own that you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real films from the same catalogue when you tell them what you feel like watching. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this film is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.

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How it feels

A newspaper editor tries to stop his star reporter from quitting to get married. They end up tangled in a chaotic story about a condemned man on the run.

fast-pacedwittycynicalzanytensecomedicsharp-tongued

What happens

The Front Page is a 1931 American pre-Code screwball black comedy film directed by Lewis Milestone and starring Adolphe Menjou and Pat O'Brien. Based on the 1928 Broadway play of the same name by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur, the film was produced by Howard Hughes, written by Bartlett Cormack and Charles Lederer, and distributed by United Artists. The supporting cast includes Mary Brian, Edward Everett Horton, Walter Catlett, George E. Stone, Mae Clarke, Slim Summerville, and Matt Moore. At the 4th Academy Awards, the film was nominated for Best Picture, Milestone for Best Director, and Menjou for Best Actor. In 2010, this film was selected for the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". The film is in the public domain. The February 2020 issue of New York Magazine lists The Front Page as among "The Best Movies That Lost Best Picture at the Oscars." Two versions of the film exist, each made up of different takes, one for the international market and director Lewis Milestone's preferred version for its original U.S. domestic release. Both versions are available on home video. In the film when the sheriff asks who threw a bucket out the window, Walter Catlett's character replies: "Judge Mankiewicz threw it," a reference to Hecht's friend Herman J. Mankiewicz. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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